This page showcases videos that draw on ancestral musical elements—such as early vocables, vocalisations, and traditional rhythms—which form the foundation of the new musical, vocal, and performance style being developed through the FaivaTech Pop project. This project will weave these ancestral elements together with Western reggae, rock, and pop‑dance influences to create a distinctive musical genre that reflects contemporary Tongan politics, social norms, and culture. A new style of singing and vocalisation will also be developed to complement this emerging musical genre, along with a new choreographic system designed to expand upon the existing solo tauʻolunga—the only widely practised Tongan dance used in contemporary entertainment.
To understand the kind of musical innovation FaivaTech Pop seeks to achieve, it is helpful to look at how rock ’n’ roll, for example, developed. Rock ’n’ roll emerged in the United States in the early to mid‑1950s as a bold fusion of African American rhythm and blues, gospel, electric blues, and country music, creating a completely new sound that reshaped popular culture. In the same spirit of creative blending, FaivaTech Pop aims to combine ancestral Tongan musical elements—such as traditional vocables, early vocalisations, and indigenous rhythms—with modern genres like reggae, rock, and pop dance. Just as rock ’n’ roll transformed its diverse ingredients into a fresh musical identity that spoke to a new generation, FaivaTech Pop intends to weave together its cultural and contemporary influences to form an innovative style that resonates with modern Tonga.
First video below showcases a Me’etu’upaki performance – This Meʻetuʻupaki chant is rich in ancestral musical and vocal elements. The entire chant reflects what I describe in my proposal as a one‑chord progression rhythm. In simple terms, this means that if I accompany the Meʻetuʻupaki chant on guitar or keyboard, the harmony does not shift to another chord through most of the piece. For example, if the chant begins in the key of C, it stays on the C chord for almost the entire duration. This one‑chord progression is significant because it functions as a recognisable marker of Tongan musical identity. Wherever it is heard in the world, Tongans instinctively know—that is Tongan music.
This is very different from English hymns such as “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” If that hymn is played in the key of F, the harmony changes to B♭ by the fifth beat—demonstrating a clear harmonic progression typical of Western music. Notably, the chant begins in minor harmony, which is another defining characteristic of traditional vocal practice. The one‑chord foundation, combined with the minor modality, gives Meʻetuʻupaki its distinctive ancestral sound and emotional depth.
Moreover, the chant features four vocables I discuss in my proposal: fakaulu (a shouted exclamation such as iuhu or iu…huhu), tū, ‘ia, and hei ē. The fakaulu and hei ē appear at the very beginning of the Me‘etu‘upaki and can be heard clearly at the start of the video, while the tū is sung at the end of the first verse.
One important rhythmic feature in this song is the tilipeleti lō ono. Tilipeleti lō ono, or six-quaver triplets, is a distinctive rhythmic technique in traditional Tongan fasi (melody and singing). In this pattern, six quavers are sung within two beats, creating a continuous, flowing rhythm throughout a verse or entire song.
Click here to see the score, including a copy of how the tilipeleti tuʻu lō ono are arranged.
Also, click here, then drag to the 15-minute mark on YouTube to listen to how that section of the tilipeleti tuʻu lō ono is sung in the sipa (chorus) of Malukava’s lakalaka performance.
Unlike Western triplets, which typically involve three crotchets in two beats and appear sparingly, Tongan lau ono triplets maintain a constant rhythmic structure, emphasising the natural pronunciation and cadence of the lyrics. This continuous progression fosters a unified thematic and emotional experience, unaffected by the harmonic shifts or relative key changes commonly found in Western music.
In the Meʻetuʻupaki chant, the tipipelēti lō ono is heard in the section ‘ʻO Lātū Lātū e.’
Professor Futa Helu, my tutor at ʻAtenisi, and one of the foremost authorities on Tongan culture and faiva, briefly discusses the physical dimension of the haka in the following video. While Helu’s explanation is insightful and intellectually coherent, I see it as an academic interpretation only presented to an audience who was unfamiliar with the Tongan haka, rather than a formally developed framework for the Tongan haka. In another word, it has not yet been applied systematically to choreography in a way that would establish professional patterns and techniques for choreographers to use and advance.
My FaivaTech Pop project will further develop, expand, and apply mathematical and physical theories within a new haka and choreography system. The aim is to introduce a fresh form of body‑movement entertainment for Tonga, while also creating a structured system that any choreographer—whether a professional or someone seeking guidance for small‑scale family performances—can use and build upon.
Laulau in lakalaka (Sipa) – The vocal rhythm heard from 15:15 in the video (YouTube timeline) is the focus of this discussion. In terms of musical notation and melodic interval, I identify this rhythmic pattern as common in traditional Tongan singing, yet very rare in Western musical practice. I refer to this pattern as tilipeleti tu‘u lō ono, or a six‑quaver triplet. It can be described as the Tongan equivalent of the Western triplet, where three crotchets (quarter notes) are performed within the span of two beats.
Its origins can be traced to the practice of laulau (or lalau), the ceremonial Tongan oratorical form whose rhythmic flow, tonal sonority, and poetic pacing collectively shape a heightened, euphoric emotional atmosphere. Within FaivaTech Pop, laulau shares a natural kinship with rap—a genre of popular music characterised by rhythmic, rhyming speech, known as rapping or MCing, typically delivered over a backing beat. Rap originated in the African American and Caribbean communities of New York City in the 1970s, and its emphasis on rhythm, cadence, and spoken performance closely parallels the traditional Tongan practice of laulau. By elevating laulau into a contemporary sonic environment, FaivaTech Pop celebrates Tongan identity while innovating within global musical forms.
This rhythmic quality is foundational to FaivaTech Pop, where traditional timing patterns inform contemporary musical expression.
Hua entry, Nikoniko and Fakahēhē ornamentations. This YouTube how this type of Tongan ornamentation and singing technique of hua are presented. The Tongan fakahēhē singing technique is characterised by a fluid, uninhibited vocal slide in which the lead singer is guided not by written notation but by māfana—an embodied state of emotional heat and artistic immersion. Rather than moving cleanly from one pitch to another, the singer lets the voice glide, bend, and ascend in a continuous (nikoniko), expressive sweep, creating a soaring portamento that feels both rousing and deeply felt.
This upward vocal motion often resembles a passionate glissando or “siren‑like” rise, capturing the thrill, yearning, and high‑spirit energy of the moment. The effect is a vocal line that takes flight, shaped by emotion, breath, and cultural instinct rather than strict musical scale. In the following video, Kaati Fifita—one of the most renowned practitioners of fakahēhē—can be heard demonstrating the technique at its finest. A key feature of fakahēhē is the hua entry, in which the lead singer begins by pronouncing the word he before the rest of the ensemble joins in. This distinctive vocal cue gives the style its name, fakahēhē.
This type of vocal ornamentation has never been incorporated into Tongan pop or contemporary instrumental music, and FaivaTech Pop will deliberately harness its expressive power as a defining stylistic feature.
Sōkē — This is another ancestral chant and faiva that is rarely heard today, especially in modern music accompanied by electronic instruments. The vocables known as tuia tuia ‘isakē iō, which I mentioned in my proposal, can be heard in the following video.
Meke — This ancestral faiva and chant reveal the uniquely Tongan beauty of melodic intervals and harmonic textures—qualities rarely heard in Western hymns or in contemporary pop music accompanied by electronic instruments. My FaivaTech Pop project will significantly reintroduce and celebrate this aesthetic, bringing these powerful traditional sounds into our modern recordings, performances, and everyday entertainment.
Ula
Moengāngongo
Hulō
My daughter, Malia Kelela Latu, is performing a tauʻolunga to celebrate her Master’s in Communication graduation in 2020. Her teunga (dance costume) was designed and created by her mother, and the song for her tauʻolunga—including the composition and choreography—was created by me.
