Ifugao • Hudhud Chants and Ancient Prayers From the Filipino Cordillera

Igorot music refers to the traditional musical practices of the Cordillera peoples of Northern Luzon in the Philippines, including the Ifugao, Kalinga, Bontoc, Kankanaey, Ibaloi, and related communities. It is characterized by flat-gong (gangsa) ensembles, bamboo idiophones and aerophones (such as bungkaka/bungkaca bamboo buzzers, saggeypo panpipes, tongali/kalaleng nose flutes, and kolitong bamboo zithers), and antiphonal or responsorial vocal forms like salidummay and epic chant traditions such as the Ifugao hudhud and the Kalinga ullalim. Rhythms are cyclical, interlocking, and dance-centered, with gong ensembles used for rituals, community feasts (cañao/kanyaw), agricultural cycles, weddings, and peacemaking. Melodically, Igorot songs often use pentatonic or anhemitonic scales, heterophonic textures, and non-tempered tunings aligned to local instrument acoustics rather than Western equal temperament. Music is inseparable from dance, ritual, and social life, functioning as a sonic emblem of identity and community cohesion.