The music of

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

encompasses a broad range of traditional and contemporary music. Modern music from Guam includes elements of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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, Filipino and Polynesian music. The Spanish and Mexicans contributed a type of song called ''serenatas'' to the culture of Guam. Some traditional Catholic songs in the Spanish language, including "Mil Albricias", "Pastores a Belen", "Santa Maria de la Merced" or "En Lecho de Pajas" and some traditional love songs including "A mi morena", "Ay que triste desventura", "Cancion de Antonio Acosta" or "Te quiero amar" are preserved. Flora Baza Quan is known as the "Queen of Chamorro Music". The

state song Forty-eight of the fifty U.S. states have one or more state songs, a type of regional anthem, which are selected by each state legislature as a symbol (or emblem) of that particular U.S. state. Some U.S. states have more than one official state ...

of Guam is "

Stand Ye Guamanians Stand Ye Guamanians ( ch, label= CHamoru, Fanohge CHamoru), officially known as the Guam Hymn ( ch, label= CHamoru, Kantikun Guahan), is the regional anthem of Guam. The original English lyrics and music were written and composed in 1919 by Ramo ...

" by Ramon Sablan, adopted in 1919, but better known as the 1974 Chamoru translation by Lagrimas Untalan, "Fanohge Chamoru."

Music venues and institutions

Music institutions in Guam include the

University of Guam University of Guam ( ch, Unibetsedåt Guåhan) (U.O.G.) is a public land-grant university in Mangilao, Guam. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and offers thirty-four degree programs at the undergraduate level a ...

's Fine Arts Department, Guam Symphony Society, Guam Choristers, Cantate Guam, and the Gregorian Institute of Guam. The Guam Symphony Society was founded in 1967, and hosts concerts such as the Symphony Seaside Concert and the Musikan Famagu'on for children. The two major local record labels are Napu Records and StelStar Records. In addition to the previously stated, there is the government sponsored Guam Territorial Band. The Guam territorial band hosts concerts yearly often free to the public, as well as representing Guam music on an international stage.

Chamorro music

Traditional Chamorro instruments include the

belembaotuyan The eleaotua is a musical bow played in Guam, also spelled ''eluaotuas'', ''eleaotuchan'', and ''elimau-tuyan''. This gourd-resonating musical bow likely has common roots with the Brazilian berimbau, due to constant trade between Asia and South Am ...

, a hollow

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the ear ...

stringed instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the st ...

, and the

nose flute The nose flute is a musical instrument often played in Polynesia and the Pacific Rim countries. Other versions are found in Africa. Hawaii In the North Pacific, in the Hawaiian islands the nose flute was a common courting instrument. In Haw ...

. Kantan singing is also popular. It is a kind of

work song A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or a song linked to a task which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song. Definitions and ...

, begun by one person teasing another in verse form, and then continuing through a group one individual in turn. Chamorro

chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of n ...

s and Kantan Chamorrita (''Chamorrita singing''), a kind of Chamorro poetry, are also important elements of Guamanian music. Kantan Chamorrita is a kind of improvised poetry with a

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

format that is documented back to 1602 and remains a vital part of Chamorro culture. In Kantan Chamorrita, individuals and groups trade witty remarks at each other as part of a debate. These songs are "ancient folk songs, arranged in quatrains of two octosyllabic couplets, which, according to some writers, are composed on a single melody, the variations depending on the individual style of performance. The distinctive features are spontaneous improvisation and a dialogue performance between two or more people, depending on the occasion and function."

Performers

Chamorro popular musicians include KACY, Flora Baza Quan, Daniel De Leon Guerrero, and singer-songwriter J. D. Crutch. The musical duo Gus and Doll (Agusto Quichocho and his wife Josephine Sablan Quichocho) were prominent performers of Chamorro music, active until the late 1980s. Modern singer

Pia Mia Pia Mia Perez (born September 19, 1996) is an American singer, songwriter, and model. She began her career by posting videos of herself singing on the video sharing site YouTube, and went on to star in commercials and music videos. Pia Mia sign ...

is the only artist from Guam to have a song on the

Billboard Top 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in ...

, 2015's " Do It Again."

References

External links

Jesse and Ruby, From Guam with Love
– Guam Singers, Songwriters and Composers, Guam Cultural Icons
KUAM
– radio station specializing in local musicians
I Puti'on (the star) covers
on

WhoSampled WhoSampled is a website and app database of information about sampled music or sample-based music, cover songs and remixes. History Nadav Poraz founded the site in London, England in 2008, as a way to track musical samples and cover songs. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Music Of Guam Guamanian culture