Folksongs

FOLK SONGS

Songs have been a form of entertainment and spiritual enlightenment since the time humans discovered how to create it using the vocal cords. That is the Tolai experience as well.

This post briefly describes the types of songs from East New Britain, particularly from the Tolai areas who call song as kakailai.

 A song is known as kakailai and variantly pronounced as kakailei. It is also used as a verb – sing. Composition of a song is called pinipit. Songs as plural is aumana kakailai. The composer is known as tena pinipit or tena buai.

There are various types of folk songs in the Kuanua Language in East New Britain. Some are sung generally as a form of self entertainment. Others are sung during ceremonies.  These songs may be divided into the following categories: 1. General; 2. Bot; 3. Warbat; 4.Lili; 5. Gara. I shall call this Category 1.

Another category , Category 2,  of songs are dance songs and these follow the types of dances practiced in the past and today. The composers of songs related to dances are knowledgeable in choreography and composition of songs.  

Category 1.

These types of songs are composed and sung based on life experiences, events, the environment, birds and animals, and human interactions. General songs are for everyone from children to adults. Males and females may participate together. Only the warbat was performed by males

Category 2

The songs here are associated with the types of dances and are performed during dance. Some songs and dances may be performed by both males and females together while others are restricted to one gender.

1. Libung

                Male and female

2. Perapere

                Male only

3. Kulau

                Male only

4. Pinpidik

                Male

5. Parpari

                Female

6. Patete

                Female

7. Bilolo

                Male/Female

8 Tabaran

                Male

9. Tubuan

Tubuan songs, Gara and  Kabakaver, are sung only by male members of the tubuan society. One has to be an initiate in order to take part in the gara and “ancestral dance” of tapialai. Other types of dances, non tubuan dances, are generally called malagene.  Musical instruments accompanying tubuan gara are kundu and garamut.