Chapter 4: Oceania

About

Chapter 4 introduces the music and associated cultural activities from Oceania.  Oceania is divided into four main areas: Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia.  Each musical site represents one of these areas, introducing a type of music from Australia, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, and the islands of Kiribati.  The Explore More feature boxes introduce the Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Ukulele popular music style, as well as the prominent slit gongs and singsing festivals found in Papua New Guinea.

Key Terms

  • Aborigines
  • Bino
  • Circular breathing
  • Didjeridu
  • Dreamtime
  • Garamut
  • Hawaiian Steel Guitar
  • Hula Pahu
  • Kahuna
  • Kapu
  • Kilu
  • Kundu
  • Mana
  • Maneaba
  • Melanesia
  • Mele hula
  • Mele
  • Micronesia
  • Pahu
  • Polynesia
  • Ukelele
  • Coroboree
  • Portamento
  • Singsings
  • Susap

Flashcards

Practice Quiz

Audio Examples

4.1

Australia - Aboriginal Song: "Bushfire" by Alan Maralung with Peter Manaberu from the recording entitled The World's Musical Traditions, Vol. 4: Bunggridj-Bunggridj: Wangga Songs: Northern Australia, SFW40430, courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. (p) (c) 1993. Used by permission.

4.2

Papua New Guinea - Susap: "Badra Song from Buzi" by Amadu, Guiga, and Yabba from the recording entitled Music from South New Guinea, FW04216, courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. (p) (c) 1971. Used by permission.

4.3

Hawai’i: Drum-Dance Chant: "Kau ka hali'a I ka manawa / Kaulīlua I ke anu Wai'ale'ale” (medley) by Noenoelani Zuttermeister Lewis and Hau'olionalani Lewis from the recording entitled Hawaiian Drum Dance Chants: Sounds of Power in Time, SFW40015, courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. (p) (c) 1989. Used by permission.

4.4

Kiribati: “Kai e titirou e matie,” sung with clapping by men and women of Ititin Rotorua Dance Troupe, Betio Village, Tarawa Island, Kiribati; recorded by Mary Lawson Burke, 1981. Used by permission.

Video Links

For more world music videos, visit the  World Music YouTube Channel .

How to Play the Didjeridu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XlEkeot7HM
Goroka Cultural Show – Papua New Guinea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=ySBrPvDCy3k
Sing Sing Goroka Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcealFUTqb4
Demo of Susap from Papua New Guinea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGjOJvo9NpU
What it takes to be a Hula Champion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NhPqimnr3o
KIRIBATI: Amazing traditional dancing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmiMW042kn4

Audio Book

Coming soon...

On Your Own Time

Links and further resources

Australia


Book:
Marret, Allan. Songs, Dreamings, and Ghosts: The Wangga of North Australia. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2005.
http://www.upne.com/0-8195-6617-9.html
Audio:
Maralung, Alan, and Peter Manaberu. Bunggridj-Bunggridj: Wangga Songs:Northern Australia. Smithsonian Folkways: SFW40430, 1993.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-worlds-musical-traditions/id81978916
Audio:
Seachnasaigh, Will. Dharpa Songs of the Dreamtime. Lyrichord: LYRCD 7442, 1998.
http://lyrichord.com/dharpasongsofthedreamtime-willseachnasaigh.aspx
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-didjeridu-dharpa-songs/id56890650
Website:
Music Australia
https://musicaustralia.org.au
Website:
Australian Music Center
http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/
Internet Keyword Search:
Popular Artists from Australia
Yothu Yindi
Kylie Minogue
Hoodoo Gurus
INXS

Papua New Guinea (Melanesia)


Audio:
Bosavi: Rainforest Music from Papua New Guinea. Smithsonian Folkways: SF40487, 2001.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bosavi-rainforest-music-from/id82375605
Book:
Feld, Steven. Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics, and Song in Kaluli Expression. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982.
https://www.dukeupress.edu/Sound-and-Sentiment/
Internet Keyword Search:
Popular Artists from Melanesia
George Telek
Rosiloa
The Wagi Brothers

Hawaii (Polynesia)


Audio:
Hawaiian Drum-Dance Chants: Sounds of Power in Time. Smithsonian Folkways: SF40015, 1989.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hawaiian-drum-dance-chants/id117733099
Video:
Holo Mai Pele: The Epic Hula Myth. Dir. Catherine Tatge. PBS, 2004.
http://www.piccom.org/programs/holo-mai-pele
Website:
Black Pearl Designs — Polynesian Culture
http://blackpearldesigns.net/index.html
Website:
Hawaiian Music and Hula Archives
http://www.huapala.org/
Audio:
Amy Ku'uleialoha Stillman and Daniel Ho. Ikena. Daniel Ho Creations: DHC 80078, 2010.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ikena/id288690522
Book:
Elbert, Samuel H., and Noelani K. Mahoe. Na Mele O Hawai'i Nei: 101 Hawaiian Songs. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1970.
https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/na-mele-o-hawaii-nei-101-hawaiian-songs/
Book:
Stillman, Amy Ku'uleialoha. Sacred Hula: The Historical Hula 'Ala'apapa. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1998.
http://www.hulapreservation.org/published.asp
Book:
Kaeppler, Adrienne. Hula Pahu: Hawaiian Drum Dances, Volume I: Ha'a and Hula Pahu, Sacred Movements.
Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press, 1993.
https://bishopmuseumpress.org/products/hula-pahu-hawaiian-drum-dances-volume-i
Website:
Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival
http://www.slackkeyfestival.com/
Internet Keyword Search:
Popular Artists from Polynesia
Daniel Ho
IZ (Israel Ka'ano'i Kamakawiwo'ole)
Led Kaapana (Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar and Ukulele)

Kirbati (Micronesia)


Audio:
Spirit of Micronesia. Saydisc: CD-SDL 414, 1995.
http://www.saydisc.com/ (Pacific)
Book:
Abels, Birgit. Sounds of Articulating Identity. Tradition and transition in the music of Palau, Micronesia. Berlin: Logos, 2008.
http://www.logos-verlag.de/cgi-bin/buch/isbn/1866
Book:
Kaeppler, Adrienne. The Pacific Arts of Polynesia and Micronesia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-pacific-arts-of-polynesia-and-micronesia-9780192842381?q=Out%20of%20the%20Mountains&lang=en&cc=us
Website:
New Micronesian Magazine
http://newmicronesian.com/
Internet Keyword Search:
Popular Artists from Micronesia
Ozeky
ReChuuk