by Jocelyn Timbol-Guadalupe, PhD
taken from the Introduction of the “Kaway-Kawayan: Bamboo Music Education Lessons for K-12 Volume 1“.

“Sa Filipinas, ang kawayan ay malaking bahagi ng kultura dahil kaugnay ito ng iba’t ibang tradisyon, pagdiriwang, at paniniwala. Halimbawa, sa panitikan, ayon sa alamat, ang unang lalaki at unang babae ay nagmula sa isang pirasong kawayan. Sa sayaw, ang bantog na tinikling, singkil at subli ay isinasayaw gamit ang kawayan. Sa musika, ginagamit din ang kawayan sa paggawa ng iba’t ibang klase ng instrumentong pangmusika. Maging ang mga katutubong laro gaya ng luksong kawayan at palosebo ay gumagamit ng damong tropikong ito.”

(In the Philippines, bamboo plays a big part in culture because of its varied roles in tradition, celebration, and folk beliefs. According to Philippine folk literature, the first man and woman came from a bamboo pole split into two. Philippine
dances such as the tinikling, singkil, and subli use bamboo accompaniment. Bamboo is also used in various types of Philippine musical instruments. Philippine games like luksong kawayan and palosebo use the tropical grass.)

Source: https://philippineculturaleducation.com.ph/kawayan/

In the distant past, our ancestors told a story about how the first Filipinos were born from the bamboo. The story goes that a bird was exploring an island when it heard a voice coming from a bamboo pole. Curious, the bird tapped on the bamboo. The bamboo cracked open and there emerged from it a man and a woman. The bird carried the two on its back toward an island where life as we know it began. At present, bamboo continues to play an important part in our lives. We use it as ingredient and tools in our cuisine, as medium in our arts and music, as building materials in our furniture and architecture, and as part of our decorative landscaping and flood and erosion control systems.

Like the first man and woman in the folktale, Kaway-Kawayan is a child of the bamboo, born from the labors of the Department of Science and Technology Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI), the UP Center for Ethnomusicology (UPCE), the Philippine Normal University (PNU), and the Philippine Society for Music Education (PSME). Together, these institutions and organizations worked on the Bamboo Music Instruments Innovation Research and Development Program, which is composed of projects seeking to develop the bamboo music industry in the Philippines through ethnographic and scientific documentation of folk and commercial bamboo makers, treatment of commonly damaged bamboo musical instruments, sound processing techniques and analysis, and bamboo processing and training center.

Kaway-Kawayan is a collection of music lessons on bamboo music integrating the content and performance standards of the Philippine K to 12 music curriculum. The lessons contained herein are a product of the collaboration of researchers from UPCE and writers from PNU and PSME. The ethnographic documentation of UPCE yielded significant records of bamboo music traditions in the Philippines, updating the research done by National Artist Jose Maceda in the 1970s until the 1980s. These evolving folk knowledge, skills, and practices documented in the ethnography of selected areas are imparted through the lessons written by the writers who were present during the fieldwork done by the ethnographers documenting the bamboo music traditions in situ or via online.

The first volume of Kaway-Kawayan focuses on the following Philippine bamboo music traditions and instrument makers: (1) Bamboo Organ of Las Piñas, (2) Bamboo Rondalla of Dipolog, (3) Bamboo Ukulele of Cebu, (4) Himig Kawayan of Quezon City, Laguna, Sta. Mesa; (5) Karatong Festival of Dulag, Leyte; (6) Musikong Bumbong of Angono, Rizal; (7) Musikong Bumbong of Bulacan; and (8) Tultugan Music of Iloilo. The lessons combine the ethnographic information contained in the bamboo music documentation with a sequential plan of musical experiences that are age-appropriate, culturally sensitive, and integrative of the Filipino children or youth’s evolving musicking.

This volume has two sets: elementary (grades one through six) and junior high school (grades seven through ten). Content, standards, and competencies are derived from the DepEd K to 12 music curriculum of The music strategies reflect active listening, performing vocally and instrumentally alone or with others, evaluating one’s music performance, and integrating bamboo music performances with related arts like speech choir, dance, or theatre. Materials used in the lessons were carefully selected from the ethnographic documentation and online video materials with accompanying links for media access. Reflections after each lesson enable the teacher to look deeper into the various lesson components and remediation activities when needed. Enrichment activities are also provided for learners who want to know more about bamboo traditions in general and bamboo instrument makers from the research sites in particular. When applicable, interdisciplinary activities for mathematics, social studies, physical and social sciences are included in some of the lessons.

Finally, the word “kaway-kawayan” is also a wordplay that means “bamboo waving.” This wordplay is an apt metaphor for the swaying bamboo as it bends against adversity, never breaking but always adapting. We hope that through the lessons contained in Kaway-Kawayan, teachers, students, and bamboo enthusiasts can derive, interpret, and adapt educative experiences to keep the Philippine music like the bamboo – with roots firmly attached to our traditions and culture, but at the same time continuously growing and shooting upwards to face the needs and challenges of the present and the future.