Hula and Mele: Start Here
Aloha and Welcome!
On this site, you'll find resources on music and hula in Hawai'i. This page has general resources that provide basic background info - use the tabs at the top to toggle between pages for even more resources on Mele (Music) and Hula respectively.
These are just a sample of the resources that are available to you - contact the library for more resources or research help.
Featured Resources for Background Info on Mele & Hula
You can borrow these books from the library or access digital copies for free online.
Resource units in Hawaiian culture by Call Number: DU625.8 .M58 1992Publication Date: 1992Available Online via Ulukau
* Pages 41-58 - Chants, musical instruments, and hula.
- Garland Encyclopedia of World Music This link opens in a new window
This encyclopedia is devoted to music research of all the world's peoples. The volume on "Australia and the Pacific Islands" includes info about music and dance in Hawaiʻi and across Oceania.
Hawaiian Music and Musicians: an encyclopedic history by Call Number: ML200.7.H4 H45 2012Publication Date: 2012
Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: the Sacred Songs of the Hula by Call Number: PL6448 .E6 1965Publication Date: 1909
Websites
Here are some websites with more info and resources on
Ulukau: The Hawaiian Electronic Library
This site has lots of books and curriculum resources on Hawaiian language and culture, including mele and hula. Try searching for "hula" or "mele" on the website or browse books by clicking on the "Nā Puke" (or "Books") tab and clicking on the filter options (e.g. Pae Hoʻomaka, Pae Waena, Pae Holomua, and Kumuʻike) to display the full list of books.
A website featuring a bilingual, community-based approach to presenting living Hawaiian culture and its connections to a rich ancestral past. Explore more than 60 diverse topics— including mele, hula, and Laka —explained by cultural practitioners and community experts from across the pae ‘āina who have deep association with place and subject matter. Engaging videos, text pieces, and other educational activities and resources await you.
Huapala: Hawaiian Music and Hula Archives
This site provides song lyrics and translations for Hawaiian music.
Mele Project : Hawaiian music archive collection
Includes music resources, including The Island Music Source Book which is a collection of over 38,800 Hawaiian-music songs (through 1999), compiled by Brett Ortone.
HPS is a non-profit dedicated to documenting and sharing the amazing life stories of our eldest living Hula Masters and their efforts to perpetuate hula, so their legacies live on to inspire and educate generations to come in the authentic culture of Hawaiʻi. HPS conducts one-on-one oral histories and presents public panel discussions with beloved hula elders. They provide access to historic materials given to HPS by kūpuna and hālau themselves.