DIFFERENT RONDALLA INSTRUMENTS

BANDURRIA

The bandurria is a small, plucked instrument, which is a hybrid of the guitar and cittern

families, originally found in Spain and parts of Latin America.

Filipino artisans copied the Spanish guitar and bandurria during the colonial era. These

two intruments, combined with several other new instruments, became the base of the

Philippine rondalla.

Besides the regular bandurria, there is the piccolo bandurria. Shaped like a teardrop, it

has a hole in the middle and the neck that connects the string from the body to the tuning pegs.

Both the regular bandurria and the piccolo bandurria have 14 strings, the difference is that a

regular bandurria has six sets of string tuned into interval of fourths – the highest string being

G, then D, A, E, B, and F-#. On the other hand, the piccolo bandurria has seven sets of strings –

the first is in C, then G, D, A, E, B, and F#. The doubling or tripling of strings obtain a fuller sound

and strengthens the tones.

The piccolo bandurria resembles the standard bandurria, but is smaller and tuned an

octave higher. It plays all forms of variation and ornamental and coloratura passages, and

sometimes carrieste main melody together with the standard bandurria.

GUITAR

The guitar is a stringed instrument belonging to the lute family, which is either plucked

or strummed. It normally has frets along the fingerboard, six strings and a wooden resonating

chamber with sidewalls curving inward and flat back. At the center of its face or table (or front)

is a hole from which sound produced within the resonating chamber is projected. Underneath

the table are several pieces of spruce sports called struts, which contribute greatly to the

quality of the guitar’s sound. The strings are connected from one end by a bridge (usually of

rosewood) to the tuning pegs at the upper end of the neck. Nineteen frets of silver or nickel

mark the guitar’s total range of three-and-a-half octaves. The classical guitar strings are a

combination of nylon with fine metal spun around it. The modern-day folk guitar makes use of

metal for all strings. The guitar is tuned according to the country standard, starting from the

lowest to the highest – E, A, D, G, B, and E one octave higher.

The guitar is among the most popular instruments in the Philippines. Introduced by the

Spanish colonizers, the guitar is usually used to accompany a singer and is often heard more on

social gatherings, neighborhood hangouts, and even in remote barrios wherein music making is

the main form of leisure. The guitar is also prominent in the rondalla, providing chordal and

rhythmic accompaniment.

The center of today’s guitar-making industry is Mactan Island in Cebu where “export

quality” guitars are made with various kinds of local wood like kamagong, acacia, lawaan, and

even imported materials like Canadian spruce.

OCTAVINA

The octavina is a musical instrument modeled after the Spanish guitar, and a regular

part of the Philippine rondalla. It looks like a small guitar, with a round hole in the middle.

Unlike the guitar, the octavina has six sets of doubled strings, and played with a plectrum. It is

tuned in the same manner as the bandurria but an octave lower. Its pitches, starting from the

highest are G, D, A, E, B, and F#.

What the tenor voice is to the choir, the octavina is to the rondalla. It frequently plays

the melodic counterparts or fills in the harmonies by playing the lower notes in accompaniment

or in unison with the bass.

LAUD

The laud is a tear-shaped instrument used in the Philippine rondalla. It is similar in

shape to the bandurria, but has F-holes instead of the usual round hole of the bandurria, and a

longer neck than its prototype. It has six sets of doubled strings, which increases the tone

volume or resonance. Unlike its bowed-string counterparts like the violin, the laud does not

have a sounding post in its body.

The laud is tuned in the same manner as the bandurria: the highest being G, then D, A,

E, B, nd F#. However, like the octavina, the laud is tuned an octave lower. It mainly plays the

contrapuntal parts, in the same way that the viola, cello, or bassoon do in an orchestra. –

E.M.M. Martinez