Music of Hawaii

Music of the United States
AK - AL - AR - AS - AZ - CA - CO - CT - DC - DE - FL - GA - GU - HI - IA - ID - IL - IN - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MO - MP - MS - MT - NC - ND - NE - NH - NM - NV - NJ - NY - OH - OK - OR - PA - PR - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VA - VI - VT - WA - WI - WV - WY
Institutions
Honolulu Symphony Orchestra - Maui Academy of Performing Arts - Honolulu Chamber Music Society
Organizations
Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts - Hawaii Music Awards - Hawaiian Music Foundation - Ukulele Guild of Hawaii
Venues
Honokaa People's Theatre - Neal S. Blaisdell Center
Festivals
Big Island Slack Key Guitar Festival - Gabby Pahinui/Atta Isaacs Slack Key Festival - Hamakua Music Festival - Hawaii Performing Arts Festival - Merrie Monarch Festival
State song	"Hawaii ponoi"
Topics	Hawaiian folk music - Music of Honolulu - Polynesian 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. Hawaii's musical contributions to the music of the United States are out of proportion to the state's small size. Styles like slack-key guitar are well-known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part of Hollywood soundtracks. Hawaii also made a major contribution to country music with the introduction of the steel guitar.^[1]

Traditional Hawaiian folk music is a major part of the state's musical heritage. The Hawaiian people have inhabited the islands for centuries and have retained much of their traditional musical knowledge. Their music is largely religious in nature, and includes chanting and dance music. Hawaiian music has had an enormous impact on the music of other Polynesian islands; indeed, music author Peter Manuel called the influence of Hawaiian music a "unifying factor in the development of modern Pacific musics".^[2]

Music festivals and venues

Major music festivals in Hawaii include the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival, which brings together hula groups from across the world, as well as a number of slack-key and steel guitar festivals: Big Island Slack Key Guitar Festival, Steel Guitar Association Festival and the Gabby Pahinui/Atta Isaacs Slack Key Festival. April's Aloha Week is a popular tourist attraction, as is the Moloka'i Music Festival held around Labor Day.^[1] There is also a Hawaii International Jazz Festival, which was founded in 1993, and holds festivals on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, Maui and Kauaʻi.^[3]

Hawaii is home to numerous hotels, many of which feature music in the afternoon or evening; some of the more prominent ones include the Kahala Hilton, the Sheraton Moana Hotel, the Sheraton Waikiki, the Halekulani, Casanova's and the King Kamehameha Hotel.^[1] Large music venues in Hawaii include the University Theater, which has 600 seats and is the largest venue on the Big Island.^[4] The largest venue and cultural exhibition center on Kauai is the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center.^[5] The Neal S. Blaisdell Center Arena is the largest venue in Honolulu and among the largest in the state—other venues for Hawaiian music on Oahu include the Waikiki Shell an establishment used primarily for concerts and entertainment purposes. Over the years many local, as well as international artists have graced the stage there. It is unique outdoor theater located in Kapiolani Park. This venue seats 2,400 persons, with the capacity to hold up to 6,000 more on the lawn area. Concerts, graduation ceremonies and hula shows are very popular at this site.^[6] As well as Kennedy Theatre and Andrews Amphitheatre on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Blaisdell Center Concert Hall, the Hawaii Theatre in downtown Honolulu, the Red Elephant (a performance space and recording studio in downtown Honolulu), Paliku Theatre on the campus of Windward Community College and the Leeward Community College Theatre. The historic Lanai Theatre is a cultural landmark on Lanai, dating back to the 1930s.^[7]

Music institutions and industry

Hawaii is home to a number of renowned music institutions in several fields. The Honolulu Symphony Orchestra is an important part of the state's musical history, and is the oldest orchestra in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains, founded in 1900^{[citation needed]}. The Orchestra has collaborated with other local institutions, like the Hawaii Opera Theatre and the Honolulu Symphony Chorus, which operates the Hawaii International Choral Festival.^[8]

Folk music

Dancer with ʻuliʻuli, hula kahiko competition, Merrie Monarch Festival 2003

Hawaiian folk music includes several varieties of chanting (mele) and music meant for highly ritualized dance (hula). Traditional Hawaiian music and dance was functional, used to express praise, communicate genealogy and mythology, and accompany games, festivals and other secular events. The Hawaiian language has no word that translates precisely as music, but a diverse vocabulary exists to describe rhythms, instruments, styles and elements of voice production. Hawaiian folk music is simple in melody and rhythm, but is "complex and rich" in the "poetry, accompanying mimetic dance (hula), and subtleties of vocal styles... even in the attenuated forms in which they survive today".^[2]

Hula performance at a ceremony turning over U.S. Navy control over the island of Kahoolawe to the state performed by Uncle Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett

The chant (mele) is typically accompanied by an ipu heke (a double gourd) and/or pahu (sharkskin covered drum). Some dances require dancers to utilize hula implements such as an ipu (single gourd), ʻiliʻili (waterworn lava stone castanets),ʻuliʻuli (feathered gourd rattles), pu`ʻli (split bamboo sticks) or kalaʻau (rhythm sticks). The older, formal kind of hula is called kahiko, while the modern version is ʻauana. There are also religious chants called ʻoli; when accompanied by dancing and drums, it is called mele hula pahu.

In the pre-contact Hawaiian language, the word mele referred to any kind of poetic expression, though it now translates as song. The two kinds of Hawaiian chanting were mele oli and mele hula. The first were a cappella individual songs, while the latter were accompanied dance music performed by a group. The chanters were known as haku mele and were highly trained composers and performers. Some kinds of chants express emotions like angst and affection, or request a favor from another person. Other chants are for specific purposes like naming, (mele inoa), prayer (mele pule), surfing (mele he'e nalu) and genealogical recitations (mele koihonua). Mele chants were governed by strict rules, and were performed in a number of styles include the rapid kepakepa and the enunciate koihonua.

Music history

Historical documentation of Hawaiian music does not extend prior to the late 18th century, when non-Hawaiians (haoles) arrived on the island. From 1778 onward, Hawaii began a period of acculturation with the introduction of numerous styles of European music, including the hymns (himeni) introduced by Protestant missionary choirs. Spanish-speaking Mexican cowboys (paniolos), were particularly influential immigrants in the field of music, introducing string instruments such as the guitar and possibly also the technique of falsetto singing, while Portuguese immigrants brought the ukulele-like braguinha.^[1]

Elizabeth Tatar divided Hawaiian music history into seven periods, beginning with the initial arrival of Europeans and their musical cultures, spanning approximately from 1820 to 1872. The subsequent period lasted to the beginning of the 20th century, and was marked by the creation of an acculturated yet characteristically Hawaiian modern style, while European instruments spread across the islands. Tatar's third period, from 1900 to about 1915, saw the integration of Hawaiian music into the broader field of American popular music, with the invention of hapa haole songs, which use the English language and only superficial elements of Hawaiian music; the beginning of the Hawaiian recording industry was in 1906, when the Victor Talking Machine Company made the first 53 recordings in the state. By 1912, recorded Hawaiian music had found an audience on the American mainland.^[9]

From 1915 to 1930, mainstream audiences outside of Hawaii became increasingly enamored of Hawaiian music, though by this time the songs marketed as Hawaiian had only peripheral aspects of actual Hawaiian music. Tahitian and Samoan music had an influence on Hawaiian music during this period, especially in their swifter and more intricate rhythms. The following era, from about 1930 to 1960, has been called the "Golden Age of Hawaiian music", when popular styles were adapted for orchestras and big bands, and Hawaiian performers like Lani McIntire, John Kameaaloha Almeida and Sol Hoopii became mainstream stars. In the 1960s, Hawaiian-style music declined in popularity amid an influx of rock, soul and pop acts from the American mainland. This trend reversed itself in the final period of Hawaiian music history, the modern period beginning with the Hawaiian Renaissance in the 1970s and continuing with the foundation of a variety of modern music scenes in fields like indie rock, Hawaiian hip hop and Jawaiian.^[9]

Liliʻuokalani and Henry Berger

Lili'uokalani

Queen Liliʻuokalani was the last Queen of Hawaii before the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown. She was also a musician and prolific composer who wrote many musical works. She was best known for Aloha 'Oe. A compilation of her works, titled "The Queen's Songbook", was published in 1999 by The Queen Lili'uokalani Trust.

Lili'uokalani was one of many members of the Hawaiian royal family with musical inclinations. They studied under a Prussian military bandleader, Henry Berger, who was sent by the Kaiser at the request of Kamehameha V. Berger became fascinated by Hawaiian folk music, and wrote much documentation on it. However, he also brought his own musical background in German music, and heavily guided the Hawaiian musicians and composers he worked with.

Guitar innovations

Guitars could have come to Hawaii from several sources: sailors, missionaries, or travelers to and from California. The most frequently told story is that it accompanied the Mexican cowboys (vaqueros) brought by King Kamehameha III in 1832 in order to teach the natives how to control an overpopulation of cattle. The Hawaiian cowboys (paniolo) used guitars in their traditional folk music. The Portuguese introduced an instrument called the braguinha, a small, four-stringed Madeira variant of the cavaquinho; this instrument was a precursor to the `ukulele.^[1]

Steel-string guitars also arrived with the Portuguese in the 1860s and slack-key had spread across the chain by the late 1880s. A ship called the Ravenscrag arrived in Honolulu on August 23, 1879, bringing Portuguese field workers from Madeira. Legend has it that one of the men, João Fernandes, later a popular musician, tried to impress the Hawaiians by playing folk music with a friend's braguinha; it is also said that the Hawaiians called the instrument `ukulele (jumping flea) in reference to the man's swift fingers. Others have claimed the word means gift that came here or a corruption of ukeke lele (dancing ukeke, a three-string bow).^[1]

The popularity throughout the 1920s of Hawaiian music, with its unique slide-style of guitar playing, prompted the invention of the electric guitar in 1931, as a lap steel guitar, the "frying pan", by George Beauchamp. Electric amplification allowed the Hawaiian-style guitar to be heard in performances of larger popular bands.

Late 19th and early 20th century

1913 sheet music cover

In the 1880s and 90s, King David Kalakaua promoted Hawaiian culture and also encouraged the addition of new instruments, such as the ukulele and possibly steel guitar; Kalakaua died in 1891, and so it is highly unlikely he would have heard it [See: Kanahele, George S., Hawaiian Music and Musicians, pp 367–368]. Kalakaua's successor, his sister Lili'uokalani, was also a prolific composer and wrote several songs, like "Aloha 'Oe", which remain popular. During this period, Hawaiian music evolved into a "new distinctive" style, using the derivatives of European instruments; aside from the widespread string instruments, brass bands like the Royal Hawaiian Band performed Hawaiian songs as well as popular marches and ragtimes.^[1]

In about 1889, Joseph Kekuku began sliding a piece of steel across the strings of a guitar, thus inventing steel guitar (kika kila); at about the same time, traditional Hawaiian music with English lyrics became popular. Vocals predominated in Hawaiian music until the 20th century, when instrumentation took a lead role. Much of modern slack-key guitar has become entirely instrumental.^[1]

From about 1895 to 1915, Hawaiian music dance bands became in demand more and more. These were typically string quintets. Ragtime music influenced the music, and English words were commonly used in the lyrics. This type of Hawaiian music, influenced by popular music and with lyrics being a combination of English and Hawaiian (or wholly English), is called hapa haole (literally: half white) music. In 1903, Albert "Sonny" Cunha composed My Waikiki Mermaid, arguably the first popular hapa haole song (The earliest known hapa haole song, "Eating of the Poi", was published in Ka Buke o na Leo Mele Hawaii...o na Home Hawaii in Honolulu in 1888 [See Kanahele, George S., Hawaiian Music and Musicians pp 71–72]).

In 1927, Rose Moe (1908–1999), a Hawaiian singer, with her husband Tau Moe (1908–2004), a Samoan guitarist, began touring with Madame Riviere's Hawaiians. In 1929 they recorded eight songs in Tokyo. Rose and Tau continued touring for over fifty years, living in countries such as Germany, Lebanon and India. They even performed in Germany as late as 1938 when the Nazi raciscm was on the rise and people of a darker color were regarded as inferior people; it is said that they even performed even for Adolf Hitler himself.^{[citation needed]} With their children, the Tau Moe family did much to spread the sound of Hawaiian folk music and hapa haole music throughout the world. In 1988, the Tau Moe family re-recorded the 1929 sessions with the help of musician and ethnomusicologist Bob Brozman.

The 1920s also saw the development of a uniquely Hawaiian style of jazz, innovated by performers at the Moana and Royal Hawaiian Hotels.^[10]

Slack key guitar

Main article: Slack-key guitar

Slack-key guitar (kī ho`alu in Hawaiian) is a fingerpicked playing style, named for the fact that the strings are most often "slacked" or loosened to create an open (unfingered) chord, either a major chord (the most common is G, which is called "taro patch" tuning) or a major 7th (called a "wahine" tuning). A tuning might be invented to play a particular song or facilitate a particular effect, and as late as the 1960s they were often treated as family secrets and passed from generation to generation. By the time of the Hawaiian Renaissance, though, the example of players such as Auntie Alice Namakelua, Leonard Kwan, Raymond Kane, and Keola Beamer had encouraged the sharing of the tunings and techniques and probably saved the style from extinction. Playing techniques include "hammering-on", "pulling-off", "chimes" (harmonics), and "slides," and these effects frequently mimic the falsettos and vocal breaks common in Hawaiian singing.

The guitar entered Hawaiian culture from a number of directions—sailors, settlers, contract workers. One important source of the style was Mexican cowboys hired to work on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi in the first half of the 19th century. These paniolo brought their guitars and their music, and when they left, the Hawaiians developed their own style of playing the instrument.

Slack key guitar evolved to accompany the rhythms of Hawaiian dancing and the melodies of Hawaiian chant. Hawaiian music in general, which was promoted under the reign of King David Kalakaua as a matter of national pride and cultural revival, drew rhythms from traditional Hawaiian beats and European military marches, and drew its melodies from Christian hymns and the cosmopolitan peoples of the islands (although principally American).

Popularization

In the early 20th century Hawaiians began touring the United States, often in small bands. A Broadway show called Bird of Paradise introduced Hawaiian music to many Americans in 1912 and the Panama Pacific Exhibition in San Francisco followed in 1915; one year later, Hawaiian music sold more recordings than any other style in the country. The increasing popularization of Hawaiian music influenced blues and country musicians; this connection can still be heard in modern country. In reverse, musicians like Bennie Nawahi began incorporating jazz into his steel guitar, ukulele and mandolin music, while the Kalama Quartet introduced a style of group falsetto singing. The musician Sol Ho'opii arose during this time, playing both Hawaiian music and jazz, Western swing and country, and developing the pedal steel guitar; his recordings helped establish the Nashville sound of popular country music.^[1] Lani McIntyre was another musician who infused a Hawaiian guitar sound into mainstream American popular music through his recordings with Jimmie Rodgers and Bing Crosby.

In the 1920s and 30s, Hawaiian music became an integral part of local tourism, with most hotels and attractions incorporating music in one form or another. Among the earliest and most popular musical attractions was the Kodak Hula Show, sponsored by Kodak, in which a tourist purchased Kodak film and took photographs of dancers and musicians.^[1] The show ran from 1937 through 2002. In the first half of the 20th century, the mostly young men who hung around the Honolulu beaches, swimming and surfing, came to be known as the Waikiki Beachboys and their parties became famous across Hawaii and abroad; most of them played the ukulele all day long, sitting on the beach and eventually began working for hotels to entertain tourists.

Popular Hawaiian music with English verse (hapa haole) can be described in a narrow sense. Generally, songs are sung to the ukulele or steel guitar. A steel string guitar sometimes accompanies. Melodies often feature an intervallic leap, such as a perfect fourth or octave. Falsetto vocals are suited for such leaps and are common in Hawaiian singing, as is the use of microtones. Rhythm is mostly in duple meter. A musical scale that is unique to Hawaiian music imbues it with its distinct feel, and so is aptly named the Hawaiian scale.

The Pan-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915 introduced Hawaiian steel guitar to mainland country music artists, and by the 1930s country stars Hoot Gibson and Jimmy Davis were making records with Hawaiian musicians.^[11]

The influx of thousands of American servicemen into Hawaii during World War 2 created a demand for both popular swing rhythm and country sounds. The western swing style, popular on the mainland since the 1930s, employed the steel guitar as a key element and was therefore a natural evolution. Beginning in 1945, the Bell Record Company of Honolulu responded to the demand with a series of releases by the western swing band Fiddling Sam and his Hawaiian Buckaroos (led by fiddler Homer H. Spivey, and including Lloyd C. Moore, Tiny Barton, Al Hittle, Calvert Duke, Tolbert E. Stinnett and Raymond "Blackie" Barnes). Between 1945 - 1950 Bell released some 40 sides by the Hawaiian Buckaroos, including a set of square dance numbers.

Modern music

In recent decades, traditional Hawaiian music has undergone a renaissance, with renewed interest from both ethnic Hawaiians and others. The islands have also produced a number of well-regarded rock, pop, hip hop, soul and reggae performers, and many local musicians in the clubs of Waikiki and Honolulu play outside the various "Hawaiian" genres. Hawaii has its own regional music industry, with several distinctive styles of recorded popular music. Hawaiian popular music is largely based on American popular music, but does have distinctive retentions from traditional Hawaiian music.^[2]

Hawaiian Renaissance

Main article: Hawaiian Renaissance

The Hawaiian Renaissance was a resurgence in interest in Hawaiian music, especially slack-key, among ethnic Hawaiians. Long-standing performers like Gabby Pahinui found their careers revitalized; Pahinui, who had begun recording in 1947, finally reached mainstream audiences across the United States when sessions on which Ry Cooder played with him and his family were released as The Gabby Pahinui Hawaiian Band, Vol. 1 on a major mainland label. Pahinui inspired a legion of followers who played a mix of slack-key, reggae, country, rock and other styles. The more traditional players included Leland "Atta" Isaacs, Sr., Sonny Chillingworth, Ray Kane, Leonard Kwan, Ledward Ka`apana, Dennis Pavao, while Keola Beamer and Peter Moon have been more eclectic in their approach. The Emerson brothers rekindled the classic sound of Sol Ho'opi'i with the National steel guitar on their vintage 1920s stylings. George Kanahele's Hawaiian Music Foundation did much to spread slack-key and other forms of Hawaiian music, especially after a major 1972 concert.^[1]

Don Ho (1930–2007), originally from the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kaka'ako, was the most widely known Hawaiian entertainer of the last decades of the 20th century. Although he did not play "traditional" Hawaiian music, Ho became an unofficial ambassador of Hawaiian culture throughout the world as well as on the American mainland. Ho's style often combined traditional Hawaiian elements and older 1950s and 1960s-style crooner music with an easy listening touch.

Loyal Garner also embraced Hawaiian elements in her Vegas-style lounge act and in the songs she recorded. A third notable performer, Myra English, became known as the "Champagne Lady" after recording the song "Drinking Champagne" by Bill Mack in 1963 became her signature song in Hawaii, and she achieved considerable commercial success both locally and abroad.

Jawaiian'

Jawaiian is a Hawaiian style of reggae music. Reggae music is a genre that evolved in the late 1960s and early in Jamaica. has become popular across the world, especially among ethnic groups and races that have been historically oppressed, such as Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Australian Aborigines. In Hawaii, ethnic Hawaiians and others in the state began playing a mixture of reggae and local music in the early 1980s, although it was not until the late 1980s that it became recognized as a new genre in local music. The band Simplisity has been credited by Quiet Storm Records as originators of the Jawaiian style. By the end of the 1980s, Jawaiian came to dominate the local music scene, as well as spawning a backlash that the Honolulu Star-Bulletin compared to the "disco sucks" movement of the late 1970s.^[12]

Reggae culture as a whole began to dominate Hawaii, as many locals can be seen sporting Bob Marley memorabilia, and lots of local merchandise and souvenirs have been emblazoned with the red, yellow, and green colors of the Ethiopian flag, a known symbol of the Rastafari movement. The Rasta colors have also become a symbol of local pride.

Jazz

Musicians

Some notable current and retired jazz musicians in Hawaii include Gabe Baltazar (saxophone), Henry Allen (guitar), Adam Baron (drums), Vic Castellini (Drums), David Choy (saxophone), Rich Crandall (piano), Dan Del Negro (keyboards), Pierre Grill (piano/keyboards/trombone), Bruce Hamada (bass), DeShannon Higa (trumpet), Jim Howard (piano), Steve Jones (bass), John Kolivas (bass), Ryan Kunimura (saxophone), Noel Okimoto (drums/percussion/vibes), Michael Paulo (reeds), Rene Paulo (acoustic grand piano)was a forerunner of recording Hawaiian music in the jazz venue in the early 1960s and is one of Hawaii's legendary music greats, Robert Shinoda (guitar), Arex Ikehara (bass), Phil Bennett (drums), Aron Nelson (piano), Tennyson Stephens (piano), Betty Loo Taylor (piano), Tim Tsukiyama (saxophone) and Abe Lagrimas Jr. (drums/ukulele/vibes).

Henry Allen (virtuoso on all three instruments) had left Hawaii in the early 1950s to go L.A. and work with Richard Kauhi and Alec Keack, who left the islands to pursue a career on the mainland as they were far ahead of their time back here in Honolulu. Henry moved to Maui in 1971 thus establishing himself in all the show rooms in the hotels and produced many jazz concerts over the years with the likes of Shorty Rodgers, Bud Shank, Lonne Smith, Gary Grant, Jay Leno Horns,(Chuck Findley, Ralph Moore, Slyde Richard Hyde) Gabe Baltazar and a series for Lana'i, called Jazz Under the Stars, of which the famous Howard Rumsey of the Hermosa Beach Light House fame was a part. Henry is not only a jazz guitarist, but Master artist of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar for which he is world-renowned, and recognised by the state and governor as such.www.henrykallen.com, [e-mail] Henry is currently as of July 29, 2008, producing jazz CDs and is author of two published books on music, "Learning to play the Hawaiian Steel Guitar" and Ukulele, Pila Li'i Li'i. Henry is now considered one of Hawaii's "Living Treasures".

Among the greats on the local jazz scene who have since passed on are Richard Kauhi, Ernie Washington, Paul Madison and Trummy Young. Kauhi was born in Hawaii, the others settled in Hawaii after successful careers on the US mainland.

Notable jazz vocalists in Hawaii, both current and retired include Jimmy Borges, Rachel Gonzales, Azure McCall, Joy Woode and I. Mihana Souza. Although Hawaiian vocalist Melveen Leed is known primarily for singing Hawaiian and "Hawaiian country" music, she has also earned good reviews as a jazz singer.

The most visible jazz group in Hawaii as of November 2007 was the Honolulu Jazz Quartet consisting of Baron (drums), Del Negro (keys), Kolivas (bass) and Tsukiyama (sax).

There are frequent performances by the two University of Hawaii jazz bands.

Locales

Regular venues to hear jazz in Honolulu include:

• Ward Rafters [2], a residential home in Kaimuki (3810 Maunaloa Ave.) converted into an indoor stage with performances every Sunday afternoon
• The Honolulu Club [3]: Robert Shinoda's rotating group is featured here. In the 1990s this group played regularly at the Music Union building.
• Jazz Minds [4]: DeShannon Higa's gr00ve.imProV.arTiSts plays here, as well as other groups. Higa also formerly appeared regularly at the Music Union building in the late 1990s.
• 39 Hotel [5]: Regular location of the Newjass Quartet.

Links

• Hawaii International Jazz Festival
• University of Hawaii Jazz Ensembles

Ukulele

Main article: Ukulele

The ukulele was introduced to Hawaii by the Portuguese immigrants near the close of the 19th century. The Portuguese brought small guitar-like instruments with them. These small guitars are called the cavaquinho. The instrument became a very popular one in Hawaiian culture, and a majority of Hawaiian songs involve the ukulele. In Hawaiian, ukulele literally means "flea (uku) jumping (lele)." It was named as such because when plucked, the high pitch of the strings brings to mind the image of a jumping flea. There are currently four sizes of ukulele; soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. ^[13]

Queen Liliuokalani, the last Hawaiian Queen, believed that the name for the ukulele means "The gift that came here". She believed this because of the Hawaiian words "uku" which means "gift or reward" and "lele" which means "to come."^[14]

The ukulele can be played with simple strums to elaborate strums and what is called "picking," which is the act of picking the strings to make single sounds. There are multiple ukulele makers. The most popular ukulele maker is Kamaka Ukuleles, Inc.^{[citation needed]}

Well known ukulele recording artists include Eddie Bush, Peter Moon, Benny Chong, Kelly "Kelly Boy" DeLima, Troy Fernandez, Canadian virtuoso James Hill, Raiatea Helm, Daniel Ho, slack key guitarist Ledward Kaapana, Jesse Kalima, Eddie Kamae, David Kamakahi, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Moe Keale, Ken Emerson, Bob Brozman, Pat Cockett, David Heaukulani [6], Kirby Keough, Gordon Mark, Herb "Ohta-san" Ohta, Herb Ohta Jr., Brittni Paiva, Lyle Ritz, Bruce Shimabukuro, Jake Shimabukuro, Bill Tapia, Byron Yasui, Abe Lagrimas Jr., and Uluwehi Guerrero.

The ukulele is mostly recognized as being Hawaiian, even though it is originally based on the Portuguese cavaquinho.

‘Ūkēkē

The Ukeke is a Hawaiian musical bow played with the mouth. It's the only stringed instrument indigenous to Hawaii.

'Ohe hano ihu

The 'Ohe hano ihu which means "Bamboo, Breath, Nose" in Hawaiian, or Nose Flute in English, is another type of Hawaiian instrument that has cultural and musical importance. It is made from a single bamboo node with a hole at the node area for the breath and three holes for the notes on the top side of the tube. It was often used in conjunction with chants and songs. The Hawaiians believe that the nose is pure and innocent unlike the mouth which can say many things. So the breath entering and exiting the 'ohe hano ihu is much purer than the mouth. In old times men would use the 'ohe hano ihu as a way to win the affection and love of a fellow woman.^[15]

Other

The music that is considered popular or "underground" in Hawaii does not necessarily correspond to similar genres in mainland areas of the U.S.A. This is partly a result of Hawaiian music, which appeals to many generations over. Whereas music like heavy metal or punk rock appeals primarily to a more youthful generation, and is not considered as commercially attractive to tourism. Na mele paleoleo is an emerging form of Hawaiian rap.

It is difficult to promote popular acts from the mainland due to its geographical isolation, and the smaller group of people interested in the music.

Links

• University of Hawaii Ethnomusicology Ensembles

See also

• Hawaii Calls
• Andy Iona

References

• "Big Island: Entertainment". Alternative Hawaii. http://www.alternative-hawaii.com/activity/bient.htm. Retrieved February 2, 2006. 
• "Kuaui: Entertainment". Alternative Hawaii. http://www.alternative-hawaii.com/activity/kent.htm. Retrieved February 2, 2006. 
• "History of the Hawaii International Jazz Festival (pdf)" (PDF). Hawaii International Jazz Festival. http://www.hawaiijazz.com/historyofhijf.pdf. Retrieved February 2, 2006. ^{[dead link]}
• Cooper, Mike (2000). "Steel Slide Hula Baloos". In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.). World Music, Vol. 2: Africa, Europe and the Middle East. London: Rough Guides. pp. 56–57. ISBN 1-85828-636-0. 
• "History of the Honolulu Symphony". Honolulu Symphony. http://www.honolulusymphony.com/about.php. Retrieved January 10, 2006. ^{[dead link]}
• "Lanai: Entertainment". Alternative Hawaii. http://www.alternative-hawaii.com/activity/lent.htm. Retrieved February 2, 2006. 
• Manuel, Peter (1988). Popular Musics of the Non-Western World. pp. 236–241. ISBN 0-19-506334-1. 
• Kanahele, George S., ed., ed. Hawaiian Music and Musicians. xxv - xxvii. 
• Unterberger, Richie (1999). Music USA: The Rough Guide. London: Rough Guides. pp. 465–473. ISBN 1-85828-421-X. 
• "Waikiki hula show ends run". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. http://starbulletin.com/2002/09/26/news/story1.html. Retrieved March 29, 2006. 
• Tatar, Elizabeth (1979). "Slack Key Guitar,". In Kanahele, George S., ed.. Hawaiian Music and Musicians. University Press of Hawaii. pp. 350–360. ISBN 0-8248-0578-X. 
• Indie blog, 2008: "Country music musicians were drawn to Hawaiian music when they first heard the Hawaiian steel guitar at the San Francisco Pan Pacific Exposition in 1915. Soon, artists such as Hoot Gibson and Jimmie Davis were recording with Hawaiians. Hawaii’s love affair with country music dates back to World War II, the result of the influx of great numbers of military personnel from the mainland USA. Local record labels scrambled to release “hillbilly music” to satisfy the new interest. Bell Records released recordings in 1945 by Fiddling Sam & his Hawaiian Buckaroos.
• Rockwell, Malcom, Hawaiian Music Discography (Honolulu: 2010)

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Unterberger, pgs. 465 - 473
2. ^ ^{a b c} Manuel, pgs. 236 - 241
3. ^ History of the Hawaii International Jazz Festival^{[dead link]} (pdf)
4. ^ Alternative Hawai`i: Big Island
5. ^ Alternative Hawai`i: Kuaui
6. ^ Honolulu Theatres & Auditoriums, retrieved on November 13, 2010.
7. ^ Alternative Hawaii: Lanai
8. ^ Honolulu Symphony^{[dead link]}
9. ^ ^{a b} Tatar, Elizabeth, in George Kanahele's Hawaiian Music and Musicians
10. ^ History of the Hawaii International Jazz Festival^{[dead link]} (pdf)
11. ^ Johnny Cash in a Grass Skirt: The Hawaiian Roots of Country^{[dead link]}
12. ^ "’02 not the year Jawaiian dies, but look out". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. http://starbulletin.com/2002/01/01/features/story2.html. Retrieved January 12, 2006. 
13. ^ "Fun Facts - The Ukulele". http://luaukalamaku.com/kauai_luau_fun_facts_the_ukulele.html. 
14. ^ Pryor, Alton. Little Known Tales in Hawaii History. Stagecoach Publishing: 2004
15. ^ [1], retrieved on November 13, 2010.

External links

• Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts (HARA) home of the Na Hoku Awards.
• Live Ukulele: A collection of contemporary and traditional hawaiian songs and tabs.
• Hapa Haole Songs, Island songs written in English
• North Shore Radio Hawaii Stream Hawaiian Music Station
• Territorial Airwaves - Your Source For The History of Hawaiian Music
• Hawaii Music Awards The "People's Choice" awards.
• Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame^{[dead link]}
• Huapala, Hawaiian Music and Hula Archives
• Taro Patch, An internet and international Slack Key community
• Island Song Lyrics at us.archive.org^{[dead link]}