Early invaders, such as Captain Cook in the 1770s, and William Mariner in the 19th century, describe traditional dance performances featuring singing and drumming.
Radio Tonga begins each day's broadcast with a recording from Veʻehala, a nobleman and celebrated virtuoso of the nose flute.
In the late 19th century, missionaries introduced hymns popular in England and Australia at the time, keeping the Western tunes and translating the lyrics into Tongan.
In the smaller churches and the minority Methodist sects, hymn singing is unaccompanied, hiva usu.
A strong singer will sing the first notes alone (a practice called hua or opening) and the rest of the congregation will then join.
It is possible that this tradition comes from northern England, a strongly Methodist area, where participating in brass bands is a popular amusement.
Hiva kakala (fragrant songs, meaning love poems) are an important part of the semi-traditional group.
Another important part in this group are the more formal songs, slanted towards odes to the chiefs and the royal family.
Mixed dancing, or hulohula as practiced at parties and clubs in the Western world, is still comparatively rare.
The koniseti or concert is a display of dance and song, usually done as a fundraiser for some worthy cause, such as a sports team or a local congregation.
It can be heard even in the smallest villages on the remotest islands, blasting from the omnipresent tepis or combination radio/tape cassette players (usually battery powered).
The Tongan groups usually feature strong vocals, solo or choral, haunting minor key harmonies, and guitar backup.
It can bought as CD or tape, seen on DVD or videotape, picked up on short-wave radio, viewed in movie theatres, or even watched on the one TV station, broadcasting from the capital city of Nukuʻalofa.