The octavina or Philippine octavina is a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

-shaped

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

instrument with a tuning similar to the

laúd Laúd ( es, "lute") is a plectrum-plucked chordophone from Spain, played also in diaspora countries such as Cuba and the Philippines. The laúd belongs to the cittern family of instruments. The Spanish and Cuban instruments have six double c ...

. Originally a Spanish instrument, the octavina was soon incorporated into other cultures, notably including

Filipino culture The culture of the Philippines is characterized by cultural diversity. Although the multiple ethnic groups of the Philippine archipelago have only recently established a shared Filipino national identity, their cultures were all shaped by the ...

History

With the large

Spanish influence Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

on Filipino culture from the 16th to the 19th century, many traditional Spanish instruments became incorporated into local music, and after passed time, have evolved into entirely unique instruments. The Spanish precursor to the octavina may have been the smaller-bodied, 12 string Bandurria-like instrument called the "Octavilla", although its use was not as prominent or popular. The name as translated in all versions of the instrument has the prefix of octa- which refers to the tuning of each set of double strings. Today it is most commonly found in the local variant of the

rondalla The rondalla is an ensemble of stringed instruments played with the plectrum or pick and generally known as plectrum instruments. It originated in Medieval Spain, especially in the ancient Crown of Aragon: Catalonia, Aragon, Murcia, and V ...

, a hispanic string orchestra.

Tuning

The Octavina has a set of 14 strings ( in 6 courses: 6th-single, 5th-double, 4th-double, 3rd-triple, 2nd-triple and 1st-triple. It is numbered starting from the bottom. It is tuned similarly to that of the bandurria, but one octave lower, giving: *1st: G4 G4 G4 *2nd: D4 D4 D4 *3rd: A3 A3 A3 *4th: E3 E3 *5th: B2 B2 *6th: F#2

Construction

Formed like a guitar with in most cases, a figure eight-shaped body and a round sound hole, the Octavina has a shorter neck, often with only 16

frets A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instrum ...

, though some octavinas may have 18 to 20 frets, like its close relative, the

. The instrument is played like the laúd plays, the lower notes in accompaniments and in unison with the bass notes.

References

{{Authority control Philippine musical instruments Guitar family instruments Southeast Asian music

History

Tuning

Construction

See also

References