Traditional Filipino Music

The music of the Philippines is a mixture of European, American and indigenous sounds. Much of the music of the Philippines have been influenced by the 333 year-long colonial legacies of Spain, Western rock and roll, hip hop and pop music from the United States, the indigenous Austronesian population and Indo-Malayan Gamelan music

Hispanic Musical Styles

Spanish and Mexican colonizers left their musical mark on the Philippines, introducing another rich culture, Christianity and its attendant religious music. The guitar and other instruments, as well as zarzuela (a form of operetta) were popular and soon became an important part of the customs and traditional elements of the culture of the Philippines.

Kundiman

The Kundiman is a lyrical song made popular in the Philippines in the early 19th century, but having origins in older pre-colonial indigenous styles. Composed in the Western idiom, the song is characterized by a minor key at the beginning and shifts to a major key in the second half. Its lyrics depict a romantic love, usually portraying the forlorn pleadings of a lover willing to sacrifice everything on behalf of his beloved. In many others, it is a plaintive call of the rejected lover or the broken-hearted. In others, it is a story of unrequited love. Almost all traditional Filipino love songs in this genre are heavy with poetic emotion. In the 1920s Kundiman became a much more mainstream musical style, with many popular performers including Diomedes Maturan and Ruben Tagalog.

Rondalla

Spain brought the rondalla to the Philippines in the 1800s.[1] An ensemble of plectrum instruments, the early Philippine rondalla repertoire consisted primarily of Western European symphonic overtures and arias from operas. Its compatibility with native Philippine music allowed the rondalla to figure prominently in Filipino rural community life, providing accompaniment to folk dancing and singing as well as the featured ensemble.

The standard Philippine rondalla consists of the pear-shaped piccolo bandurria, bandurria, and la-ud, and the guitar-shaped octavina and mandola, guitarra, and bajo de unas (which has been supplanted by the double bass). Fashioned from common Philippine wood such as langka, pine,molave, cypress, narra, kamagong, and mahogany, yakal,acacia, the instruments are played with a plectrum of turtle shell. The fourteen strings of the rondalla instruments, except for the guitarra, are grouped into six tuning units – viz., F#, B, E, A, D, G. The doubling or tripling of strings produces better sound quality and volume.

Banduria, double bass, laud, octavina, guitar , piccolo etc. are examples of rondalla instruments.

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