Post #37761 by Tiki_Bong on Fri, Jun 6, 2003 9:57 PM

Good (musical) score!

Is this your first experience with Ki ho'alu? Slack Key guitar sounds current because of it's complexity and arrangement, but some of the most beautiful pieces were written in the early 1900's.

Any work by such performers as Cyril Pahinui, Ozzie Kotani, Leonard Kwan, Ledward Kaapana, Keola Beamer or Moses Kahumoku will amaze you.

Although beautiful and distinct, an interesting point about slack key tuning is that it was nothing new at the time or now.

Slack key tuning is just alternative tuning. As a matter of fact, some of the first guitar tunings in Europe hundreds of years ago were not in the standard tuning known today (EADGBE). There are many, many different tunings for guitar (or any stringed instrument).

There are open tunings, in which if the strings are strummed without any fretting, it might be a major, minor, major 7th, 6th, 9th or diminished chord.

Alternate tunings are used in order to make certain types of progressions, solos, or arpeggios more easily accessable to the fingers.

If you like slack key guitar, I suggest your next adventure in Hawaiian music be steel guitar. Check out Dancing Cat Records, or Cord International for a large selection.