Transmission of Traditional Lao Folk Music from Central Laos to the United States of America

Abstract

Significant changes have been made to folk music from Central Laos and Laotian diaspora communities in America due to factors of globalization, nearing the end of the Vietnam War. Multiple cultural factors such as language barriers, new values, and traditions affected the instrumentation of songs and brought about new techniques within the Laos music scene. It was further enhanced through Western instrumentations when Laotians migrated to the United Sates of America. This study examines the changes of Central Laos folk music in the United States after generations of Laotians immigrated to the country after the Vietnam War, and how these new traditions became part of Laotian Americans’ reformed cultural identity. My analysis consists of comparisons between the Laotian music of Central Laos and Laotian American music. This research focused on lam, a folk singing genre. I highlighted critical differences between traditional and popular Lao music, regarding musical elements such as tonal inflections, tempo, rhythmic structure, and instrumentations. By noting these differences in each song, my analysis provided a detailed view on the process of oral transmission and how a new cultural environment might affect oral tradition. My studies is intended to bring awareness to the preservation of folk music and the recognition of how music functions as an integral cultural connection in a dispersed community.