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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. This style of guitar playing, which has been used for centuries, involves altering the standard tuning on a guitar from E-A-D-G-B-E, so that strumming across the open strings will then sound a harmonious chord, typically an open major. This requires altering (usually loosening) or "slacking" certain strings, which is the origin of the term "slack key". The style typically features an alternating-bass pattern, played by the thumb on the lower two or three strings of the guitar, while the melody is played by the fingers on the three or four highest strings. There are as many as fifty tunings that have been used in this style of playing, and tunings were once guarded fiercely and passed down as family secrets. In the early 20th century, the steel guitar and the ukulele gained wide popularity in America, but the slack-key style remained ...
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Gabby Pahinui
Philip Kunia Pahinui (; April 22, 1921 – October 13, 1980), known as Gabby Pahinui, was an American Hawaiian slack-key guitarist and singer of Hawaiian music. He also went by Pops Pahinui. Early life and family Gabby Pahinui was born with the name Charles Kapono Kahahawai Jr. in Lahaina, Maui, Territory of Hawaii, into a struggling family that sold leis. He was later ''hānaied'' (informally adopted) with his brother and one of his sisters to Emily and Philip Pahinui, and they were raised in the impoverished district of Kaka'ako in Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ... 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 d ...
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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 ...
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George Winston
George Otis Winston III (February 11, 1949 – June 4, 2023) was an American pianist performing contemporary instrumental music. Best known for his solo piano recordings, Winston released his first album in 1972, and came to prominence with his 1980 album ''Autumn'', which was followed in 1982 by '' Winter into Spring'' and ''December. A''ll three became platinum-selling albums, with ''December'' becoming a triple-platinum album. A total of 16 solo albums were released, accumulating over 15 million records sold, with the 1994 album ''Forest'' earning Winston a Grammy award for Best New Age Album. Winston received four other Grammy nominations, including one for Best Children's Music Album, performed with actress Meryl Streep, and another for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for his interpretation of works by the rock band the Doors. Winston played in three styles: the melodic approach that he developed and called "rural folk piano"; stride piano, primarily inspired by Fat ...
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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. Chillingwo ...
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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 (dance), 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 ...
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Fingerstyle Guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of guitar picking, 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 music, folk, blues and Country music, country guitar playing in the US. The terms "fingerstyle" and "fingerpicking" are also applied to similar string instruments such as the banjo. Music arranged for fingerstyle playing can include chord (music), chords, arpeggios (the ...
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Ozzie Kotani
Ozzie Kotani is a slack-key guitar player and a well-respected teacher, arranger, solo performer and accompanist.
Dancing Cat Bio Kotani was born in 1956 in Honolulu, Hawaii in the neighborhood of Pauoa. He learned how to play the 'ukulele in fourth grade, but his interest in kī hō‘alu, or Hawaiian , was sparked in high school when he heard on the radio. In 1975, Kotani enrolled in Peter Medeiros' slack key guitar class at the

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Steel Guitar
A steel guitar () 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 in a horizontal p ...
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Peter Moon (musician)
Peter Moon (August 25, 1944 – February 17, 2018) was an American ukulele and slack-key guitar player. Career Peter Moon was born in Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu to parents of Korean and Chinese descent, Wook Moon and Shay-Yung Moon (née Zen). He graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1962 and from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1968. From the late 1950s through the 1960s, he gained musical inspiration, insight, and knowledge; playing as a Maile Serenader with Gabby "Pops" Pahinui in the 1960s. Later, in the 1970s, he also served as Gabby's manager. Soon after, Moon became a founding member of The Sunday Manoa, along with Palani Vaughn, Albert "Baby" Kalima Jr., and Cyril Pahinui (one of Gabby's sons). After Vaughan and Cyril left the group, Moon released another album (Hawaiian Time) with Kalima and Cyril's older brother, "Bla" Pahinui. Kalima and Pahinui moved on and Moon remained the only member and recruited Robert and Roland Cazimero who were a few years y ...
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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 offer ...
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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 substitu ...
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George Kahumoku, Jr
George Kahumoku Jr. is a Grammy Award-winning Hawaiian musician specializing in slack-key guitar. Born in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, he was labeled as "Hawaii's Renaissance Man" by Nona Beamer because of his far reaching talents: farmer, author, musician and composer, sculptor and artist, and Hawaiian cultural practitioner, particularly as it relates to the land or 'aina.''Maui Time Weekly''. He received the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists from 2005 to 2011 for quality Music of Hawaii, Hawaiian music albums. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally call ... for the compilation album ''Legends Of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar – Live From Maui'' and subsequently 2 more for ''Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar'' and ''Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, vol.2''. All of these compilation albums were recorded live at his S ...
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