Lao classical music was originally developed as court music for royal ceremo­nies and classical dance-drama during the 19th-century reign of Vientiane's Chao Anou, who had been educated in the Siamese court in Bangkok. The standard ensemble for this genre is the sep nyai and consists of khâwng wóng (a set of tuned gongs), the ranyâat (a xylophone-like instrument), the khui (bamboo flute) and the pii (a double-reed wind instrument similar to the oboe).

The practice of classical Lao music and drama has been in decline for some time - 40 years of intermittent war and revolution has simply made this kind of entertainment a low priority among most Lao. Generally, the only time you'll hear this type of music is during the occasional public performance of the Pha Lak Pha Lam, a dance-drama based on the Hindu Ramayana epic (see Literature, below).

Not so with Lao folk and pop, which have always stayed close to the people. The principal instrument in folk, and to a lesser extent in pop, is the khaen (common French spelling: khene), a wind instrument that is devised of a double row of bamboo-like reeds fitted into a hardwood soundbox and made air-tight with beeswax. The rows can be as few as four or as many as eight courses (for a total of 16 pipes), and the instrument can vary in length from around 80cm to about 2m. An adept player can produce a churning, calliope-like dance music.

When the kháen is playing you'll often see people dancing the Um wong (circle performance), easily the most popular folk dance in Laos. Put simply, in the lám wóng couples dance circles around one another until there are three circles in all: a circle danced by the individual, a circle danced by the couple, and one danced by the whole crowd. Watch for a few minutes and you'll soon get the hang of it.