Tuna (music)

A tuna is a group of university students in traditional university dress who play traditional instruments and sing serenades. The tradition originated in Spain and Portugal in the 13th century as a means of students to earn money or food. Nowadays students don't belong to a "tuna" for money nor food, but seeking to keep a tradition alive, for fun, to travel a lot and to meet new people from other universities. A senior member of a tuna is a "tunante", but is usually known simply as a "tuno". The newbies are known as "caloiros".

The name TUNA may come from French roi de Thunes, "king of Tunis", a title used by leaders of vagabonds. But there is also a legend of a real King of Tunis, known for his love to music and party that usually liked to walk around the streets at night playing and singing. That explains why the term roi de Thunes was applied.

In the old times (medieval days) the Sopistas would use their musical talents to entertain people in exchange for a coin and a bowl of soup (sopa, in Portuguese and Spanish, hence the name sopistas). They would also play their music under the windows of the ladies they wished to court.

From its origins to the present day, from and through of the Tunas have continued the cultivation of popular instruments such as the bandurria, lute, guitar and tambourine, instruments which are named in the Spanish book Libro del Buen Amor by Juan Ruiz (c. 1283 - c. 1350).

For these occupations, they took their guitars and bandurrias and sang popular songs. The tunos or sopistas also showed abilities for music, and in courting ladies that they had been wooing to. The sopistas were poor students that with their music, friendly personality and craftiness scoured for cheap eats for a few coins in the eating-houses, convents, streets and squares.

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