Varied Repetition of Basic Melody

Te Ao Hou, September 1964, Page 23

Varied Repetition of Basic Melody In common with other waiata, ‘E Pa To Hau’ uses as a formal principle the varied repetition of a basic melody. The transcription is so arranged that each repetition of the basic melody fills one line of manuscript. This makes it easy to see correspondences between lines. The beat is not regular' as in most European music but is organised sometimes in units two quavers long, sometimes in units of three quavers. Great care should be taken when reading the transcription that a two is not inadvertently read for a three or vice versa. The note D in this version is decidedly variable in pitch, sometimes appearing as D-flat, sometimes D-natural and sometimes in between. In seems likely that it was intended to be flat throughout. Since there is no melodic organization in the haka it has been transcribed as a series of rhythm patterns only, without any attempt to show pitch beyond the occasional use of arrows to show upward inflection of the voice.