MUSIC OF LOWLANDS LUZON

Background:
FOLKSONGS OF THE LUZON (LOWLAND)
Folk songs of Luzon lowlands are performed in their native languages such as Ilocano, Pangasinense,
Kapampangan, Tagalog, Bicolano, and others they created melodic chant and indigenous instruments based on
the materials available where they live.
Folk Songs - are songs written by the folk and are sung to accompany daily activities such as farming, fishing,
putting the baby to sleep. These are traditionally passed orally.
Characteristics of folk songs:
 Originally passed down orally to the family, members of the community.
 learned through rote
 sung in their own dialect
 begins in one key and ends in the same key
 composers and lyricist are usually unknown
 mood can be sentimental, playful, and humorous
 concepts are based on nature or people’s work, tradition, culture
 short and simple
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 duple meter , triple, or quadruple
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Examples of Philippine folk songs from the lowland
 ILOCANO
 Pamulinawen – It is about courtship and love.
 Naraniag a Bulan – wish to the moon to shine
 Manang Biday - a courtship dance
 Dungdungwen Kanto – wedding song
 Diro ni Ayat - love song
 KAPAMPANGAN
 Atin Cu Pung Singsing – It is about missing heirloom piece.
 Doredo -
 Caca, O Caca – playful song
 Patag a Bunca -
 TAGALOG
 Magtanim ay Di Biro - Planting Rice
 Bahay Kubo – fruits and vegetables
 Leron Leron Sinta – Work song
 Sitsirtsit - humorous song
 Paru-Parong Bukid – humorous song (a butterfly’s fields)

 BICOLANO
 Sarung Banggi – means “one evening” this is not only a song but also a festival showcases
of cultural and religious activities held every 18 th and 25th day of May and performed at
night.

Background:
LITURGY AND DEVOTIONAL MUSIC
Liturgy – refers a fixed set of ceremonies, word, etc., that is used during public worship in religion.
 Religious music of the lowlands of Luzon reveals the impact of Spanish colonization to the
Philippines.
 Introduction of Christianity came the different western form of music used for religious
rites.
 Adapted by Filipino musicians to suit Philippine culture and traditions.
 Some indigenous Philippine musical forms were incorporated to the Christian practice.
Devotion - relating to or used in religious services
1. Pasyon - a Philippine narrative of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ also known as
“Pabasa” and is recited during holy week.
2. Salubong - religious ritual that re-enacts the meeting of the Risen Christ with His mother on the dawn
of Easter Sunday.
3. Flores De Mayo - a Catholic festival held on the month of May (Alay)
4. Santa Cruzan – event that dramatizes of finding the holy cross by the Queen Helena and her son
Constantine the Great, held during the month of May. Sagalas and escort parade the street of the
community, procession with the music ‘Dios Te Salve Maria.
Secular Music
Secular Music – refers to any music that is not religious in nature.
1. Harana
- A serenade traditionally sung by a man to express affection to a woman.
- sang with emotion and usually accompanied by guitar.
- In duple or quadruple meter in danza minor or habanera tempo.
Ex. Ang Tangi Kong Pag – ibig, O Ilaw, and Dungawin Mo Hirang.
2. Kumintang
- Originated from Balayan, Batangas
- In Triple meter with themes of love and courtship.
- In 1926 Pasig become the venue of carnival performance “Mutya ng Pasig” compose by Nicanor
Abelardo in kumintang tempo.
- Mutya expresses her feeling under the light of the moon, she is mourning the loss of her love,
which symbolizes the country’s loss of freedom.
3. Pandanggo
- A dance form that can be found in the different islands of Luzon such as Batanes, Ilocos, and
Tarlac, and parts of Visayas.
- A variation of thee Spanish word fandango.become popular in the 19th century among the elite of
manila.
- Performed during social celebrations Pandangguhan is Tagalog entertainment.
- A courtship dance refers to a type of song to entertain farmers in the rice field, singers are called
pandanggeros and pandanggeras.
4. Polka
- Originated from a Bohemian dance that become popular in Europe and America in the early 19 th
century.
- The tempo is in duple meter and the melody is supported by the chord/harmonies of tonics.
- Some folksongs are in polka rhythm like Pamulinawen (stone-hearted), Magtanim Ay Di Biro
(Planting Rice is Never Fun), Leron Leron Sinta (Leron the Beloved).
5. Balitaw
- A dialogue or courtship song in triple meter, mostly in 2- and 3-part forms and arranged with
counter melodies.
Example:
1. Sa Libis ng Nayon, and Bakya Mo Neneng, composed by Santiago Suarez
2. Arimunding-munding composed by Severino Reyes.
6. Kundiman (Art Song)
- came the words “Kung hindi man”.
- Its melody, lyrics, and expressive singing.
- kundiman conveys a selfless and spiritual attitude, intense love, longing, caring, devotion, and oneness
not only with a romantic partner, but also with a parent, child, a spiritual figure, or the motherland.
- musical context usually starts in a minor key goes to the major key and in triple meter.
Famous Composers: Kundiman Performers in the early 1900’s
Francisco Santiago Atang de la Rama
Nicanor Abelardo Jovita Fuentes
 Bonifacio Abdon Conching Rosal
Francisco Buencamino Ruben Tagalog
Angel Peña
Examples of Kundiman
Pilipinas kong Mahal by Francisco Santiago
Nasaan Ka Irog and Huling Awit by Nicanor Abelardo
Jocelynang Baliwag by unkown composer inspired the revolutionaries in Bulacan during the 1896
revolution Sariling Bayan by V. Tolentino
Iyo Kailan pa Man by Angel Peńa
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC OF THE LUZON (LOWLAND)
I. BRASS BAND
* Brass band is an ensemble of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments in the Philippines.
* Usually play in fiestas, religious, and civic celebrations.
* Repertoire may include folk songs, popular music, dance music.
* Bands was so remarkable that every town used to have two or more bands and they compete in many
town band competitions.
* Town fiestas is made livelier by band music and most fiestas are celebrated in various provinces of the
Philippines to honor their patron saints.
* A parading brass band is called a marching band and provinces like Rizal and Laguna, and schools like
the Philippines Military Academy are home to prominent brass bands in the Philippines
MUSIC OF LOWLANDS LUZON

Background:
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
Bamboo Instruments
These are traditional musical instruments that are made of bamboo. The Bamboo Organ, a Philippine
National Treasure, can be found in St. Joseph's Church, Las Piñas City and is made of 902 bamboo pipes in
1824. Musikong Bumbong is a Filipino marching band that use woodwind instruments that are made of
bamboo. Pangkat Kawayan, popularly known as the “Singing Bamboos of the Philippines”, is an orchestra that
plays music using non-traditional bamboo instruments founded in 1966.

Rondalla Instruments
Rondalla is an ensemble of plucked or stringed instruments played with a plectrum or pick and
sometimes with percussions too. It originated in Medieval Spain, especially in Castile, Catalonia, Aragon,
Murcia, and Valencia. The tradition was later taken to Spanish America and the Philippines. In the early times of
our country, certain styles were adopted by the natives especially guitar and bandurria used in the Pandanggo,
Polka and among others as accompaniment. (https:/en.m.wikipedia.org~wiki)

A Philippine National Treasure, The Bamboo Organ can be found in St. Joseph’s Church in Las Pinas City. It is
made of 902 bamboo pipes. It was completed in 1824 under the supervision of Fr. Diego Cera. Every February,
the city celebrates the International Bamboo Organ Festival.
MUSIKONG BUMBONG
Musikong Bumbong are Filipino marching bands that use woodwinds instruments that are made of
bamboo. The shape and the sizes are similar to brass band instruments but have different sounds. It started as a
plain Banda de Boca (bibig or mouth) in Barrio Tonsuya, Malabon in 1896. Felix Ramos was both the founder
and inventor of the bamboo instruments.
Angklung ensemble - is a small group of musicians who plays angklung bamboo instruments. The angklung
instrument is made of bamboo rattle tubes attached to a bamboo frame.
Hornbostel-Sachs Classification of Musical Instruments
Idiophones - produce sounds by the vibration of its body caused by the way they are played such as being
struck, scraped, rubbed, shaken or pucked.
Aerophones - produce sound primarily causing a body of air to vibrate because of the air blown inside.
Chordophones - produce sound through its vibrating string or strings that is either plucked, strummed, or used
with a bow.
Membranophones - produce sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane tapped by hands or
sticks.
Electrophone - produce sounds which are generated by electricity.

Background:
Rhythmic/Melodic Accompaniment of the music from the Lowlands of Luzon
Rhythm - is the most important element of time in music. It is the basic, repetitive
pulse of the music, or the rhythmic pattern that is repeated throughout the music. In order to read, identify and
translate rhythms you need to become familiar with rhythm notation and rhythm patterns. This mainly involves
indicating when the notes happen, how long it last, and what the common rhythm is.
Rhythmic patterns – is anything that has some kind of pulse that can be repeated. Example, counting,
one, two, one, two. One, two……is a rhythmic pattern using words.
Here is an example of a simple rhythmic pattern for rhythmic accompaniment.

3
4
Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwoY-c1BzsM
.
on how it is done or performed.
In this rhythmic pattern, the Time Signature used is 3/4. So, there are 3 beats in every measure. The first
beat is a rest. The second and the third beat are played. The same rhythmic pattern is applied in the second
measure.
This sign denotes that this rhythmic pattern is repeated in the entire song.

Now let us use the rhythmic pattern below as an accompaniment to the song “Bahay Kubo “.

3
4
Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7qMY26WQBY on how it is done or
performed.
In this rhythmic pattern, the Time Signature used is 3/4. So, there are 3 beats in every measure. The first,
second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth notes are eighth note with the value of ½ beat. All beats are played. The
same rhythmic pattern is applied in the second measure.

MUSIC OF LOWLANDS LUZON

Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the
melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. Some of the bamboo instruments in the Lowlands of
Luzon are percussion instruments. Other brass
instruments are also labeled as percussion such as
cymbals, snare drums, and bass drums. These
instruments are used for rhythmic
accompaniment. String instruments such as
guitar and bajo de uñas are used for melodic
accompaniment along with the wind instruments
belonging to brass and bamboo families. In a
melodic accompaniment, the instrument has a
pitch to follow while the rhythmic
accompaniment follows no pitch since it only
uses rhythm. Instruments for rhythmic accompaniment follow a certain rhythmic pattern that can create a
beautiful harmony.

MUSIC OF LOWLANDS LUZON

Musical Performance- the act of presentation in musical ideas or compositions.

Examples of musical performance are:
●Solo singing
●Choral singing
●Solo instrument
●Rondalla
In order to evaluate one musical performance, let’s unlock the terms of musical elements.
The basic elements of music are melody, harmony, rhythm/tempo, dynamics, and timbre.
 Melody – part of the music that is sung or played. Was it high, low or just in the right pitch?
 Harmony – accurate blending of sounds. Do the different pitched notes that are sounded together blend
perfectly?
 Rhythm– refers to the timing of the sound. Is the duration of the note to be sounded being followed
accurately?
 Dynamics – refers to the loudness and softness of sound. Is the sound loud or soft? Is the emotion
expressed in the song?
 Timbre – refers to the quality of sound. Is the quality of the voice clear and is easy to identify the
prescribed sound quality?