Our Papuan friends love MUSIC!
by Maha MG
Since a year and a half, we live with our Papuan friends on Dokri Island. We share lots of great moments together and there is one common factor at the heart of our best moments together: MUSIC!
We have lots of stories around music on the island. Today, I want to share some of them with you so you can get a glimpse into our island lifestyle and experience of Papuan culture.
Playing music the Papuan way
When we share our guitar or ukulele with one of our Papuan friends, we can be sure that it will take us a long time to tune it back. They have their own way of tuning their musical instruments, which has nothing to do with ours. :) And yet they manage to play fantastic music with instruments we see as untuned, leaving us speechless every single time.
Fish line will do
Every few days or so, we need new strings for our guitars and ukulele. It makes sense as these instruments are used day and night. :) When we don't have strings, our Papuan friends use fish lines, which makes us happy as we rather prefer seeing fish lines on guitars than in the ocean.
Celebrating Christmas together
There is simply no Papuan gathering without music. Playing music, group dancing and singing is a strong part of Papuan tradition and community. One of the Papuan traditions is to play tambour during celebrations. Once we were lucky enough to have the whole village coming to our Island to celebrate Christmas with us with their tambours. We danced the whole night to the song of tambours. It was a very unique night - especially since itwas the first time they played tambour outside of their village.
Life is a song
Every time is the right time to play music. As soon as the Papuans open their eyes, they whistle, sing, play ukulele or play music from their mobile phones. And every night before falling asleep, their amazing songs from far accompany us into dreamland. It's magic!
We're surrounded by musical instruments
Every object can become a music instrument. Table, chair, glass, coconut... You name it! Watch the following video to see how even a hammer can become suddenly and spontaneously a musical instrument. 😊
Nice right? 😊