Serenades..

It's sad to think that one of our legacies that make us distinct from other Asians is fast fading away. However, I believe that in the provinces where there's no disco pubs and theaters, the youths still engage in doing so. Masarap mangharana and it's also sweet to listen to serenaders. I just wish it could be embedded in our younger brothers and sisters.

Sounds sweet:) but sad to say that kind of courting now are slowly gone. In my province at Sarangani they have still tradition to follow on how to court the girl. Even they have a mobile but they are not contented, because they said much better to talk the girl in personal than through texting. And also they believe that the blessing of parents of the girl are very important if you are allowed to court their daughter or not. But they don't do to serenade the girl just only to go personally the house of the girl they love no matter what.

Hmmmm... As far as I can remember, I haven't had any experience of being serenaded to yet... Except on beauty pageants. Hehe. I wonder if it exists in the city. My boyfriend has sang to me a couple of times before, but just the two of us... Unlike the typical courting type of serenades, where the guy sings outside the lady's house, and she's looking out from the window or balcony. Hehe...

Oh, this is interesting. I didn't know they did this in the Philipines. there is a tradition in South Philadelphia where the future bridegroom goes with musicians to the home of his fiance a few nights before the wedding and serenades her. The whole block and sometimes the whole neighborhood joins in. The parts of South Philadelphia where this still occurs are mostly Italian and Irish so I assume the custom was carried to America by immigrants from one of those countries.

Oh yes it surely has been fading to serenade someone. I know some still practise this in Australia not many but some of the young ones. They express their love by taking the girl out and inviting her to dinner, going dancing but they must check with the parents first before they can go if they are too young.

I guess I must be lucky I have experienced this at least once in my life. It was with my 2 kids dad. It was custom in their province of Marinduque to serenade a girl. We were staying in his aunt's cottage by the beach and it had that old fashioned window that was great for serading.

im a woman and well like to be serenade ..im a pinay .thats it and very proud of to be one ..i dont know with the other woman but its nice hearing some singing you a song its so romantic...well yeah some provinces preserve it but it but the last time ive heard about was in the 80s and its in bohol provinces..

This sounds very romantic :) I'm surprised to know it still exist despite all.. now it just sending text messages and clips and tones, etc.. giving a girl a one flower is still happens but most guys now think is "too soft" .

I hardly hear of youth nowadays serenading ladies. it is sad because this is indeed a very beautiful Filipino ritual deeply embedded in our history. Courtship has taken a very modern take, with the influx of technology. Heck, I have heard of text courtship, email courtship, chat courtship. Some don't even get to meet the parents of the one they are courting. Sad,sad,sad...

lol.

You're right, this tradition is now extinct if not nearing extinction. We cant entirely blame the youth. Many factors should be considered also like the way the cities are congested and the houses are so near each other. The girl's neighbors might complain or she might get humiliated. The easier, more modern way of expressing love through song is sending her a cd. But then, nothing could beat the sentimentality and romance attached to a hearfelt serenade.

im Pinoy and i really love to be courted by a Filipino guy =) coz its really sweet. but almost all my bf have never seranaded me. anyway i have a bf now and he sings to me on the phone almost every night so that i can sleep well =) its enough for me =)

i'd much prefer a serenade rather than a love quote text message. but although the technology that we have now has taken over certain courtship rituals, there are still ways where it can actually enhance it. this friend of mine let me listen to a song he had saved on his phone, it was of a guy playing a guitar and singing a ver sweet song. so i asked who the guy was and he said it was from his suitor. aw... so sweet. and yes that was not a typo, both of them are 'he.' but it just shows that if the person who's courting you really wanted to sing his heart out but doesn't want to be old fashioned, he can always use the technology he has access to. :) so sweet.

Hi there Raijin! I think you're right about the tradition of serenade courtship (harana) slowly fading away, but many of my friends here believed it has been extinct ever since from the time they were born, hehe. I personally havent witnessed a guy who serenaded a girl before, most thinking it was too cheesy (baduy for that matter) and girls can not be bothered for something that will pull them into neigborhood gossips. no offense but i think serenade isn't the trend anymore for anyone here living in the capital. since homes are so close to each other, obnoxious neighbors can get pretty annoyed by noisy suitors; some would even think of a way to make fun of it which can lead to more trouble. maybe most of us know how it is here in manila, you just can't go around places anymore late at night without being glared at, let alone performing serenades out in the street. another thing is that texting had always been the more convenient and safer way to a woman's heart, and yes it may be full of insensitive sweet-talk, redundant love qoutes and other fancy nonsensical conversations but it is a fact that most if not all youngsters favor the use of technology to amuse their loved ones. this may sound a bit daft for some people but i think that even courtship practices are slowly joining the traditions of the past. think of SMS, InternetChat, TVChat, MMS, etc and a single mention of an EB may well be the catalyst for romance. it's sad that people forget how things used to be but it is best for us to cope with that and try to take advantage of the new things in life. the world progress, so must we, it can be sad that we have to leave things behind but the world just can't stop revolving, people change and nothing is permanent. tnx RAIJIN! for bringing up this interesting topic...

with roses red ones

I don't think I could handle being sung too, it would just be weird! Luckily I already know my fiance can't sing :) However their are other "grand gestures" or surprises that a guy can do to show a girl he loves her. It all comes down to thinking outside of the box and doing something unexpected - but singing doesn't have much to do with it anymore.

lol

lol.

tradition is like our culture which came from our ancisters and we don't have any right to forgot them