Well, 306 posts and we are finally into the music portion of this thread....

What a resource the MARC is. I went over there and found a small but well put together study room with computer catalog and plenty of work space. The librarian had to get the books from the stacks.

Before I began I asked for Dr. Salas. Her name had been given to me by a friend who met her and recognized her as the source I was looking for. She greeted me with a smile and took me back to her office where she gave me a crash course in Chamorro music. She explained that the Chamorro had incorporated the Spanish influence into their music during the two centuries that the Spanish dominated the island. However, they didn't put Chamorro words to Spanish tunes. They used their own tunes and put Spanish words to them. When the Japanese took the island in 1941 it was not too long before the Chamorros had put Japanese into their songs. Most of the songs were insults aimed at whatever country was in charge at the time. She sang me a song that poked fun at the Spanish and then one the children sang about the Japanese.

One form of traditional music used by the old Chamorros was the chamorita. This was a type of song, generally used by the women, in which gossip was passed or certain members of the village were teased. One woman would sing a verse. Then another would chime in with a verse. They would keep this up all day as they worked by the river or in the fields. Some forms of the chamorita did include men and these were courting songs. The two lovers would sing their songs to each other, mildly teasing and often with sexual innuendos. It was the only way to say what they were thinking without the stigma of speaking about it. Apparently more was allowed in song than in speech.

She told me the old Chamorros sang in a high nasal tone. The songs were wistful, melodramatic, and romantic. Even the work songs were used more to keep company than to regulate the rhythm of the working people. No shanties here. But the songs are very melodious and have been influenced by the Latin rhythms of the Spanish. And today the modern singers are rediscovering the old music and rearranging it to the taste of the modern population. The radio station, 102.9 FM, is the all Chamorro station. I have listened to it and heard Chamorro covers of modern pop songs. However, according to Dr. Salas, they also play the traditional music of the old people. Have I worn you all out with repetitions of how much I respect these people?

Dr. Salas got out her guitar and sang a few of the old songs for me as we talked. She is a bright Chamorro woman, tall, about my age and full of life. She says she comes from a musical family and all her family gatherings include music from all her family members. She spoke of the traditional instrument of Guam and hearing the grand master playing it. She is one of the few people who recorded him before he died. Somewhere out there is a CD of the old man playing the instrument.

She also is a story teller. She is hosting an evening of stories sometime soon. She asked me if I'd like to fill in as needed when I told her I'd been memorizing story poems back home. I hemmed and hawed but I would love to do it and we left it there.

I left her in her office and went out to the library. After a little work in the catalog I asked for three books. The librarian brought me four. One was a reprint of a July 1949 article from the Jurnal Of American Folklore which included several songs complete with notation. Another was an actual songbook published by CHAMPS, the Chamorro Music Preservation Society. They had thirty songs complete with notation and chords. Unfortunately there were no English translations. Then there was a children's songbook full of Chamorro songs. And lastly there was a pamphlet titled Three Chamorro Songs. This last was just a repeat of the songs in the 1949 atricle.

I made a bunch of copies and brought them home for further study. I hope to make some real progress with these.

Good stuff.