Music of the philippines

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 style 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 singing in Kundiman style.
Philippine choral music
Philippine choral music
The Philippine choral music scene has been developed and
popularized by the Philippine Madrigal Singers. This choir is the
country's premier chorale and has been an award-winning chorale
through its existence. It is the only choir in the world to have won twice
in the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (1997 and 2007), widely
considered the most prestigious chorale competition in the world. Also
from the same homefront, i.e. the University of the Philippines, are the
University of the Philippines Singing Ambassadors (or UPSA) and the
University of the Philippines Concert Chorus (or UPCC), two of the
most sought-after and multi-awarded groups in the country.
Philippine choral music
Also, Kundirana, a high-school choral group from La Salle Green Hills,
became popular as well. Other popular and internationally awarded
groups are the UST Singers and the Ateneo College Glee Club. Saint
Louis University Glee Club in Baguio city has been one of the
outstanding choral group in the Philippines and the most rewarded
choral group in the Cordilleran Region for winning in the CCP. The
Philippines is arguably the most awarded Asian country in choral
music.ronniel
OPM (Original Pilipino Music)
OPM (Original Pilipino Music)
Original Pilipino Music, now more commonly termed Original Pinoy
Music or Original Philippine Music, (frequently abbreviated to OPM)
originally referred only to Filipino pop songs, especially those in the
ballad form, such as songs popularized in the 1970s through the mid-
1990s by major commercial Filipino pop artists like Ryan Cayabyab,
Kuh Ledesma, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Martin Nievera, Basil Valdez, Rey
Valera, Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Lani Misalucha, Lea Salonga,
and APO Hiking Society.
OPM (Original Pilipino Music)
In the passage of time as well as the development of many diverse
and alternative musical styles in the Philippines, however, the term
OPM now refers to any type of Original Philippine Music created in the
Philippines or composed by individuals of Philippine extraction,
regardless of location at the time when composed. The lyrics, in fact,
may be in any language or dialect. Although most of it are written
either in Filipino/Tagalog, English or Taglish, OPMs written in foreign
languages (eg. in Japanese), though handful, do exist
Modern Filipino Music from the
Regions
Modern Filipino Music from the
Regions

For a long time now, OPM has been centralized in Manila, where Tagalog and English are
the dominating languages. Other ethnolinguistic groups such as Visayan, Bikol, and
Kapampangan, despite making music in their native languages are not yet that welcome
in the OPM category, except in phenomenal cases like the Bisrock (Bisaya Rock) song
"Charing" by Davao band 1017 and the Kapampangan novelty song "O Jo, Kaluguran Da
Ka" by Pampanga-based stand-up comedian Ara Muna.

Multiculturalism advocates and federalists often connect this to the Tagalog cultural
hegemony of the capital of the Philippines, Manila. However, in the recent years,
musicians from other ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines are beginning to revolt
against ethnic discrimination in music by introducing their music through the Internet.
Modern Filipino Music from the
Regions

Having successfully created a subgenre of Philippine Rock they called Bisrock, the
Visayans by far have the biggest collection of modern music in their native language, with
great contributions from Visayan bands Phylum and Missing Filemon.

Following suit are the Kapampangans, who have successfully penetrated the national
scene with the Tagalog-Kapampangan translation of the English song "Sometimes When
We Touch" titled "O Jo, Kaluguran Da Ka." The debut music video of "Oras" by Tarlac City-
based Kapampangan band Mernuts has penetrated MTV Pilipinas, making it the first ever
Kapampangan music video to join the ranks of other mainstream Filipino music videos.
Modern Filipino Music from the
Regions

"RocKapampangan: The Birth of Philippine Kapampangan Rock," an album of modern
remakes of folk Kapampangan extemporaneous songs by various Kapampangan bands
was also launched last February 2008, which are now regularly played via Kapampangan
cable channel Infomax-8 and via one of Central Luzon's biggest FM radio stations, GVFM
99.1. Inspired by what the locals call "Kapampangan cultural renaissance," Angeles City-
born balladeer Ronnie Liang rendered Kapampangan translations of some of his popular
songs such as "Ayli" (Kapampangan version of "Ngiti") and "Ika" (Kapampangan version
of "Ikaw") for his repackaged album.

Despite the growing clamor for non-Tagalog and non-English Filipino music, the local
music industry, which is centralized in Manila, is still skeptical in making investments.
Some of their major reasons include the language barrier, the still-small market, and the
demonization of regionalism in the Philippines.
Filipino rock music
Filipino rock music

The United States occupied the Islands in 1898 until 1935 and introduced American blues
folk music|folk, R&B and rock and roll became popular. In the late 1950s, native
performers adapted Tagalog language|Tagalog lyrics for North American rock n'roll music,
resulting in the seminal origins of Filipino rock.

The most notable achievement in Filipino rock of the 1960s was the hit song "Killer Joe,"
which propelled the group "Rocky Fellers" to #16 on the American radio charts. However,
despite the Fellers family (father and four sons) being of Manila origin, the song itself was
written by US musicians Bert Russell (Bert Berns), Bob Elgin, and Phil Medley, so some
critics contend that it wasn't truly Filipino rock.
Filipino rock music

Up until the 70s, popular rock music had always been written in English. In the early
1970s, rock music began to be written using local languages, with bands like the Juan
Dela Cruz Band being among the first popular bands to do so. Mixing Tagalog and English
lyrics were also popularly used within the same song, in songs like "Ang Miss Universe Ng
Buhay Ko," by the band Hotdogs which helped innovate the Manila sound. The mixing of
the two languages (known as "Taglish"), while common in casual speech in the
Philippines, was seen as a bold move, but the success of Taglish in popular songs,
including Sharon Cuneta's first hit, "Mr DJ," broke the barrier forevermore.
Soon, Filipino rock musicians added folk music and other influences, helping to lead to the
1978 breakthrough success of Freddie Aguilar. Aguilar's Anak, his debut recording, is the
most commercially successful Filipino recording in history, and was popular throughout
Asia and Europe, and has been translated into numerous language by singers worldwide.
Asin also broke into the music scene at the same time and were very popular.

Filipino rock music

Folk-rock became the Filipino protest music of the 1980s, and Aguilar's "Bayan Ko"
became especially popular as an anthem during the 1986 revolution. At the same time, a
counterculture rejected the rise of politically focused lyrics. In Manila, a Punk rock scene
developed, led by bands like Betrayed, The Jerks and Urban Bandits. The influence of
New Wave was also felt during these years, spearheaded by The Dawn.
1990s saw the emergence of a superstar pop-rock group, the Eraserheads, considered by
many as the greatest Filipino band phenomenon in the Philippine recording scene. In the
wake of their
success was the emergence of a string of influential Filipino rock bands such as Yano,
Siakol, Parokya ni Edgar and Rivermaya, each of which mixes the influence of a variety of
rock subgenres into their style.
Filipino rock music

Filipino rock has also developed to include some hard rock and heavy metal and
Alternative Rock such as Wolfgang, Razorback, Greyhounds, Queso, Grin department
and the progressive band Paradigm.
The Neo-Traditional genre in Filipino music is also gaining popularity, with artists such as
Joey Ayala, Grace Nono, Bayang Barrios Cocojam and Pinikpikan, reaping relative
commercial success while utilizing the traditional musical sounds of many indigenous
minorities in the country.
Today, the Philippines is perhaps Asia's most vibrant music-obsessed country, with home
spawned bands such as Sponge Cola, Chicosci, Bamboo, Silent Sanctuary, Rocksteddy,
Kjwan, Kamikazee, Cueshe, Itchyworms, Vinyard, Valley of Chrome, Clap Your Hands,
Imago, Hale, The Ambassadors, Moonstar 88, Faspitch, Callalily and Urbandub, and the
emergence of its first virtual band, Mistula
The end!