Assessment task 1 - Polynesian Music: Composition and Performance 

As music was a means to pass down knowledge/ history from one generation to the next, Polynesian music is often catchy and uses stepwise movement. It is generally in a major key, giving it the distinctive clear, tropical tonality, however, it can be in a minor key. It can be monophonic, homophonic, or polyphonic, depending on the style. Sometimes, it will begin as a monophonic, then slowly add accompaniment and more layers until passes homophony and becomes polyphonic. It has a strong use of primary chords 1, 3, 4, 5, within the melody and throughout the accompaniment. it has a repetitive melodic line, and a predictable melodic shape, often symmetrical; rising and falling, often beginning and resolving to the tonic. Often, 2 bar repeats or 4 bar repeats are used. This assists with the memory of the song. Syncopation is not uncommon, however is less common than in western music. 

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In my composition, it uses a vocalist (or a flute on the mp3 version) as the melody, and has a guitar for the accompaniment, making it homophonic and giving it a bright, tropical tone colour. It is quite thin, but catchy, and is a song of love. This is similar to how Polynesian music is simple and catchy to aid in memory. Eighth notes are the smallest note values used in the song, and the longest is a whole note. the quavers cause the music to feel syncopated and adds interest to the song. Usually, in a bar, there is, crotchet, quaver, quaver, crotchet, crotchet; OR; crotchet, quaver, quaver, quaver, dotted - crotchet. It has a tempo of approximately 100 bpm in common time and is played in c major. There is a range of one octave, from middle G to an octave above, making it easy for anyone to sing. It has a predictable contour, rising and falling using stepwise movement, almost perfectly symmetrical. It uses the chords Cmaj, Emin, Gmaj. In Cmaj, they are 1, 3, 5, the primary chords, following the characteristics of Polynesian music. It ends/ resolves on a Cmaj, making it feel complete and whole. Amin and Emin are used only once each in the chorus to create interest, as the song starts to become more and more repetitive and boring. Volume throughout is constant and has no particular expressive techniques in either the vocals or the guitar. It is in verse-chorus form, and is only played once, however can be repeated as many times as desired. The verse is very repetitive, having similar 2 bar phrases, and the chorus has more variety and range in notes.