Learn to Play Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar

Hawaiian slack key guitar is one of the world???s great guitar traditions. Called ki ho???alu in Hawaiian it developed in the 19th century. Legend has it the first guitars were brought by cowboys imported from Alta California to deal with wild cattle. By day the paniolo taught the Hawaiians to rope and ride by night they serenaded them with the soft sounds of Spanish guitars...Written in tablature and standard musical notation Old-Time Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar features 24 of the essential instrumentals every aspiring slack key player should know. These are the classic melodies with a couple originals played just as you???d hear them in a backyard party kani kapila full ofinteresting twists and turns sometimes richly complex but always nahenahe as natural and refreshing as an ocean breeze.Mark Kailana Nelson is an entertainer musician and educator. His love for slack key guitar led him to travel to Hawai???i and study with many of the masters of the art. Along with Keola Beamer he is the author of Mel Bay???s Learn to Play Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar the first widely-available slack key instruction manual. Famed Hawaiian educator Aunty Nona Beamer gave him the Hawaiian name Kailana Gently Floating on the Sea and encouraged Mark to continue to teach Hawaiian music to all who wish to learn.Includes: - Tablature and standard notation - Notes on tunings reading music and tablature - Newly revised and correction transcriptions Learn to play: Pua Lena/Kealoha/E Huli Ho???i Mai/Hula O Makee Mauna Loa/Pauoa Liko Ka Lehua Kowali Paniolo Slack Key Ku???u Lei Awapuhi Melemele (My Yellow Ginger Lei) Ahe Lau Makani Nanea Kou Maka i ka Le???ale???a Moloka???i Waltz Moana Chimes Old Timer???s Hula/Slack Key Hula Hula Blues Taro Patch Blues Tiare Tahiti Kaulana Na Pua Playful Popoki ???Ulupalakua Kanaka Waiwai Kimo???s Slack Key Papakolea Suitable for intermediate guitarists. Includes access to online audio.

A contemporary master of slack key guitar provides the perfect introduction to a rich and vital guitar tradition. Called ki ho'alu in Hawaiian 'slack key' refers to a variety of deep richly-toned tunings in which the strings areloosened from standard pitch to suit the music. The thumb plays the bass while the fingers are used to pick melody in a cross between country fingerpicking and classical guitar. The music which can be played on any guitar -acoustic or electric - has a lush sound that is instantly evocative of the islands of the Pacific.Keola Beamer has chosen five traditional pieces and teaches them both in depth in this marvelous CD/book package. His tunesemploy a variety of tunings and techniques including the use of vibrato harmonics slurs harmonies in thirds and sixths legato playing and other musical ideas that help create a distinctive guitar sound. The ideas you'll learnin this lyrical and increasingly popular fingerpicking style will add thrilling new sounds and flavours to your entire repertoire.