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While the music of New Guinea and western Melanesia—particularly the Bismarck Archipelago—is predominantly vocal and monophonic, the music of the Solomon Islands is largely determined by use of highly developed panpipes. These instruments have three to nine closed tubes, usually doubled by open tubes that sound the higher octave. New instruments are tuned by comparison with old “masters,” at the occasion of special ceremonies. Panpipes are used in orchestras alone and in conjunction with song. Vocal melodic style, which is characterized by triadic structure, wide melodic leaps, elaborate polyphony (several simultaneous voice parts), a specific timbre, or tone colour, and frequent change of register, is apparently an imitation of panpipe music. Types of polyphony include parallel melodic movement a third or a sixth apart, a practice most likely a result of overblowing the double panpipes, which may produce such parallels automatically.
The ‘Are‘are people of Malaita, in the Solomon Islands, distinguish four types of panpipe ensemble and more than 20 musical types. The music of panpipe ensembles enjoys the highest prestige among the ‘Are‘are. They have an extensive system of thought about music that centres on ‘au, their word for bamboo, the material of which panpipes are made. Their system of musical concepts is so far not written, however; instead, it is passed on orally among specialists as a music theory that is in some respects homologous to European music theory.
The triadic melody style of the Solomon Islanders seems to have spread into adjacent western Polynesia, where similar melodic types are found in Tuvalu and Futuna.
Micronesia
From the Carolines in the west to Kiribati in the east, most traditional music is accompanied by dancing in standing or sitting posture. Group singing with rhythmic accompaniment by body and ground beats or concussion sticks is the prevailing type of musical performance. Purely instrumental music was performed on nose and mouth flutes in the Carolines and Marianas.
Except in the central Carolines (Truk), where musical influences from Melanesia and eastern Indonesia are prominent, elements of chanting and metred declamation are the most conspicuous characteristics of musical structure, underlining the importance of poetry versus intrinsically musical principles. Vocal polyphony takes the forms of drone (sustained note heard against a melody) and parallel movement in a variety of intervals, with fourths most common.
Micronesia is the least-known part of Oceania, as far as music and dance are concerned. On some of the atolls in Kiribati, consecrations of assembly halls, races of boat models, and meetings between local groups were or still are connected with performances of dances in which both women and men participated. Active participation and choreographic role are determined by individual proficiency as dancer and singer and by social rank. The ruoia is a sequence of standing dances in which movements are slow and mainly those of the arms and hands. In introductory and main dances, up to six leading dancers, male or female, pose as “gliding frigate birds” in front of the other dancers, who are lined up according to status in their patriclans (kinship groups). All dancers participate in chanting long poems that are rehearsed beforehand. Endings of dance songs are frequently shouted, and texts of the final dance in a sequence are recited in heightened speech throughout. There are also sitting dances, with arm and hand movements similar to those of the standing dances, and stick dances. Dance gestures are not illustrative of the song texts, which are not generally understood by performers or audience.
The texts of traditional dance songs were “received” by composers from ancestor spirits (anti) in special rituals and probably in trance. Since the early 20th century, multipart singing of European church tunes has spread throughout the area. In consequence of a general culture change, social dances based on traditional movement patterns but accompanied by adaptations of Western music have become dominant.
Polynesia
Since the second half of the 18th century, all parts of Polynesia have undergone a drastic cultural change that affected music and dance traditions severely. At present, adaptations of Western musical forms are predominant throughout the area. Both European church singing introduced by various missions and secular styles, ranging from the whalers’ chanteys to modern international entertainment music, have participated in this process. Yet, remnants or elements of precontact Polynesian music have survived almost everywhere, either alongside of or within acculturated styles—because of a marked traditionalism, as in Hawaii and New Zealand, or because of a delayed acculturation process, as in many of the smaller and remoter islands.
Common traits
The first useful descriptions of Polynesian music and dance come from Captain James Cook and his companions on his exploration voyages (1768–80). Such reports of early travelers agree with 20th-century research in suggesting that, despite regional variance, the concepts and structural characteristics of music and dance are highly similar throughout Polynesia. Music serves as a vehicle for Polynesian poetry, as dance is its illustration. The central role of the word explains why Polynesian music is primarily vocal. The only noteworthy traditional instruments used independently from song are the nose flute and the musical bow. Accompaniment of song includes body percussion (e.g., slaps, claps), drums, and various idiophones (instruments the bodies of which vibrate to produce sound, such as rattles and slit drums).
The most obvious stylistic characteristics of songs, common to all parts of Polynesia, result from word orientation. Most traditional songs can be classified as chant, as recitation in heightened speech, or as a blending of both. In some areas—for example, Tuvalu—the same text may be performed in either style. Chanting uses a limited number of tone levels, mostly a third or a fourth apart, and numerous tone repetitions. Rhythmic organization varies from recitative bound to the accents of the words to strict repetition of rhythmic patterns. Vocal polyphony is widespread throughout Polynesia and indisputably indigenous. It was described by 18th-century explorers when foreign influence could hardly have affected the style of music. The most common form of polyphony, reported from almost all Polynesian groups with the marked exception of the Maori (of New Zealand) and Hawaiians, is drone produced by a second part that follows the melody rhythmically while repeating one—usually the basic—tone. All authorities agree that pure drone is a precontact element of Polynesian music. Other forms of polyphony occur locally and are believed to be a result of European influence; especially notable among these is imitational counterpoint (simultaneous, interwoven melodies using melodic imitation among the voice parts).
Beyond these basic common traits, Polynesian peoples have developed musical forms and stylistic characteristics that are distinctive for individual groups of islands.