Gitara Sa Kanto

Nung Grade 5 kami sa Pasig Catholic College, ang music teacher namin, si Tito Morales ang nagturo sa aming bumasa ng nota. Lagi niyang bitbit ang kanyang melodion at yun ang ginagamit niya para iparinig sa amin ang tono ng bawat nota. Hinihipan niya ang melodion habang tinutugtog ito kaya medyo laging kapos ang hininga niya pag nagsasalita. Isa sa mga exams namin ay kantahin ang mga nota na nakasulat sa manila paper at dinikit sa blackboard. Excited ako kasi parang natural lang sa ken ang magbasa at kumanta. Nung araw ng exam ay dala-dalawa kaming pinatayo at pinakanta sa harapan. Sa tingin ko ay ayos naman ang pagkakakanta ko ng piyesa. Kaso nung makaupo na kami, sinabi sa ken ni Mr. Morales na hindi raw ako kumanta at yung kasama ko lang daw ang narinig niya. Halos binagsak niya ako sa exam. Laking gulat ko kasi iba and inaasahan kong marinig sa kanya. Sa totoo lang, yung kasabay ko ang hindi nagbubuka masyado ng bibig o wala sa tono kung kumanta. Naisahan ako! Sa sobrang inis ko e n...

Back when we were in 6th Grade at Pasig Catholic College (PCC), our Science teacher Ms. Lara used to lug around these loose blackboards from one classroom to another. Listed in them are the topics or pointers for our Science class that she had filtered from the reference books. We would spend most of the 45-minute period copying them in our notebooks and we were also expected to memorize them. Afterwards, she would conduct an oral exam where she would randomly call each one of us to answer her questions. If we could not provide the right answer, we were to remain standing. We were young kids and our inherent fear of not being able to answer the questions became self-fulfilling. By the end of the period, everyone was standing.  What I just described is the typical method of instruction that Filipinos undergo while in school. It is widely assumed that this impedes creativity and prevents kids from learning because they cannot question the data and/or challenge the status qu...

A seasoned classical guitarist once told me that at a certain point in my guitar self-studies, I should stop referring to myself as a "classical guitar player" and start letting people know that I'm a "classical guitarist". It took me a while to comprehend it because the play on wordings are subtle and yet the implications are potentially huge. It's the difference between a DIY dad who can (read: barely knows how to) use power tools to fix a fence and a licensed contractor who can construct a house with the same power tools because he knows how it's done. In very simple terms, a classical guitar player is someone who plays music on a classical guitar. That music can be a mix of classical music or other types of genre (jazz, alternative, rock,etc.). On the other hand, a classical guitarist specializes in the classics and uses the classical guitar as a medium for expressing the music. Still don't get it or don't agree? You're not alone. Whi...

Like anything that we care for in life, music that we study should be nurtured and given the time and effort necessary to bring out its message and beauty for people to appreciate. When I choose a piece, I often try to learn as much about it and its composer as I possibly can. Any background information helps me understand the context of the music and how I should play it. This process can be quick (mostly for lack of info) or occur all throughout the time I'm studying the piece. At the same time, I go through what I call "stages" of playing which is pretty much a measure of how well I know the piece and how good I can play it. There is not a cut-and-dried criteria for judging where one stage ends and the other begins, but I tried to define what generally happens in each one. This is all from my personal experience and not based on any intense scientific study.  1. Analytical - I slowly read the score while having a cup of coffee; no guitar in hand. At this stage, I t...

"No tabs were used in this video" ang madalas kong mabasa sa mga ibang nagpo-post ng guitar videos nila. Naalala ko tuloy yung disclaimer na "No animals were injured during the filming of this movie" . Para bang gusto nilang ipangalandakan na super galing nila at hindi nila kinailangan ng tabs para tumugtog. At para bang ang tabs o sheet music ay para lang dun sa mga hindi marunong gumawa ng sarili nilang arrangements.   "This piece was played by ear" ang isa pang disclaimer na nakikita ko sa mga guitar videos. Nagtataka lang ako kasi akala ko kamay at daliri ang ginagamit sa pagtugtog ng gitara at hindi tenga :-)  Ano nga ba ang tamang paraan sa pag-aaral ng isang kanta o piyesa?  Nota o tenga?  Para sa akin ay pareho itong kailangan.  Samahan mo na rin ng utak, puso, atay at balunbalunan!  Ang pagbabasa ng nota (o tabs kung hindi ka marunong magbasa ng standard notation) ay parang pagbabasa ng libro. Ang pagsusulat ng isang arrangeme...

Lately, I took the time to record Maestro Jose Valdez' composition, Philippine Medley. The back story here is that we were preparing for my daughter's 18th birthday party (also known as a debut) which is a big deal for Filipinos. I was so stressed out from all the daily preparation so to relieve my stress, I fell back on playing the guitar every night to study a bit of this 20-page piece until I was able to record all parts within almost a month. In the end, I was able to put it all together in one video and even created this blog to recount my journey. This work is a string of various Philippine traditional music arranged for four guitars. I considered it a pipe dream to play it the minute I saw the arrangement because not only was it long (about 20 pages), it also required advanced guitar skills. Of course there's that minor detail wherein I needed three other guitar players to play it :-) With no luck in finding others who can help, I decided to designate myself the task...

Nung mga binata pa kami, mahilig kaming magkita-kita pagkatapos sa trabaho at mag-inuman sa mga nakapaligid na karinderya sa Makati. Isang gabi lumabas kami nila Dyords at Ariel at tulad ng nakagawian, nag-inuman kami. Nung paubos na yung pinupulutan naming mani (mga kuripot kasi kami), biglang um-order si Ariel ng " isang buong manok ". Nagulat ako kasi mahal yun at baka hindi namin mabayaran. Sabi ni Ariel wag kaming mag-alala at sabay tinanong ako kung " saan ba galing ang manok? " Sabi ko " ...sa itlog ." Saka niya nilinaw na itlog ang ino-order niya kasi isang buong manok ang laman nun...kung napisa. Yun pala ang code word ng itlog doon sa loob ng karinderya :-) Ang pag-aaral ng isang piyesa ay parang itlog ng manok na nililim-liman at inaasahang mapisa matapos ng 21 days (alam ko ito kasi nag-alaga kami ng mga manok noon sa gilid ng bahay namin). Depende siyempre sa ating kanya-kanyang talento, puwedeng mabilis o matagal (o habambuhay) nating inaara...