Danzas Filipinas by Paul Adrian Moldez

'Danzas Filipinas' is a selection of twelve Filipino traditional music from the Tagalog and Visayan region of the Philippines—where much of the music has been influenced by the 333 year-long-colonial legacies of Spain. I've always enjoyed playing Filipino traditional music and fell in love with its simple and beautiful melodies. It feels very special to be playing these songs since I grew up listening to them.

I started to think about what kind of songs have a quality that makes people want to listen to them over and over? How do you encourage people to take the time to learn to play them? Is it the simplicity? A memorable melody? I struggled to make a list of songs to work on. By choosing twelve songs means denying the rest. These songs were able to persist through centuries; how can I deny the rest of them? Then I stopped thinking and began looking at Filipino traditional songs that I grew up listening to and naturally, I’ve found twelve absolutely beautiful songs which resonate powerfully with me.

I opt to work on each arrangement with a pen, ink, and paper, thus observing my self-imposed rule: all musical ideas should be written on a piece of paper before converting them into ones and zeros. It’s a time-consuming process but proved to be very productive.

It’s a great pleasure for me to present to you these twelve Filipino traditional arrangements for solo guitar. I have personally devoted more than a year of making this work complete. The pressure of new duties and responsibilities interrupted its completion, but at length, it’s finally completed. In writing these twelve arrangements, I have endeavored to make my vision of these traditional songs available to performers, students, and enthusiasts. It’s my hope that it will provide you a glimpse of what the Filipino traditional music has to offer.

Yours in spirit and music,
Paul Adrian Moldez

Paul Adrian is a solo guitarist engaged in writing, creating, and performing musical ideas. He's been playing and continually improves to learn about the Six Stringed Beast (Guitar) for more than 25 years. He concentrates mainly on writing for his instrument for he wants to be a big contributor to the world of guitar music.

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