Musical Cultures Analysis Project Step 2

Background Information on Hawaiian culture:

• Location: 
• Chain of islands in the North Pacific Ocean
• Off the coast of the US 
• Ethnicities/Identities:
• Over time, the ethnicities of Hawaiian people have changed greatly, from being based majorly upon Polynesian immigrants to a diverse community of Native Hawaiians, Hispanics, Asians, African Americans, and Caucasians.

• Languages: 
• Officially, English and Hawaiian are spoken
• The Hawaiian language is very similar to a number of Polynesian dialects, including Tahitian, Maori, Marquesan, Rarotongan, Samoan, and Tongan.
• The Hawaiian alphabet only contains 12 characters: a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, w. Additionally, Hawaiian speakers utilize a glottal stop (similar to the American English uh-huh and uh-uh) to bring additional meaning to words.
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• Religions:
• Hawaiian religious beliefs are largely based upon those of their Polynesian ancestors, who settled on the Hawaiian islands.
• Polytheistic; believe that "supernatural forces filled sea, sky, and earth, the Hawaiians personified them in countless named and individualized deities, who controlled nature and humankind through their mana, or supernatural power" (Luomala and Chun).
• Traditional mele is often associated with Hawaiian religious activities, including praising gods, telling mythological stories, or deliniating geneaology. Mele is a large part of Hawaiian culture because of its involvement in religion.
• The socio-economic and political factors more relevant to the culture
• Before Hawaii was discovered by Europeans in the 1800s, all music was strictly for religious purposes. However, each new group that traveled to Hawaii brought new instruments and music styles with it that influenced Hawaiian music
• Today jazz, hip hop, and Jawaiian are popular
• The time-period the folk music you are studying comes from
• Polynesians voyaged to Hawaii approximately 1500 years ago, so the most traditional forms of mele were produced as early as this. After travelers from around the world visited Hawaii in the 1800s, the newly acquired instruments and musical styles combined with the traditional religious chants and hymns.

Hawaiian Musical Culture:

• Most significant genre(s) within that culture
• Mele: originally referred to any type of poetic work, but now directly translates to "song"
• The two main types of mele include mele oli, which refers to a capalla songs, and mele hula, which refers to song accompanied by dance. 
• Instruments used
• A variety of drums and flutes were used in traditional ceremonies, but more were used once Hawaii was discovered by the West
• Modern Hawaiian music is usually sung with ukulele or steel guitar
• Hawaii is mostly associated with the ukulele, but other instruments used in Hawaiian music include:
• Membranophones: pahu, pahu pa`i, pûni 
• Chordophones: nî `au kani, `ûkêkê, steel guitar, slack key guitar
• Aerophones: kâ`eke `eke, `ohe hano ihu, pû
• Scales and types of melody often used
• C Hawaiian scale: C, D, Eb, F, G, A, B (C melodic minor)
• Melodies often contain intervallic leaps, which are fitting to commonly used falsetto singing.
• Types of chords or harmony often used
• Microtones are commonly used
• Hawaiian music generally utilizes I, IV, and V chords, and phrases include a "vamp" at the end with the chords II7, V7, and I
• Types of rhythms and meters often used
• Duple meter is common
• Most rhythms are simple and easy to follow, as the music is often accompanied by singers
• Basic musical structures often used
• Largely strophic (or modified strophic) to fit the lyrical verses

Sources:

Luomala, Katharine, and Malcolm Nāea Chun. "Hawaiian Religion." Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Lindsay Jones, 2nd ed., vol. 6, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, pp. 3796-3800. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Accessed 9 Jan. 2017.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/15

http://www.polynesia.com/polynesian_culture/hawaii/languages.html#.WHOmWPArLb0

http://www.polynesia.com/polynesian_culture/hawaii/history-and-discovery.html#.WHOyPfArLb1

http://hawaii-guide.info/arts.and.entertainment/musical.traditions.and.styles/

http://www.surfingforlife.com/music.html