Current Issue | Home | Back Issues | Other Mel Bay Sites | Purchase Dulcimer Products
Ke Kukima Polinahe Music for the Appalachian Dulcimer | Mountain Dulcimer "Decorations"
The Hammered Dulcimer in France

*See translation and information on Hawaiian pronunciaions at end of this article.

Mention the phrase "Hawaiian Music" and chances are your mind will turn to swaying palm trees, tropical sunsets, a steel guitar glissando and the gentle strumming of a hula maiden on her 'ukulele. That's not a bad image, but there's far more to it than grass skirts, plastic Tikis and tall drinks with umbrellas. In fact, some of the most beautiful and evocative folk music in the world comes from these blessed islands. And what is more, it sounds absolutely wonderful on your fretted dulcimer.

Before we begin to look at some examples, let's take a minute to see what music was like in Hawaii before the islands were "discovered." Master seafarers and navigators, the anscestors of the Hawaiians reached these most remote of islands at least 1000 years before the Europeans. As with other Polynesians, their history, religion and culture were collected and passed on via oral chant (oli) and dance (hula). Surprisingly, the Hawaiians possessed few melodic musical instruments-perhaps because of the paramount importance of the mele, or poetry, of the chants and stories. Plaintive two- and three-hole bamboo nose flutes ('ohe hano ihu) and a small mouth bow ('ukeke) were used primarily for courting and other diversions.

Within a few short years of Captain Cook's first contact in 1779, everything changed. In close succession whalers, missionaries and adventurers poured in-bringing their music, their religion, their economic systems...and their biases and diseases. The missionaries banned all expressions of traditional culture, including the Hawaiian language. Hymns were quickly translated and so a people with no tradition of harmony learned to sing. Foreign workers imported to work the new plantations added to the babble of tongues and musical styles.

In the 1880s, a Portuguese immigrant played his braghinia as his ship docked in Honolulu and started a national craze. The Hawaiians were so impressed with the player's flying fingers that they renamed the tiny guitar 'ukulele, "leaping flea!" Members of Hawaii's royal family, who were skilled composers in the European idiom, championed the new instrument as a unique expression of the Hawaiian spirit. A new style of hula was created to reflect this new music that blended Hawaiian words and feeling with Western harmonies. Promoted at the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915 along with another Hawaiian invention, the steel guitar, the 'ukulele and Hawaiian music took the world by storm.

Slack Key Guitar
Early on, the British established small herds of cattle on various islands to provision ships en route to and from the Far East. By the 1830s the cattle threatened to overrun the human populations-so skilled vaqueros (cowboys) from Spanish California were sent for. By day these paniolo (the Hawaiian pronunciation of Espaniolo-Spanish) taught cattle handling skills to the Hawaiians-by night they serenaded 'round the campfires on their guitars.

The Hawaiians enthusiastically took to this new music and made it their own. They returned the guitar's strings to an open chord in keeping with the gentle island breezes. Ki ho'alu (the Hawaiian words mean 'loosen the tuning key'), or slack key guitar, is true Hawaiian soul music-the essence of backcountry Hawaiian life. Until very recently, it was impossible for outsiders to hear slack key, let alone learn it. It was family music, not to be shared with strangers. Luckily, slack key has reached new popularity through the touring and recording of such master musicians as Keola Beamer, Cyril Pahinui, George Kahumoku, Jr., and others. Today slack key has taken its rightful place as one of the world's great guitar styles.

Slack Key Dulcimer
Since slack key guitar and the dulcimer both use open tunings, it isn't all that difficult to adapt the style to our instrument. You'll find that many of the traditional Polynesian melodies are familiar-that's because they derive from the same American and English hymns that have so influenced Appalachian folk music.

Although it is impossible to play the steady alternating bass that is essential to slack key, you can add some aloha to your playing with these licks based on the typical Hawaiian turnaround.

Ex. 1: Hawaiian songs almost always had an extra turnaround added before the verse repeats. Here are the essential chords played in a rhythm derived from the hula:

Listen to Ex. 1: Basic Vamp

Ex. 2: The quintessential Hawaiian lick. Let all the slides sound for their full time value.

Listen to Ex. 2: Turnaround #1

Ex. 3 & 4: Two more variations on the theme.

Listen to Ex. 3: Turnaround #2

Listen to Ex. 4: Turnaround #3

Ex. 5: Here's a jazzy lick that uses some unexpected notes:

Listen to Ex. 5: Turnaround #4

Now let's look at two songs from my CD The Water is Wide.

Ex.: Sanoe

Sanoe was written by Queen Lili'uokalani, Hawaii's last monarch and composer of the immortal Aloha 'Oe. The song tells the story of a possibly clandestine love affair in court. By the way, I play this in C (with modulation to F) on the CD-Hawaiians rarely play in the "fiddle" keys like D, A and E. You'll find much more music played in C and F (both great 'ukulele keys) as well as G, Bb and even Eb. To really play Hawaiian music, you'll need to loosen those keys a little!

After a simple four bar introduction using modern chordal colors typical of the playing of Keola Beamer and Ozzie Kotani, the arrangement is fairly straightforward. I have not indicated all the slips and slides I would normally put into the song-that's up to you!

Try playing with your fingers instead of a flat pick. Rather than pinching the chords or double stops, gently brush across the strings or use a quick roll to sound each note individually. Note the tempo marking; play this lowly to let each note and harmony shimmer in the air. Those G chords in the outro take quite a stretch-try using your thumb for the highest note. Sound the final harmonics by gently laying your finger across the strings directly above the 7th fret.

Ex.: Pua Sadinia

In Pua Sidinia, the singer compares his beloved to the fragrant Gardenia blossom. Although the melody itself is quite simple, notice the two-note chord fragments and syncopation-both hallmarks of the slack key style. I've also included numerous slides and unusual slurs to capture the essence if ki ho'alu in this challenging arrangement.

Concluding words from Mark Nelson:
I hope you enjoyed this look at arranging Hawaiian slack key guitar music for the dulcimer. There is really no sweeter music anywhere. Here's a wish that we will meet soon where the palm trees sway. In the words of Braddah Matt:
"I don't care what notes you play, I just want to feel your aloha."

Essential listening and resources:
Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Collection Volumes 1 and 2. (www.DancingCat.com). All the great contemporary slack key players are represented on these great CD samplers. Great website, too.

Keola Beamer, Island Born ('Ohe Records, available at www.kbeamer.com). A wonderful CD that features traditional Hawaiian instruments and chant along with stunning slack key guitar and vocals.

Pure Gabby (Hula Records, available at www.me.e.com). The legendary slack key guitarist Gabby Pahinui's only solo recording.

The Water is Wide (Acme Arts. Available at www.Mark-o.com). My most recent CD includes several traditional and modern slack key pieces arranged for dulcimer and guitar.

Mel Bay's 2000 Dulcimer Collection. Includes my arrangement of Isa Lei and Aloha 'Oe played as a medley.

Ke Kukima Polinahe is my suggestion for the name of our familiar instrument. It is made up of the Hawaiian pronunciation of the word "dulcimer" (as found in the Bible) and polinahe, a word that means both "slim waisted" and "soft and gentle music."

So 'ukulele is "oo-koo-lay-lay" and ki ho 'alu is "kee ho 'ah-loo," with a short stop between the "ho" and "ah" sounds. Although the language doesn't have an "s" the Hawaiians were taken with the sound and incorporated it into many words - hence "Sanoe" instead of kanoe (the mist) and "sadinia" for gardenia.

---

In the early 1970s Mark Nelson waws one of a handful of free-spirited musicians who created a whole new vocabulary for the Appalachian dulcimer and guitar. He created a driving flatpicking dulcimer style, playing the instrument with a force and passion seldom heard before. A first place win at the National Mountain Dulcimer Championships in Winfield, Kansas in 1979 led to appearances at festivals, colleges and coffeehouses across North America and Europe, and a recording career spanning over 25 years.

Mark Nelson has been in love with Hawaiian music since he was a boy. He is the author of numerous books. His most recent, Favorite Old Time American Songs, has just been published by Mel Bay. Along with famed Hawaiian musician Keola Beamer, Mark hosts the Aloha Music Camp, a week-long immersion into the music and culture of Hawaii. To learn more, or to purchase Mark's recordings, visit www.Mark-o.com.

Mel Bay Books featuring the music of Mark Nelson: Favorite Old Time American Songs

Complete Collection of Celtic Music for Appalachian Dulcimer
95530CDP
A generous selection of music from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany and Britain: reels, jigs, strathspeys, harp tunes and more. TAB and musical notation. CD with selections from the book available separately...

Scottish Airs and Ballads for Appalachian Dulcimer
96022BCD
Over 40 of the best-loved songs and ballads arranged for Appalachian dulcimer. Includes a generous helping of the songs of Robert Burns. TAB and musical notation. Includes CD with selections from the book.

2000 Dulcimer
98374BCD
Mel Bays' 2000 Dulcimer anthology is designed to enhance the repertoire of the intermediate to advanced mountain/fretted dulcimer player with a generous collection of challenging pieces.

Learn to Play Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar
96695BCD
Co-written with master musician Keola Beamer, this is the first comprehensive instruction method for this beautiful art form. Covers all of the major tunings, including Taro Patch, Double Slack, Mauna Loa, Keola's C and F Wahine. TAB and musical notation. Includes CD with tunings, examples and selections from the book.