Jeff Peterson | Grammy award winning kī hōʻalu artist | Photo courtesy Jeff Peterson Traditional slack-key guitarists such Leonard Kwan, Sonny Chillingworth, Gabby Pahinui and Raymond Kāne lead the way for the evolving slack-key styles of the next generation of players such as Keola Beamer, Peter Moon, and Haunani Apoliona. Interest in kī hōʻalu kicked into high gear during the 1970s, commonly referred to as the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance. Finally this unique solo guitar style could be heard outside Hawaii. It flew under the radar until the second half of the twentieth century and began to slowly transition from a regional to an international style with the first known recording of slack-key by Gabby Pahinui in the late 1940s. Kī hōʻalu was originally played at home for the enjoyment of players, friends and family. Of course, it wasn’t really that simple and slack-key undoubtedly continued to develop from a wide gamut of musical influences beyond Hawaii, including American and European marches, Christian hymns, solo piano music and popular music from Hawaii’s international population.
Hawaiian slack key guitar how to#
Apparently, paniolo guitar classes were few, so Hawaiian musicians had to figure out how to play on their own, leading to the creation of an original style and technique. In popular accounts of the origin of kī hōʻalu, Mexican cowboys, called paniolo (Hawaiian) were credited with introducing guitars and guitar playing to the Kingdom of Hawaii during the nineteenth century. Sunlight Through Ti Leaf | Peter Kun Frary Subsequently, the original style of slack-key was steeped in native folkloric and traditional music but also the sounds of Western music. Thus, the essence of kī hōʻalu’s style flowed from the musical environment of Hawaii: popular Western song and indigenous Hawaiian music, especially hula kuʻi and hīmeni (Hawaiian hymns). During the formation of slack-key’s style in the late nineteenth century, Hawaii was isolated and recorded music was nonexistent. Radio Hula/Yellow Ginger Lei | Ledward Kaapana (4:20)Īlthough slack-key technique is similar to other finger-style guitar styles, it's the melody, texture and harmony that give kī hōʻalu its unique stylistic hallmarks. Ledward Kaapana makes good use of the alternating-bass pattern against melody and most of the above mentioned techniques in the traditional stylings of his Radio Hula/Yellow Ginger Lei composition: Like other guitar and 'ukulele styles, kī hōʻalu players use techniques such as harmonics, hammer-ons and pull-offs (slurs), slides and strums. In contrast, most popular styles of guitar playing use a plectrum to pick individual notes and strum chords. Use of the right-hand thumb to play an alternating-bass pattern against melody and chords plucked with the fingers is characteristic of kī hōʻalu. Finger-style technique uses the right hand fingers to simultaneously play both melody and accompaniment, similar to the technique of classical, Delta blues and flamenco guitar. Kī hōʻalu may be described as finger-style guitar. Hawaiian Islands | Hawaii is the northernmost island group in Polynesia and the only U.S state located outside North America. The G Kilauea tuning (D G C G B E), popularized by Daniel Ho, is used for modern pieces and vocal accompaniment due to the harmonic versatility: upper string chord and scale positions are the same as standard guitar tuning but supported with "slack" bass.
Hawaiian slack key guitar Patch#
After Taro Patch tuning, the Wahine family of open tunings are most commonly used: G Wahine (D G D F♯ B D) and D Wahine (D A D F♯ A C♯).
Most guitarists call this tuning open G tuning but in Hawaii it’s poetically referred as Taro Patch tuning.Īlthough there are dozens of kī hōʻalu tunings, some unique to individual players and pieces, only a handful are in widespread use. Typically the open strings are tuned to sound a G major chord, e.g., D G D G B D.
Thus, kī hōʻalu entails altering the standard E A D G B E guitar tuning by lowering one or more strings. The Hawaiian name for this guitar style, kī hōʻalu, means to slack or loosen the tuning keys. Kī hōʻalu popularity surged outside Hawaii during the late twentieth century, with accomplished players from around the world such as Chet Atkins, Yuki Yamauchi and Jim Kimo West performing slack-key.
Unlike blues and ragtime, ki hōʻalu incubated in relative isolation until the mid-twentieth century.
Like blues and ragtime, slack-key began as a regional style during the late nineteenth century. Slack-key guitar or kī hōʻalu (Hawaiian), is a solo guitar style developed in the Hawaiian archipelago, a subregion of Oceania and a state within the United States of America. Music In The 20th Century Hawaiian Slack-Key Guitar Peter The Modern Era | Hawaiian Slack-Key Guitar | Peter Kun Frary 1
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