When we watch P-pop, singing and dancing naturally get most of our attention. The choreography is demanding, the vocals have to hold up live, and every member has a role to play onstage.
But sometimes there is another musician behind the idol we usually see.
Some grew up around instruments before becoming performers. Some still pick up a guitar or ukulele away from the stage. Others have taken those skills into concerts. And a few have gone even further, playing instruments on the songs their groups release.
There are probably more P-pop idols who can play instruments than the ones in this story. For this feature, we focused on artists whose skills we could clearly trace through interviews, official performances, recording credits, or other reliable sources.
Before the Stage, There Were Already Instruments
Long before FELIP was releasing music of his own, instruments were already around him.
He grew up listening to gospel music with his grandparents and has spoken about an uncle who could play numerous instruments. That influence stayed with him. FELIP later shared that he spends some of his free time trying different instruments and sometimes includes them in his tracks or uses them as guides while making music.
The guitar, in particular, has become useful in his creative process.
We can see that in the creation of “Bulan.” FELIP wrote the melody and lyrics, then sent the guitar arrangement and melody he had in mind to guitarist Gino Madrid, who recorded the final guitar parts and added effects.
So even when FELIP is not the guitarist heard on the finished recording, knowing the instrument helps him shape what he wants the song to sound like.
FELIP
Filipino singer-songwriter, music producer
FELIP (Felip Jhon Suson) — also known as Ken of SB19 — is an independent artist and hands-on music producer known for his bold, experimental sound. Merging hip-hop, trap, rock, and Bisaya rap, he crafts his beats, lyrics, and visuals with full creative control.
View FELIP ProfileThat connection between music at home and music onstage also appears with Colet of BINI.
Colet grew up with a father who is both a vocalist and drummer. Billboard Philippines reported that he introduced her to singing early and encouraged her musical development while she was growing up in Bohol.
Years later, that background surfaced on one of BINI’s biggest stages.
At BINIfied at the Philippine Arena, Colet sat behind a drum kit and performed a drum solo during her “4 Minutes” stage.
For a moment, the member audiences usually see singing and dancing at the front of a BINI performance was behind the drums instead.
Not every instrument-playing moment has to be that big, though.
Maloi showed a quieter version of it much earlier in BINI’s journey.
In a 2021 appearance on Magandang Buhay, she played the ukulele, while other profiles have also documented her ability to play guitar.
Looking back now, after seeing BINI perform on much larger stages, those older clips offer another glimpse of the members’ musical lives before the arenas.
Then the Instruments Enter the Song
Seeing an idol play an instrument onstage is one thing.
Hearing them play it on the actual record is another.
That is what makes ALAMAT’s “Hapag” particularly interesting.
When ALAMAT discussed the songs on their 2025 album DESTINO with Billboard Philippines, they revealed that R-Ji played the guitars on “Hapag,” while Tomas played the flute.
R-Ji talked about developing his guitar approach from the instrumental he was hearing, while Tomás explained that he usually lets the feeling of a song guide the flute parts he creates.
So when you listen to “Hapag,” R-Ji and Tomás are not only there as voices in ALAMAT. Their playing is part of the arrangement itself.
It is one of the clearest examples of an idol’s instrumental skill making its way directly into a P-pop recording.
Some Skills Were There Before P-pop
Sophia of KAIA had also been playing instruments before her P-pop debut.
In a 2020 interview, she shared that while practicing singing and dancing, she had also gotten back into playing guitar and piano.
It is a small detail from before KAIA, but it is also a reminder that the roles we eventually associate with an idol do not always show everything they brought with them.
More Than What We See Onstage
There are certainly more instrumentalists across P-pop than the artists we were able to verify for this feature. Some of those skills may only have appeared in old performances, livestreams, or smaller fan events.
What these examples show is how far that musicianship can travel.
An instrument can remain something an idol enjoys offstage, become part of a concert, help shape a song, or eventually make its way into the recording itself.
Sometimes, if you listen closely enough, it was already inside the song.
