Music in Pacific Island Cultures: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture

Music in Pacific Island Cultures is one of several case-study volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, Second Edition, the core book in the Global Music Series. Thinking Musically incorporates music from many diverse cultures and establishes the framework for exploring the practice of music around the world. It sets the stage for an array of case-study volumes, each of which focuses on a single area of the world. Each case study uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present.

The islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia are steeped in diverse musical traditions that reach far beyond the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Music in Pacific Island Cultures is the first brief, single-volume text to provide a thematic, succinct introduction to the music of the Pacific Islands--a region of the world that has long been underrepresented in ethnomusicological studies.

Based on the authors' extensive fieldwork and experiences in Pacific Island cultures, the text draws on interviews with performers, eyewitness accounts of performances, vivid illustrations, and insights gained from ongoing participation in Pacific music. The authors use four themes--colonialism, belief systems, musical flows, and the re/presentation of Pacific cultures--to survey the region and draw parallels and contrasts between its various musical traditions.

Packaged with a 70-minute audio CD containing musical examples discussed in the book, Music in Pacific Island Cultures features numerous listening activities that engage students with the music. The companion website includes a comprehensive Instructor's Manual with suggested classroom activities.

Visit www.oup.com/us/globalmusic for a list of books in the Global Music Series. The website also includes instructional materials to accompany each volume.

Brian Diettrich is Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University, in Wellington, New Zealand.

Jane Freeman Moulin is Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Hawai'i

Michael Webb is Lecturer in Music Education at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the University of Sydney, Australia.