LIMBAY, DARINDAY, and SALA: The MUSIC, CHANTS AND RITUALS

OF THE HIGAONONS IN ROGONGON, ILIGAN CITY

Culture is the landscape which provides the setting from which the social dynamics
involved in the study of the art form takes place. It lends significance to human experience by
selecting from and organizing symbols that represent that experience (Geertz, 1973).
The language of Higaonon, called Binukid, is one of the 15 Manobo languages, which
form a subgroup of the Malayo-Polynesian or Austronesian family of languages. In border areas
of Bukidnon and neighboring regions, the musical cultures seem to be influenced by the adjacent
music cultures.
During the past years, ethnomusicology has been studying the music of non-literate and
folk cultures, and the cultivated music of the high cultures of Asia and North Africa, cultural
material and phenomena that have been neglected by both historical and anthropologists (Nettl,
1964). Ritual can be heuristically defined as an ordered sequence of collective actions usually
involving sacral objects and marked speech forms aimed to produce certain effects on the natural
and social worlds. Performance in rituals and chants affirms participants’ experience of their
material and transcendent world (Buenconsejo, 2011).
The focus of this study is the documenting and transcribing the chants and music of
Higaonon as practiced in the community. The paper explains why music and ritual, chanting
performances in the locale are strongly regarded as imperative to ensure unity, solidarity, and
total well-being of the people in Rogongon, Iligan City. The researcher used purposeful, in-depth
interview actual documentation on the collected translated proverbs and forms of literature.
Higaonons have rich oral literature categorized by prose as short stories, essays, and legends
narrated by their Baes and Datus, village chiefs in Rogongon and most parts in Bukidnon. The
common human value reflected in their literature includes patience, courage, godliness, and
industry. These are transmitted and preserved through storytelling only by their datus of high
rank of whom knowledge of all is a requisite may reveal the story.

Keywords: music, chants, ritual practice, culture, tradition, indigenous music, cultural elements
 Objectives of the Study
The objective of the study is to document and transcribe the Lambay, Darinday, and Sala
chants and rituals of the Higaonon situated in Rogongon, Lanao del Norte. According to former
researchers, the group is very rich in oral traditions. However, there is a danger of extinction
because their oral traditions were not documented. Only the datus of high rank of whom
knowledge of all tribal lore is a requisite may reveal the story (Saranza, PNU-Mindanao).

Specifically to answer the following research questions:

a. What is the root of the Lambay, Darinday, and Sala chants?
b. What is the melodic organization of Higaonon chants and the music in ritusls?
c. What does the Lambay, Darinday, and Sala say about the culture and tradition of
the community?
d. What are the functions of these 3 chants in the community?
e. Are these chants a cultural artifact that encodes a variety of ideological values?
f. What patterns of practice do the Higaonon chanters construct in passing on the
chants to the next generation of chanters?
g. What are the consequences for individuals in the community, specifically the
chanters, undergo in adapting to the interpretation of the Higaonon music in chants
and rituals?
h. Does it display its musical and textual characteristics of the Higaonons in
Rogongon?
i. How do individuals experience Higaonon music in modern life, in the modern
world system?

Theoretical Framework

The study aims to examine the significance of the Lambay, Darinday, and Sala to the
community of the Higaonons in Rogongon, Iligan City. It is anchored on two theories on
ethnomusicology: (1) Comparative Ethnomusicology: Immersion by Mantle Hood; and (2)
Anthropology of Music: Merriam’s theoretical model by Alan Meriam.
 The concept on Merriam’s theoretical model, it is defined as the result of human
behavioral processes that are shaped by the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the people who
comprise a particular culture. According to his model, it is summarized into 4 aspects: (a)
Aesthetics which establishes the cultural context of musical systems; (b) selection/organization
which is defined as a particular group in the community that are significant and is organized by
them; (c) learning process which must be learned, cumulative behavior (since the Higaonon
chants and music is being passed on to generations); lastly, (d) the sound itself.
The theory of Merriam focuses on the performer-listener performance output. Upon
hearing and performing the musical product, judge the result of the musical product. If it is not
pleasing, both form new criteria which will change their musical behavior and produce a new
musical sound to be newly judged.
The theory will be helpful in creating the transcription of chants in music sheets. This
will enhance the melodic pattern of performing the chants and will be a written evidence to
identify that these chants are being practiced by Higaonon chanters from Rogongon, Lanao del
Norte.
According to the theory of Mantle Hood (1971), an ethnomusicologist must be familiar
with a wide array of general musical knowledge as well as knowledge in at least one specific
area of the world. Furthermore, Hood emphasizes in the method of fieldwork which is an
important methodology that characterizes many ethnological approaches, which often entails
some form of Participant-Observation.
This will be very helpful in this study since it includes a variety of distinct fieldwork
practices, including personal exposure to a performance tradition or musical technique,
participation in a native ensemble, or inclusion in a myriad of social customs. The goal of this
immersion is to better able to analyze and approach musical styles (Hood, 1971).
The field of ethnographic study is also taken into consideration which helps in
documenting and analyzing the chants’ in the social context of the Higaonons situated in
Rogongon, Iligan City. The performance of chants and music in rituals are discussed, helpful in
the field of music and anthropology since musical and cultural descriptions are included.
 Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will redound to the benefit of the society considering that the
oral literature of the Higaonon, specifically in Rogongon, is in danger of extinction. The demand
for the researcher in documenting and transcribing the performed chants justifies the need for
more effective strategy in passing these on to the next generation and preserve its tradition as
practiced in the community. Thus, the community that practices and applies the recommended
approach derived from the results of this study will be able to train the next generation better. For
the researcher, the study will help uncover the Higaonon identity in terms the characterization of
Higaonon ethnomusic through these chants transcribed into musical notation.
The study will contribute to the understanding of the intersection of tradition, belief, and
art in the Philippines. The study is anchored on the integration of art and society where elements,
social dynamics are examined in order to determine the significance and meaning of these chants
and the music in rituals to the community.
 Review of Related Literature

In defining “Culture”, Clifford Geertz defines culture as the landscape which provides
the setting from which the social dynamics involved in the study of the art form takes place.
Culture lends significance to human experience by selecting from and organizing symbols that
represent that experience. It refers broadly to the forms through which people make sense of their
lives.
Furthermore, Geertz notes that the analysis of culture involves a sensitivity to the total
configuration of forces in society. It involves “a searching out of significant symbols, clusters of
significant symbols – the material vehicles of perception, emotion, and understanding – and the
statement of the underlying regularities of human experience implicit in their formation.
Tradition is defines as that which is based on the integration and organization of a society
or a generation’s history. It also includes the transmission of customs or ways practiced in the
past to the present. Traditions are formed by an interplay of two important factors, the systematic
structure or form and the sustenance of the tradition (Mirano, 1997; Ibid.).

A corollary is postulated by Alan Merriam in his book entitled Anthropology of Music. In

his discourse on music as symbolic behavior, he states that:

It seems more likely that we deal here with a continuum in which the
sign melts imperceptibly into the symbols as rigidly separable or as a
continuum, music does seem to function as a “symbolic” part of life,
at least in the sense that it does represent other things.

The use of music in social research methodologies can be viewed less as an experiment
and more as a realization. It is pointed out in this chapter that music-based approaches to
research can help researchers access, illuminate, describe, and explain that which is often
rendered invisible by other research practices.

Key points from the chapter states that music is a cultural product imprinted with material
and symbolic aspects of its point of production as well as the musical conventions prevalent in
time and place. Generally, it is created within a certain context and can identify differences
across cultures and ethnicities and comment on such differences. It has also pointed out the
narrative capabilities of lyrical songs in many cultures; music is viewed as a major form of
storytelling. 3 factors are highlighted from the chapter: Multiculturalism, Hybridity, and
Ethnomusicology. Music and multiculturalism is examining music as a locus of hybridity – a
space wherein different cultures, times, or genres merge to create something new. The concept of
ethnomusicology in the chapter is a disciplinary hybrid that roots from both anthropology and
musicology. Music as a model for qualitative research, with emphasis on “hearing” is integral to
the knowledge-building process and skills associated with music, which helps the researchers
build their listening skills with great depth and intricacy.
In conclusion, pointers highlighted by the author are: (1) think musically by applying
Bressler’s ideas to a research involving textual data; (2) collaborate with musicians as co-
researchers; (3) have participants create music as a part of inquiry. (Leavy, P., Art: Music as a
Method; 2009)
In understanding more the concepts on Musicology, the chapter from the book of Kerman
Joseph, Contemplating Music: Challenges to Musicology, features Seeger’s exploration in
countries and investigating the music of the different ethnolinguistic groups in every area. The
one which is usually remarked called “the linguocentric predicament” or “the musicological
juncture”. It is pointed out that this is the incommensurability of verbal and musical
communication, the insuperable problem – seldom appreciated by musicians. According to
further immersion in the community, the results when words are used to convey anything other
than scientific fact. Speech-knowledge of music is very different from music-knowledge of it.
Another theme encountered, less frequently remarked upon, is a concern for value and
valuation. Given to dialectical formulations, which however he insisted should not be
interpreted. Seeger story and exploration exemplifies vividly one typical factor in the ideological
makeup of ethnomusicology, middle-class antagonism towards conventional middle-class
culture. This ideological orientation is reflected openly or less openly in their work by many
ethnomusicologists.
The foundation of ethnomusicology theories and concepts was the model of Alan
Merriam. In his book, he defined music as the result of human behavioral processes that are
shaped by the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the people who comprise a particular culture. This
idea has been classified into3 parts: concepts, behavior, and sound. The idea on “sciencing about
music” refers to the social science and the music to the humanities. Issues such as this statement
has aroused in the process of contesting Merriam’s model. Others have interpreted this statement
that Merriam wanted to place ethnomusicology in the field of science. But later was realized in
the opinion that “the procedures and goals of ethnomusicology fall upon the side of the social
sciences, while the subject matter is a humanistic aspect of man’s existence”. In short,
ethnomusicologists in the end are either obtaining objective knowledge (science) or studying
subjective feelings (experiences).
After contesting Merriam’s theoretical model, Timothy Rice later conceptualized his own
understanding, theoretical approach towards ethnomusicology. In his theoretical model, the main
emphasis is on the formative process of how music is historically constructed, socially
maintained, and individually create music. He made use of Merriam’s 3 basic ideas and
summarized them as analytical procedures. He aims to incorporate various disciplines on social
sciences, hard sciences, and the humanities. But the end problem of his model is that it doesn’t
really explain both the causes and effects or in terms of process or meanings.
The highlight theory of ethnomusicology introduced in the paper is the idea which states
that music follows a pattern with the basis of Merriam’s model. He conceptualized 4 aspects:
aesthetics, selection/organization, learning process, and the sound itself.
Blum’s theory features music as a culture of ideologies. It was sorted out that there a
rapid change in world view which was not realized by ethnomusicologists.
In conclusion, these theories in the field of ethnomusicology main concern are the
resolution of the conflict between “ethnomusicology” and “comparative musicology”. Nettl
quoted that “ethnomusicology is the comparative study of musical cultures, particularly as total
systems including sound and behavior with the use of field research. (Gordon, A.; 2004).

Creativity emerges implied and embedded in the presentation and performance of

folklore itself. It is a historical discourse and the site of intersecting conversations among
different disciplines.
In the historical roots for a poetics of folklore, it is pointed out that it began partly in the
context of literary and philological studies. This has emerged from post-Enlightenment and
Romanticisim perception of culture as engaged in the human subject’s interpretation of objects.
It is pointed out that the understanding of poetics is to the total body of values predicating
expressive modes of culture created in different means of media by authors, writers and even
performer processed, shaped through shared forms of transmission. In the context of studying
folklore, it provides terms and concepts for the discussion of poetics creating genres of different
folklore literature.
Furthermore, the chapter discusses on poetics of folklore as creative communication
where Jakobson essay and model served as basis in highlighting his contribution to the
cultivation of poetics of folklore and reinterpretation of Olrik’s laws. According to Jakobson,
there are 6 components in every communicative event. His model serves to identify the dominant
role of poetic function of literary texts. In the diversified adaptation of Jakobson model, different
cases of folk literature were further analyzed and elaborated (e.g. legend as a genre, proverb
genre, folktale). Emerging structural analysis relied intensively on the analysis of folk material in
the attempts to produce analytical models for the analysis of a wider cultural phenomena
including language.

The permanence/instability of form in studying poetics of folklore are to be intertwined

with questions of interaction, producing an understanding of genre in terms of a dialectic of
stability and fluidity in folklore. In folkloric genres, folklorists bring together literary,
sociolinguistic, anthropological, historical, and sociological approaches to genre. It is pointed out
that genre is not only a resource for communication by it is a way that categories are imposed on
people to restrict or obligate communication.
In conclusion, the researchers suggest that the study of the poetics of folkore widens the
concept of poetics to encompass communication in its interactive aspects through different forms
of media and the identified genres of folklore. (Shuman, A. and Hasan-Rokem, Galit; The
Poetics of Folklore; 2003)

There are 3 chronological periods that gave impact on the development of Phil. Music:
(1) 1500-1750 Start of Spanish Colonization; (2) 1750-1900 More published materials; (3) 1950-
Present. It was pointed out in the early Spanish colonization, sources of information on music
was based on historical chronicles and travelogues. It was found out that there were scattered
descriptions of indigenous vocal and instrumental music used in various occasions and rituals.
On the later part, commentaries on choir singing in churches (e.g. Gregorian chants) and the eas
in playing of European instruments such as guitar was later adopted. Researchers analyze and
transcribe pieces of sample songs. Terminologies like pitch, rhythm, and scale formations were
then recognized and are found to be unique.
In conclusion, the book caters research works of both non-musician and musicians. Their
work paved way to recognizing the beauty of indigenous music both vocal and instrumental.
(Dioquino, C., Musicology in the Philippines; 2002)

The study on Higaonon Oral Literature by Saranza focuses on the Higaonon community
in Agusan del Sur. The researcher stressed on the danger of extinction of the Higaonon traditions
and culture of the Higaonons settled in different parts of Mindanao. The researcher felt the need
of documenting a written account of Higaonon oral literature before it is totally extinct in history.
The study is aimed to analyze the indigenous oral literary genres of an ethno-linguistic group,
specifically in Agusan del Sur, in terms of the human values, symbols, imagery, point of and
characterization.
In terms of the conceptual framework of the study, it is anchored on the theory of Manuel
which states that oral literature can be a valuable material for historical interpretation. These oral
traditions can as much be the foundation of national literature as creative writings. It is pointed
out in the study that these oral traditions become basic in cultures ravaged by nature, time, and
the circumstance of history. The study made use of 20 literary pieces in prose and poetry
narrated by their key informants. These are further analyzed and subdivided in the latter into 4
parts according to the interpretation and transcription. These literary pieces were found out based
on customary laws, traditions and beliefs, the semiotics and imagery in terms of the values,
human activities and point of view. (Saranza, R.C.; Higaonon Oral Literature: A Cultural
Heritage; 2011).

Ethnomusicology may have been formulating as a result of the European discovery of the
world in the late nineteenth century, which would have provided the means for considering the
interrelationship of cultures politically, intellectually, and artistically, and for pursuing musical
study comparatively.
 Even before the establishment of ethnomusicology, there was a steady flow of ‘songs
from many lands’ apparent in published collections for school use whose authors were often
university music education faculty. Some music educators were drawn into the slow but steady
rise of interest in Latin American music in the 1940s, its greater availability due largely to
Charles Seeger’s pioneering work with the Pan-American Union. By the 1960s, music educators
met in seminars and symposia at Yale University, Northwestern University, and Tanglewood
with composers, musicologists, jazz and popular musicians, and community leaders to examine
tidal wave changes in society that would necessitate music educational reform in schools.
Based upon the broader repertoire to which teachers could have access, alongside clear
indications that the nation and the world was forever changed by demographic shifts and efforts
at globalization, instructional materials began to appear to take account of more of the musical
world. Music textbooks for use in music classes are documentation of the perception by
publishers of the professional mandates of the time and their interpretation of what teachers and
their students would bear in the name of a diverse musical repertoire. North American editions in
the 1970s were presenting instrumental art music traditions from China and Japan and ‘rhythm
complexes’ of West African percussion ensembles. By the 1980s, musical expressions of African
Americans, Latin Americans, and Native Americans were carefully selected for their authenticity
and representation, and more recent editions have ensured that songs are contextualized
according to their meaning within the cultures of their origin. (Campbell, 2002, Volk 1998).

Constructivist theorists support the notion that individuals construct meaning as the result
of prior experiences, interests, social connections and where they are situated. The social and
cultural experiences contribute to the construction of meaning where it is not necessarily
inherently found in the music itself (Froehlich, 2007). From a constructivist perspective, music
leadership is viewed as a shared process between facilitators and musicians. The organizational
structure is flattened and integrated, and participants share common values and purposes. The
interactive nature of a community promotes continuous improvement, built on the theoretical
constructs of human relations and systems theory and ecological thought (Lambert et. al., 2002).
It is assumed that knowledge or in this case innate musicianship, exists within the participant and
emphasizing the social nature of learning in a community music setting, multiple outcomes are
encouraged and human growth is an imperative.
 In a chapter Engaging in Community Music, community music practice is built on the
premise that everybody has the right and inherent ability to create and participate in music. There
is and emphasis on a variety of musical genres and cultural practices that reflect the uniqueness
and/or diversity of the community makeup. People are inexorably linked to their music. The
nature of the relationship and identifying with the music must be an authentic one, one that is
true to self (Trilling, 1972).
True authenticity calls on us to be true to ourselves, our very special and original selves,
an aspect that is interwoven and connected to our creative aesthetic life, and that would include
our relationship with music (Taylor, 1991).
In further embarking in the Higaonon music engagement, it is useful in the interest of
meaning making to address how their music is perceived and its value.
In western traditions, the practice is to honour what is transportable with notation
providing a storage and retrieval system. In contrats, community music practice often takes place
with a single person (facilitator) intervening with a group where the active music includes shared
listening, shared improvising and performing where leadership roles are semi-mediated, rather
than autocratically directed. The facilitator evokes, engages, provides ideas and imagines with
the musicians. In this context, roles become fluid, and the sharing is deeply personal rather that
ritualized.
Meaning making music with cross-cultural context is constructed, depending upon social,
cultural, and physical contexts. Common musical experience is a uniting, connecting factor. A
connected context is created that is by definition diverse, and multicultural, and it may only exist
for that brief time. The participant-constructed meaning is most deeply revealed in post-event
comments, conversations, reflective journaling and blogging. For most, this creative facilitation
process is unfamiliar in professional training and it borders on the mysterious. As a result, it
requires alternative formas of meaning revealation (Gerard Yun, 2006).

As humans engage music in all forms, meaning is sought in order to help make sense of
the experience, to measure its value and to be fully aware of wholeness that music brings to
lives, including cognitive-intellectual, the sensory-emotional, the somatic-physical and the
psycho-social aspects.
 In the process of Comparative Ethnomusicology by Mantle Hood (1964), immersing in
the community helps gain empirical experience not only by describing the social practices in
which musicians and audiences engage, but also by learning how to perform on native
instruments. By immersing in the technical detail of studying foreign music, researchers both
musically and non-musically inclined become especially sensitized to varying dimensions of the
social learning process necessary for musical mastery. That music is fully embedded in social
practices becomes even more obvious to researchers.

In studying ethnomusicology, there were three basic propositions where music is

assumed as patterned and can be limited into a musical system which is cognitive. Based on this
propositions, there are four aspects that was formulated: (a)Aesthetic aspect, which states that
music is shared aesthetic boundaries which establish the cultural context of musical systems;
(b)Selection/Organization, a particular group establishes sets of sound that are significant and
organize them; (c)Learning process, where music must be learned, cumulative behavior; and
(d)the sound itself which is the aspect most commonly studies (Herndon, 1974)
Another concept in studying ethnomusic in a community is Jeff Titon’s model which
focuses on “performance” (1988). In this article, Titon emphasized the experience in music
brought to life through performance that centers on “affect” which he defines as “the power to
move people.” In this concept, “performance” carries four implication: (1)intentional, the goal is
to move people in specific ways; it is not just “listening” or “entertaining” but is meant to produc
a reaction in the audience; (2) Rule-governed, performance is not a random event but has definite
procedures that are followed for its execution; (3)Performance is always interpreted by both
performers and the audience; Lastly, performance is marked. There is a definite beginning and
end. Performance is an aspect of life, but it is not all of life. A musical performance takes place
with a group of persons. Also, the musical event does not disappear. It remains in the memory of
the members of the community (Titon, 1988).

Turino’s triangular model of ethnomusicology attempts to describe subjectivity using

objectivity: dealing with emotional aspects if we look at it from the traditional viewpoint.
Thomas Turino based his approach on semiotics, and constructs a triangular model among sign,
object, and interpretant. In his model, the “sign” represents something actually functioning as a
sign; the “object” represents what the sign stands for; lastly, the “ interpretant” represents what
the sign creates in the observer, the effect the sign has in/on the observer including feeling and
sensation, physical reaction, as well as ideas articulated and processed in language (Turino,
1999).
Timothy Rice (2003) constructed and even revised his former model (1974) on
ethnomusicology by comparing individual ethnomusicologies as “different subject positions but
interacting in time and space”. He defines musical experience as one’s interaction with the world
and others. He noted that it is not an inner phenomenon accessible only via introspection to the
one having the experience. His three-dimensional conceptual framework on musical experience
and ethnography focuses on: (1)musical metaphors; (2)time; and (3)space/location.

The two models that are most useful for missiology are those of Merriam (1964) and
Titon (2002) because of their simplicity and profound insights. Merriam’s model states that
human behavior is based on a person’s values. The concepts one holds determine one’s behavior,
especially the music one chooses, composes, and experiences. The reverse of this is that music
will reveal one’s values. Missiologists are ultimately concerned with people’s values and beliefs.
Music can reveal these concepts.
Also, Merriam’s model suggests constant feedback and change in both the music sound
and the concepts about music. We cannot assume that people’s values and music will remain
constant. What we study among a people group one year will not necessarily apply next year, nor
reflect last year. Yet both of these concepts reveal the potential of music for changing people
ideas, not only about music, but about other things as well. Merriam didn’t exactly see it that
way. He only saw how people evaluated the music and make judgments about it. For him, the
music was being modified by the concepts, nor vice versa. Yet the potential for music changing
people’s idea is included in his model.

Titon’s model is very useful for recognizing the influence of context on music. As
missiologists study music performances, we need to remember all the factors that are influencing
the musical event: the audience, the community, personal relationships both within and without
the group, politics, finances, the historical context, even weather. All of these directly influence
what is ocurring during the performance. If we are to study music in its context, we must also
study these other factors. Titon’s model is based on affect or the power to influence and change,
both the listeners and the performers. Here is where missiologists need to take note. Music is
very influencial and can be used to change people.
What these models did not touch upon was which music affects which people most. It
was assumed that each ethnic group had one type of music which everyone in that group
preferred. Yet it may be that different people in the same ethnic group have different musical
preferences, and different music may affect them in different ways. Missiologists need to know
which music is most effective in influencing the persons they want to change.

Ritual is defined as ordinary behavior transformed by means of condensation,

exaggeration, repetition, and rhythm into specialized sequences of behavior serving specific
functions usually having to do with mating, hierarchy or territoriality. Schechner further states
that rituals are not deposit vaults of accepted ideas but in many cases performative systems
generating new materials, recombining traditional actions in new ways. He considers rituals
according to the following overlapping categories: (1)as part of the evolutionary development of
animals; (2)as structures with formal qualities and definable relationships; (3)as symbolic
systems of meaning; (4)as performative actions or processes; and (5)as experiences. The system
of meanings and its experiential aspect are intertwined in the performance of the ritual
(Schechner, 1995).

Ritual can be heuristically defined as an ordered sequence of collective actions usually

involving sacral objects and marked speech forms, aimed to produce certain effects on the
natural and social worlds. For rituals that express participants’ identities and their relationships to
one another and of their existential attachments to the worlds of their own making, ritual
participants engage human sense faculties fully, sometimes exhaustively due to their physical
bodies. Ritual performance affirms participants’ experience of their material and transcendent
world. Music is a necessary component for it transports the ritual events into the sphere of the
extraordinary (its repetitiveness and its highly patterned languaging can facilitate the
“choreographing” of the celebrating bodies in space, which then construct the kind of
envisioned social order or state those bodies have become)(Buenconsejo, 2011).
 Research Design

The study employed ethnographic research design. Ethnographic techniques included in

this study are direct, firsthand observation on actual performance, including participant-
observation; conversation with varying degrees of formality, from their chanters and performers;
in-depth interview with the Higaonon baes and datus; and focus group discussions. The
researcher took interest in the appropriate interpretation and delivery through performance based
on the Higaonon tribe rituals and traditions (Kottak, 1991).
The music of the peoples of Higaonons in neighboring provinces are played and taught
by oral traditions. One has to hear it repeatedly until it gets “in the blood”, then one can perform
the required improvisations, still following the traditional formats. Unlike the Western music,
where it follows the standard rules in creating the music through music sheets and complex
notation. The concept of ethnomusicological approach will be helpful in the process of creating
the Higaonon ethnomusic, enhance the performance output of the study.
 The researcher used the identified chanters and group performers from the Higaonon tribe
who were datus and their wives, children, and native speakers of the Higaonon language
(binukid) in Rogongon as informants of the study.
Data collection for this study creates a comparison of observational data with interview
data; checking the consistency of what people say; and comparing the perspectives of Higaonon
people (Patton, 1987). These comprise the validation of information obtained through interviews
based on written evidences.
Analysis of data in this qualitative research uses “native” analysis under ethnomusicology
theories and methods. This means that analytical approaches inherently incorporate value
judgments and that, to understand music, it is crucial to construct analysis within cultural
context. It is employed in this research the methods of fieldwork, usually collected data are
transcribed and carried out the analysis in the community. Alan Lomax’s method of cantometrics
is very helpful in the process of analyzing the data collected and recorded performances of the
Higaonons.