Hawaiian Music

The music of Hawaii and the Pacific includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. The Pacific is a region with deep musical traditions, too, buffeted by the regular currents of colonists and explorers. You can hear music ranging from ancestral navigational chants and glorious polyphonic singing to more contemporary styles. The ethnic cultures of the Pacific can be divided into three main areas - Melanesia, lying mostly south of the equator, Micronesia, north of the equator above it, and Polynesia, spread over a huge area to the east. The music of Australian is also included here because of the similarities in musical origins.