![]() ![]() More stringed instruments came through other cultures most notably the ukulele, which was imported, thanks to Portuguese immigrants who came to work the sugar plantations.īut, even as the flow of the canoe along this harmonic musical river created peace, the political and economic rumblings of the late the 19th century served to nearly destroy all that had grown over the centuries within the Hawaiian culture. These traditions were handed down from generation to generation. ![]() Slack-key guitar was then brought into the sacred circle of the mele-chant, the hula-dance, and the pahu-drum. If the foreign cowboys brought the instrument and technique, the Hawaiian musicians gave the music its own unique sound. In Hawaiian it is called kÄ« hÅÊ»alu, which is translated “loosen the tuning key.” As the ranches around the countryside grew, each family developed their own unique and secret tunings. Today, it is known as a finger-style genre that uses open tunings. This was when the Hawaiians learned unique tunings, which came to be known as slack key. Slack-key artist, Jim “Kimo” West says the music was so gentle and soothing, it was used in the evenings to calm the cattle. With the help of the Spanish and Mexican cowboys, known as Panoplies who came in the late 19th century to teach ranching skills, they learned stringed instruments and romantic ballads. The canoe gathered more treasures as the culture changed with outside influence. It also attracted the outside world.Īs foreign settlers in the 18th century moved to the islands, the banks of the river of music were broadened. The music brought peace and comfort to the people of Hawaii. Melody may have been introduced to them by missionaries, but what they created belonged to the islands. Their voices danced with joy through the high falsetto vibration that seemed to come from their deepest hearts. When the American and European missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Hawaiians brought melodies and harmonies into the canoe. It was through chant or mele and the sacred dance of the hula accompanied by the rhythm of the pahu, a sheep skin-covered drum, that they framed all of their passages of life. They kept their legacy alive in this way. Their King and Queen were the embodiment of the spirit of the history of the people. The monarchy was central to that history. Their first instruments were their native voices speaking through oral history - clothed chants to their ancient gods - they told the stories of their ancestors. This gave birth to the art that became the life-blood of Hawaiian culture. We do know, like all people of great civilizations, there was a longing in the people to create and celebrate. It’s one that began so long ago there is no recorded history of its origin. That canoe has traveled along a river of music. The people of Hawaii came to the island by canoe, bringing their culture with them. For centuries they created their own unique waves of chants, melodies, and harmonies that flowed nightly like the ocean that surrounded them. Much of the information garnered for this brief glance at Hawaiian music is the result of interviews with him.Īlong the islands known today as Hawai’i, where the ocean meets the shore, for many generations - too many to count - the troubadours of the isle muse have met the coastal magic of tide and wind. He is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to produce a documentary film series titled The Masters of Slack-Key Guitar. ![]() Probably most notably for San Diego is George’s first mainland concert was at Humphrey’s in the late ’80s. On Wednesday and Thursday nights he presents the Masters of Slack Key series at Napili Kai Beach Resort in Maui, bringing slack-key greats like Jeff Peterson, Cyril Pahinui and Led Kaapana to the concert stage. He is a slack-key musician with a voice as pure as a Pacific wind, a poet, a farmer, a sculptor, a teacher, a self-styled philosopher and a published author. represents a kind of embodiment of Hawaiian culture and its awakening over the last century. While Hawaiian music has become mostly overlooked in Americana-roots music culture, it has influenced rock, blues, folk and country music on the mainland over the last century with its emphasis on passion, melody, lap steel guitars and ukuleles. Queen Lili ‘uokalani, the last Queen of Hawaii ![]()
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