Mindanao Music: Islamic & Non-Islamic Traditions

• Students will describe the music video of Mindanao and share ideas about the place, people, and culture.
• Understand the characteristics of the vocal and instrumental music of Islamic and Non-Islamic communities in Mindanao.
• Appreciate the unique traditions and social rituals of this region.

Music of Mindanao Introduction

• Mindanao has a number of cultural communities, each with unique traditions.
• Music from Mindanao is based on Islamic and Non-Islamic cultural traditions.
• Chants and lullabies are majestic and serene vocal music.

Islamic Music (Vocal Music)

• Both vocal and instrumental music are present in Mindanao.
• Vocal music expresses thoughts and emotions.
• Instrumental music is used to accompany dances and rituals.
• Vocal music reflects the natural and spiritual life, of Muslims, Christians, and Lumads.
• This artistic expression is one of the richest and most technically excellent among indigenous groups.

Songs in Mindanao

• Distinct song types include religious chants (lughu) and secular songs.
• Religious chants are sung during Friday noon services for Molud, Mawlid, Puwasa, Ramadan, and commemorations of the dead.
• Secular songs include love songs, legend chants, and lullabies.

Vocal Music Characteristics

• Vocal music is indigenous, with long melodic lines that are chanted.
• It has its own unique rhythm and melismatic sound, such as "Tidtu" and "Binalig," which are composed of four notes.
• It is often accompanied by indigenous instruments like the hegalung, suling, and gongs.
• The Islamic cultural community includes the Maguindanaos, Maranaos, Yakans, Samals, and Tausugs.
• Vocal music is used in traditions, rituals, and ceremonies; styles vary by village, performed solo or in call-response manner, with embellishments like tremolo and a nasal singing style.

Maranao Songs

• Kadikir is a song sung in a slow and free rhythm, speaking of verses from the Qur'an and Maranao themes like morals, life, death, and Islam.
• Kandarangen is a song from Maranao accompanied by gongs.
• Kandomana combines styles of kandarangen and kadikir.
• Kapranon is a song of private sentimentality sung softly.
• Bayok is a Maranao lullaby.
• Kandidiagao is a melodious lament over the dead.
• Dikker are sacred songs with quotations from the Qur'an.

Tausug Songs

• Kissa is a love song of datus and princesses.
• Parang Sibil are heroic songs.

Yakan Songs

• Lugu is used in reading the Qur'an and other Islamic books.
• Kalangan are songs to serenade loved ones.
• Yaya are lullabies.

Instrumental Music

• It is played individually or by an ensemble, accompanying dances and rituals.
• Mindanao is known for its kulintang music.
• The Maguindanao term for the entire ensemble is basalen or palabunibunyan, referring to an ensemble of loud instruments or music-making using a kulintang.

Islamic Instrumental Ensemble

• Kulintang features horizontally-laid gongs playing melody, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums struck with wooden beaters.
• Tagongko is parade music played by male musicians in festive attire, unlike kulintang, which is indoor music; it's used in ceremonies such as sending off dignitaries and wedding celebrations and ceremonies to appeal to spirits for harvest or fish.
• Kapanirong, from "sirong" (beside a house), is similar to Tagalog harana, where bachelors serenade a maiden by her window.

Non-Islamic Music

• Lumad means native referring to groups of Christians and non-Muslim indigenous groups in Mindanao such as the Dibabawon, Tagakaola, Bagobo, Ubo, Teduray, Subanon, B’laan, Mandaya, Higaonon, Banwaon, Talaandig, Mansaka, Manguanan and the T’boli, and the Manobo.

Non-Islamic Vocal Music

• Non-Islamic communities sing about nature, work, rituals, and ceremonies.
• Manobos have a wedding chant called Sinda-ay and a harvest song called Balatuking.
• Subanons have the Diwata for curing ceremonies.

Non-Islamic Instrumental Music

• Kudlong is a stringed instrument played by plucking strings with a plectrum.
• Takumbo can produce only low tones.
• Palakpak is made from bamboo and has two parts struck together.
• Agong a tamlang is a bamboo gong with a closed node at one end and an open node at the other, tapered at the tip.
• Suling is called siloli by the T'bolis, with a palm leaf sometimes coiled around the closed end.
• Tambuli is a trumpet made of carabao horns.
• Amel is a hollow piece of wood covered by animal skin.
• Tugo is a short, wide drum used by the Tirurays.

Generalization

• The religious practices and traditional rituals define the indigenous music of Mindanao, which is a mixture of West Asian mysticism and indigenous Southeast Asian animism.
• Religion plays an essential role in both Islamic and non-Islamic music.

Values Integration

• Prompts reflection on the importance of studying Islamic and non-Islamic music of Mindanao.
• Prompts reflection about how to show appreciation to this music.