As in other Southeast Asian cultures, music in Laos can be divided into classical and folk traditions. Lao classical music was originally developed as court music for royal ceremonies and classical dance-drama. The standard ensemble for this genre is called the sep nyai and consists of a set of tuned gongs called khong wong, a xylophone-like instrument called the ranyat, the khui or bamboo flute and the ph, a double reed wind instrument similar to the obe.

Now-a-days the only time you’ll generally hear this type of music is during the occasional public performance of the Pha Lak Pha Lam, a dance-drama based on the Hindu epic Ramayana. The practice of classical Lao music and drama has been in decline for sometime now - 40 years of intermittent war and revolution has simply made this kind of entertainment a low priority among most Lao.

Not so with Lao folk music, which has always stayed close to the people. The principal instrument in the folk genre is the khaen (French spelling: khene), a wind instrument that is devised of a double row of bamboo-like reeds fitted into a hardwood soundbox. The rows can be as few as four or as many as eight. The khaen player blows (as with a harmonica, sound is produced whether the breath is moving in or out of the instrument) into the soundbox while covering or uncovering small holes in the reeds that determine the pitch for each. An adept player is able to produce a churning, calliope-like music that is quite danceable. The most popular folk dance is the lam wong (circle dance) in which couples dance circles around one another until there are three circles in all: a circle danced by the individual, the circle danced by the couple, and one danced by the whole crowd.

The khaen is often accompanied by the saw (sometimes written so), a bowed string instrument. In more elaborate ensembles the khui and khon wong may be added, as well as various hand drums. Khaen music can also incorporate a vocalist. Most Lao pop music is based on vocal khaen music. Melodies are almost always penratonic, i.e., they feature five-note scales.

The Lao folk idiom also has its own theatre, based on the maw lam (mo lam) tradition. Maw lam is difficult to translate but means something like ‘master, or priest, of dance’. Performances always feature a witty, topical combination of talking and singing that ranges across themes as diverse as politics and sex. Very colloquial, even bawdy language is employed; this is one art form that has always bypassed government censors, whether it’s the French or the LPRP.