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Slack-key
Slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian ''kī hōalu'', which means "loosen the uningkey") is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii after Portuguese cowboys introduced Spanish guitars there in the late 19th century. The Hawaiians did not embrace the tuning of the traditional Spanish guitars they encountered. They re-tuned the guitars to sound a chord (now called an " open tuning") and developed their own style of playing, not using a flat pick, but plucking the strings. Most slack-key tunings can be achieved by starting with a guitar in standard tuning and detuning or "slacking" one or more of the strings until the six strings form a single chord, frequently G major. In the early 20th century, the steel guitar and the ukulele gained wide popularity in the mainland, but the slack-key style remained a folk tradition of family entertainment for Hawaiians until about the 1960s and 1970s during the second Hawaiian renaissance. Devotees of the slack-key guitar style t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gabby Pahinui
Philip Kunia Pahinui (; April 22, 1921 – October 13, 1980), known as Gabby Pahinui, was a slack-key guitarist and singer of Hawaiian music. Born into a struggling family, Gabby was born Charles Kapono Kahahawai Jr. and later ''hānaied'' with his brother and one of his sisters to Philip and Emily Pahinui and raised in the impoverished district of Kaka'ako in Honolulu in the 1920s ("all tin roofs and kinda falling apart"). He took the name Philip Kunia Pahinui. He spent his childhood supporting his family by selling newspapers and shining shoes. He dropped out of school after 5th grade at the Pohukaina School. Marriage Gabby married Emily Pulipuli Pahinui in 1938. He was 17 and she was 19. They remained married until his death. They had 12 children, six boys and six girls. Early career Gabby landed a gig as a back-up guitarist for Charley "Tiny" Brown. He quickly mastered the steel guitar (''kīkā kila'') even learning to read music. Because most musicians of the time o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hawaiian Music
The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Styles like slack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part of Hollywood soundtracks. Hawaii also made a contribution to country music with the introduction of the steel guitar.Unterberger, pgs. 465 - 473 In addition, the music which began to be played by Puerto Ricans in Hawaii in the early 1900s is called cachi cachi music, on the islands of Hawaii. The traditional music of Hawaii’s Native Hawaiian community is largely religious in nature, and includes chanting and dance music. Hawaiian music has had a notable impact on the music of other Polynesian islands; Peter Manuel called the influence of Hawaiian music a "unifying factor in the development of modern Pacific musics".Manuel, pgs. 236 - 241 Music festivals and venues Major music festivals in Hawaii include the Merrie Monarch Hula Fes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonny Chillingworth
Edwin Bradfield Liloa Chillingworth, Jr., known as Sonny Chillingworth, (July 14, 1932 – August 24, 1994) was an American guitarist and singer. Widely influential in Hawaiian music, he played slack-key guitar and is widely regarded as one of the most influential slack-key guitarists in history. Life Chillingworth was born on Oahu in the Territory of Hawaii. He started playing the guitar at age twelve when he was living with his grandfather, Harry Purdy, on Moloka'i. He learned the Hawaiian way by listening, watching and imitating. Sonny, as he was called, loved Hawaiian and Portuguese music. One day his father brought him a Victrola and some records. One of them was ''Hi'ilawe'' by Gabby Pahinui. Chillingworth was inspired. When Chillingworth was fifteen, he visited Honolulu and his mother arranged a meeting with Pahinui. After high school, Chillingworth moved to Honolulu and joined Pahinui, Andy Cummings and others at clubs, lu'aus and all-night jam sessions. Chillingwor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fingerstyle Guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectrum, commonly called a "pick"). The term "fingerstyle" is something of a misnomer, since it is present in several different genres and styles of music—but mostly, because it involves a completely different technique, not just a "style" of playing, especially for the guitarist's picking/plucking hand. The term is often used synonymously with fingerpicking except in classical guitar circles, although fingerpicking can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues and country guitar playing in the US. The terms "fingerstyle" and "fingerpicking" also applied to similar string instruments such as the banjo. Music arranged for fingerstyle playing can include chords, arpeggios (the notes of a chord played one after the other, as opposed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keola Beamer
Keola Beamer (born Keolamaikalani Breckenridge Beamer February 18, 1951) is a Hawaiian slack-key guitar player, best known as the composer of "Honolulu City Lights" and an innovative musician who fused Hawaiian roots and contemporary music. Keola Beamer descends from one of Hawaii's most respected musical families. Family Keola was born in Hawaii on February 18, 1951. His mother, Winona Beamer ("Auntie Nona") was one of the most important figures in the revival of Hawaiian culture. She was a composer, dancer and educator. His ancestors were musicians for the previous five generations. He can trace his roots to the House of Kamehameha and Ahiakumai, 15th century rulers of Hawaii. His great-grandmother was Helen Desha Beamer, an influential songwriter and hula dancer. His father is Odell Steppe. Beamer is also a cancer survivor. Career Beamer's career began in the early 1970s. His debut recording in 1972 was headlined "Jack de Mello presents Keola Beamer" and titled "Hawaiian Sl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raymond Kāne
Raymond Kaleoalohapoinaʻoleohelemanu Kāne (, ; October 2, 1925 - February 27, 2008), was one of Hawaii's acknowledged masters of the slack-key guitar. Born in Koloa, Kauaʻi, he grew up in Nanakuli on Oʻahu's Waiʻanae Coast where his stepfather worked as a fisherman. Kāne's style was distinctive and deceptively simple. He played in a number of ki ho'alu tunings always plucking or brushing the strings with only the thumb and index finger of his right hand. He also played hammer-ons and pull-offs in a unique way; his finger moving up and out, instead of down and in, after striking a string. He emphasized that one must play and sing "from the heart". He was never flashy or fast. In Hawaiian, his sound is described as ''nahenahe'' (sweet sounding). He was a recipient of a 1987 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Tuning
Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitch (music), pitches to the open string (music), open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Musical tuning, Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western culture#Music, Western music. By convention, the notes are ordered and arranged from the lowest-pitched string (i.e., the deepest bass-sounding note) to the highest-pitched string (i.e., the highest sounding note), or the thickest string to thinnest, or the lowest frequency to the highest. This sometimes confuses beginner guitarists, since the highest-pitched string is referred to as the 1st string, and the lowest-pitched is the 6th string. Standard tuning defines the string pitches as E, A, D, G, B, and E, from the lowest pitch (low E2) to the highest pitch (high E4). Standard tuning is used by most guitarists, and frequently used tunings can be understood as variations on standard tuning. To aid in m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonard Kwan
Leonard Keala Kwan Sr (1931-2000) was one of the most influential Hawaiian slack-key guitarists to emerge in the period immediately preceding the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance of the 1970s. He made the first LP of slack key instrumentals, co-wrote the second slack key instruction book, and composed a number of pieces that have become part of the standard repertory. Most players will include Kwan, along with Gabby Pahinui, Sonny Chillingworth, and Atta Isaacs, on a list of the most significant players of the older generation. Early life Leonard Keala Kwan Sr, was born in Honolulu, Oahu in 1931. His mother, Rose Hauoli, and her father, Reverend Ambrose Hauoli Kau-a, sang traditional Hawaiian music. He learned piano, and was taught to play ukulele and ''ki ho'alu'' (traditional slack key guitar styles) by his grandfather and his Uncle Pete Hauoli. He played alto saxophone and string bass in the Kalakaua Intermediate School and Farrington High School dance bands, and substituted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guitar Tunings
Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. By convention, the notes are ordered and arranged from the lowest-pitched string (i.e., the deepest bass-sounding note) to the highest-pitched string (i.e., the highest sounding note), or the thickest string to thinnest, or the lowest frequency to the highest. This sometimes confuses beginner guitarists, since the highest-pitched string is referred to as the 1st string, and the lowest-pitched is the 6th string. Standard tuning defines the string pitches as E, A, D, G, B, and E, from the lowest pitch (low E2) to the highest pitch (high E4). Standard tuning is used by most guitarists, and frequently used tunings can be understood as variations on standard tuning. To aid in memorising these notes, mnemonics are used, for example, Elephants And D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steel Guitar
A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar in that it is played without using frets; conceptually, it is somewhat akin to playing a guitar with one finger (the bar). Known for its portamento capabilities, gliding smoothly over every pitch between notes, the instrument can produce a sinuous crying sound and deep vibrato emulating the human singing voice. Typically, the strings are plucked (not strummed) by the fingers of the dominant hand, while the steel tone bar is pressed lightly against the strings and moved by the opposite hand. The idea of creating music with a slide of some type has been traced back to early African instruments, but the modern steel guitar was conceived and popularized in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiians began playing a conventional guitar i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atta Isaacs
Leland "Atta" Isaacs Sr. (1929–1983) was an American, Hawaiian slack-key composer, known for his C major tuning ("Atta's C," C-G-E-G-C-E), and for his work with Gabby Pahinui. See also * Sons of Hawaii The Sons of Hawaii was a Hawaiian musical group that became popular among mainstream audiences from the 1960s through the 1990s. History In 1960 they opened at the Sandbox in Honolulu and were soon the highest-paid Hawaiian group in the Islands. I ... References External links Slack Key Guitar Book 1929 births 1983 deaths American male composers Guitarists from Hawaii Slack-key guitarists 20th-century American composers 20th-century American guitarists American acoustic guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American male musicians {{US-guitarist-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hawaiian Renaissance
The Hawaiian Renaissance (also called the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance) was the Hawaiian resurgence of a distinct cultural identity that draws upon traditional kānaka maoli culture, with a significant divergence from the tourism-based culture which Hawaiʻi was previously known for worldwide (along with the rest of Polynesia). The Hawaiian Renaissance has been pointed to as a global model for biocultural restoration and sustainability. First Hawaiian Renaissance The First Hawaiian Renaissance had its foundation in the nationalist sentiments of King Kamehameha V. At the time Hawaii was an independent kingdom. The intention was to form a contemporary national identity rather than modeling Hawaii after Great Britain and the culture of the United States. King Kalākaua had a controversial rise to power due to the internal conflicts between family lineage. One half of the island wanted Kalākaua, whereas the other half cheered for his competitor. The result spread tension betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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