Slack-key guitar

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hawaiian renaissance
.

History

In the oral-history account, the style originated from Mexican cowboys in the early 19th century.

Hawaiian music. The New York Times described the music as "liquid, rippling, and hypnotic".[1] The style of Hawaiian music that was promoted as a matter of national pride under the reign of King David Kalākaua in the late 19th century combined rhythms from traditional dance meters with imported European forms (for example, military marches), and drew its melodies from chant (mele and oli), hula, Christian hymns (hīmeni), and the popular music brought in by the various peoples who came to the Islands: English-speaking North Americans, Mexicans, Portuguese, Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, Tahitians
, and Samoans.

The music did not develop a mainland audience during the Hawaiian music craze of the early 20th century, during which Hawaiian music came to be identified outside the Islands with the

Atta Isaacs, Leonard Kwan, Sonny Chillingworth, Raymond Kāne, and the more modern styles of younger players such as Keola Beamer, his brother Kapono Beamer, Peter Moon, and Haunani Apoliona. During this period, luthiers such as the Guitar and Lute Workshop
in Honolulu specialized in the development and manufacture of guitars custom made to order for slack-key performance.

Many currently prominent Hawaiʻi-based players got their starts during the Cultural Renaissance years: Cindy Combs,

George Kahumoku, Jr., his brother Moses Kahumoku, Dennis Kamakahi, Ozzie Kotani, three Pahinui brothers (Bla, Cyril, and Martin), the Emerson Brothers and Owana Salazar. These artists, and slack key in general, have become well known outside Hawaiʻi largely through George Winston's Dancing Cat Records
record label, which has most often showcased the music in solo settings.

One indication of slack key's increasing visibility beyond the Islands is that the first four winners of the

Jim "Kimo" West (perhaps better known as guitarist with "Weird Al" Yankovic
).

Techniques and tunings

George Winston has identified fifty slack-key tunings.[9] Some are only commonly used for a single song, or by particular players. Mike McClellan and George Winston have developed similar schemes that organize the tunings by key and type. The chart below follows their categories and naming conventions. The tunings were often passed down in families from generation to generation, and tunings were often guarded as fiercely as any trade secret.[1]

Kī hōʻalu often uses an

David Kalakaua.[10]

Nearly all slack key requires retuning the guitar strings from the standard EADGBE, and this usually means lowering or "slacking" three or more strings. The result is most often a major chord, although it can also be a major seventh chord, a sixth, or (rarely) a minor. There are examples of slack key played in standard tuning, but the overwhelming majority of recorded examples use altered tunings. The most common slack-key tuning, called "taro patch," makes a G major chord. Starting from the standard EADGBE, the high and low E strings are lowered or "slacked" to D and the fifth string from A down to G, so the notes become DGDGBD. As the chart below shows, there are also major-chord tunings based on C, F, and D.

Another important group of tunings, based on major-seventh chords, is called "wahine". G wahine, for example, starts with taro patch and lowers the third string from G to F♯, making DGDF♯BD. Wahine tunings have their own characteristic vamps (as in, for example, Raymond Kāne's "Punahele" or Gabby Pahinui's 1946 "Hula Medley") and require fretting one or two strings to form a major chord. A third significant group is Mauna Loa tunings, in which the highest pair of strings are a fifth apart: Gabby Pahinui often played in C Mauna Loa, CGEGAE.

Common tunings

Tuning Notes used
G Major or Taro Patch D G D G B D
G Wahine D G D F♯ B D
D Wahine D A D F♯ A C♯
Open D D A D F♯ A D
C Major or Atta's C C G E G C E
Mauna Loa C G E G A E
C Wahine or Leonard's C C G D G B D
C 6 C G C G A E
Old Mauna Loa C G C G A D
Open C C G C E G C
F Wahine C F C G C E
Open F C F C F A C
Double Slack F C F C E A C

Notable players

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Fox, Margalit (March 5, 2008). "Ray Kane, Master of Slack-Key Guitar, Dies at 82". The New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  2. ^ Russell Letson, "Keeping Aloha Alive," Acoustic Guitar, May/June 1995.
  3. ISBN 0-8248-0578-X
  4. ^ See Jay Junker, Harry B. Soria, and George Winston, Historical Liner Notes for CD The History of Slack Key Guitar, Cord International, 1995,
  5. ^ See updated and corrected liner notes to the compilation CD History of Slack Key Guitar, by Harry Soria, Jr., Jay Junker, and George Winston.
  6. ^ "Slack key wins first Hawaiian Grammy", by Tim Ryan, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, February 14, 2005,
  7. ^ "'Masters' of the Grammy", by John Burger, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, February 9, 2006
  8. ^ Derek Pavia (February 12, 2007). "Slack Key Snags Third Hawaiian Grammy". Honolulu Advertiser. Archived from the original on August 7, 2009.
  9. ^ Winston, George. "Dancing Cat Records Hawaiian Slack Key Information Booklet: Section IVa: Chart of Recorded Tunings (and ones closely related to them)" (PDF). georgewinston.com. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  10. ^ Tatar, "The Technique" and "The Chant Tradition" sections of "Slack Key Guitar" in Hawaiian Music and Musicians

External links

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