Tahiti

As in much of Polynesia, singing and dancing are closely connected in Tahiti. Much Tahitian music consists of action-songs which accompany dances which themselves illustrate a story through their lyrics. However, Missionaries converted much of the population of the islands in the early 19th century replaced native music with Christian hymns. Polynesian style dance and dress was restricted or banned and has only resurfaced in the past few decades. Today, commercialized dance contests and annual festivals celebrate the indigenous art and music revival.

Typically, the percussion ensembles of Tahiti back the ote'a dance, which involves rapid hip movements and knee slapping of a group communicating a precise theme. Percussionists play wooden (sometimes bamboo) slit drums and skin drums which correspond to the movements of the dancer's bodies. The to'ere are the wooden long slit drums played with thick sticks. The fa'atete is a snare drum. The pahu arata'i is a bass drum traditionally featuring a sharkskin head. Pahu tupa'e is a hand drum, sometimes augmented by flute. Traditional instruments such as conch shells and nasal flutes, which served specific purposes in antiquity and are still played today.

Popular Tahitian music consists of the romantic songs that accompany the 'aparima dances (often compared to the Hawaiian hula). These songs show a strong Western influence, adding guitar, ukulele to the dense percussion rhythm. Tahitian ukulele, however, sounds more like a banjo. It has a hole in the back and is strung with heavy nylon-fishing line.

The himene emerged in the early 20th century and are a mix Polynesian traditional polyphonic singing and religious hymns brought by European missionaries. There are three types of himene: himene tarava, himene ru'au and 'ute. Himene tarava features 60 to 80 singers (or more) from a single Protestant parish producing music of great complexity in which men and women often sing different tones, words and melodies. Himene ru'au songs are sung slowly and a capella by a chorus and soloists seated in a semicircle. The 'ute (songs of celebration) have a satirical tone and are sung quickly by two or three people with traditional instruments or guitars and ukuleles. The success of the Tahitian Choir in the early '90s put Polynesian choral music on the world music map.

These days, the best time to experience drum orchestras and action-songs is during the month-long Heiva i Tahiti, held in the town of Papeete, Tahiti, every July. The himene take secular form during the Heiva, passing down the ma'ohi legends.
Tahitian pop music borrows from largely electronic Euro-pop. It's not unusual to hear traditional style guttural singing and chanting laid over an electronic dance beat. —John Dugan