The fact that m ost m usicians could not sing the 'backbone' o f songs is hardly surprising considering that songs are learnt through a process o f repeating the same

song with d ifferent song texts, rather than by learning 'abstracted' versions o f songs. 22 The few songs o f the cheo repertoire that I studied share m any similar

The analysis of a b strac te d backbones confirm ed th a t songs have a m elodic sh ap e w hich is m a in ta in ed th ro u g h o u t d ifferen t verses, a lth o u g h th e a b stra c te d backbones are n o t necessarily identical w ith th e m u sician's conception o f the song's backbone (as d em o n strated by Hung's backbones a n d his a b strac te d backbones). The com parison o f HUng a n d Ty’s a b stracted backbones show ed th a t th e ir ren d itio n s o f Phu Binh conform ed to a sim ilar u n d erly in g m elodic shape. It w ould be expected, however, th a t a

co m p ariso n o f ab strac te d backbones based on perform ances by m usicians from d iffe re n t g eographical regions a n d d ifferen t g en eratio n s w ould show g re a te r v a ria tio n .

M usicians o ften re fer to chau van m elodies as 'ways' (loi). W hile I have chosen to a d o p t HUng's term 'backbone' for the purposes o f analysis, referrin g to a song as a 'way' also evokes the no tio n th a t a song h as an u n d erly in g m elodic sh ap e o r backbone. Once m usicians 'grasp a way' - w hich m ay be u n d e rsto o d as internalising the backbone o f a song - they can sing an y text, w ith the co rrect poetic m etre, w ithout p re p a ra tio n . The in terd ep en d en ce of texts a n d ways was neatly sum m ed up by Hung du rin g one o f my lessons:

It is im possible to rem em b er exactly how to sing one sentence of the text because th e re are too m any texts. The texts, for exam ple, of th e M other Spirit o f th e W ater Palace are m any pages long ... so how can yo u rem em b er exactly w hich notes you sh ould sing? You c a n 't

rem em b er exactly, th ere is a 'way', th a t is all .... Each tim e you sing is different, b u t the 'way' m u st be correct, (p.c. Dang Cong Hung, May

1998)

Hung's com m ents in d icate th a t th e song text affects the vocal line alth o u g h th e 'way' m u st be m aintained. On o th er occasions, HUng, Ty a n d o th e r

m usicians explicitly sta te d th a t the realisation o f th e vocal line changes to su it the speech tones of th e text. This c h ap te r has d e m o n strated the

influence on the speech tones of th e text on the m elodic con to ur. It has show n th a t to n al in flectio n a n d the relative p itch level of syllables affect the vocal line. The speech tones o f the text do n o t rigidly d eterm in e th e vocal line, b u t th ey do affect m elodic direction. The creative process involved in singing chau van, then, involves varying th e vocal line to su it th e speech tones o f th e text while still ad h ering to th e u n d erly in g m elodic shape, th e backbone, o f the song. A sim ilar process also occurs in C antonese opera: "the singer uses, w ithin th e co n strain ts o f th e skeletal stru c tu re ... the relatively less-defined pitches o f the texts' linguistic tones as a guide in

creatin g a series of w ell-defined m usical pitches to form the m elodic line" (Yung 1989:90).

Having d e m o n strated th a t th e speech tones o f th e song text affect the vocal line, it sh o u ld be n o ted th a t the analysis revealed a n u m b e r of exceptions. In som e cases th e reasons for th e deviation from th e expected relativ e p itc h level a n d m elodic c o n to u r fo r a p a rtic u la r syllable o f the text is n o t obvious.23 In others, however, m elodic considerations, su ch as

avoiding several rep etitio n s o f th e sam e pitch, affect the vocal line. The assertio n th a t chau van m elodies are affected by the speech tones of th e song text sh o u ld th erefo re be qualified w ith th e caveat th a t m elodic factors may, som etim es, o v errid e th e influence o f speech tones on the vocal lin e.24

23 Further d iscussion with chau van m usicians may be helpful in seeking explanations