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Fiji is a small country with huge number of expatriates. The country is flooded with European and Indians and that gets reflected in its musical tradition. No wonder, glimpses of Indians and European music is very much evident in country’s music. Like several other countries, country rejoices over its indigenous music. The folk music tradition is widely popular in Fiji.
The combination of different nationalities has resulted in presence of other forms of music as well. They say, if you want to know about the culture of a country then listen to its music and you will have the required idea of prevalent culture and tradition. The same notion goes for Fijian music.
One interesting aspect of Fijian music is eclectic mix of Polynesian and Melanesian music in its structure. The style is very much unique and Fijians thrive on this uniqueness. The artists of the country relish using musical instruments like mandolin, guitar and ukulele. Drums used to be an essential part during old times. Events like birth, wedding, war and other major happenings were marked with usage of drums. Drums are still used in dance celebrations and chants.
On one hand, Fiji has witnessed arrival of new forms of music and on the other, traditional music is still going strong. That explains why you will find amazing musical variety in country’s composition. The difference in these two musical traditions, read old and contemporary, couldn’t be more striking. The traditional songs have common themes of war, death and culture whereas new songs are more into celebrating mode.
The most popular musical instrument is Derua that is an essential part of traditional songs of Fiji. A little word about, ‘Meke’ which is basically an interesting form of Fijian music. Dance and voices are wonderfully mixed together to form Meke and it is definitely one of the highlights of Fijian music.
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