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Oceanic music and dance, the music and dance traditions of the indigenous people of Oceania, in particular of Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, New Zealand, and Australia. Music and dance in Polynesia and Micronesia are audible and visual extensions of poetry, whereas in Melanesia they are aimed.
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.
Traditional genres of music from Oceania and the Pacific Islands are truly in tune with the natural world. Pacific percussion is frantic and full, barreling forward like a rapidly approaching storm.
Oceanic musical instruments include many of the broad categories familiar in the West, such as percussion, wind, and string instruments, as well as forms that are distinctive to the region. These vary from familiar types such as drums, flutes, and the Hawaiian ‘ukulele to unusual forms such as slit gongs and bullroarers.
Oceanic music and dance - Micronesian, Polynesian, Melanesian: Music and dance in Micronesia, though certainly not the same as their Polynesian counterparts, are closely related to them. With the exception of Truk in the central Carolines, which displays traits of Melanesian and possibly Indonesian influence, the music structure of all parts of ...
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Some Oceanic musical instruments served a dual function. The Iatmul people of the Middle Sepik River region in northeast New Guinea, use betel nut (areca palm fruit)—which is chewed with lime made from burnt shells or coral and other substances—as a mild stimulant.
