Kī Hoʻalu: That's Slack Key Guitar
A compelling look at Hawaiian slack key guitar that unveils a cultural richness that is uniquely Hawaiian.
- Category
- Full-Length Film
- Subject Matter
- Biography, Arts & Music
Kī Hōʻalu: That's Slack Key Guitar is a compelling look at Hawaiian slack key guitar through an intimate portrait of Raymond Kane, a man who holds a special place in the domain of traditional Hawaiian music.
Slack key guitar is a traditional solo fingerpicking style unique to Hawaiʻi. Hawaiians have been playing slack key since the early 1800s when traditional guitars were brought to the islands by Spanish cowboys. The Hawaiians tuned or "slacked" the strings to suit their own music. The tradition extends beyond the islands to influence many mainland musicians including Ry Cooder and Chet Atkins. Some of the musicians in the film with Raymond Kane include: Sonny Chillingworth, Ledward Kaʻapana, Leonard Kwan, Haunani Apoliona, Diana Aki, and George Kahumoku, Jr.History of Slack Key Guitar
The guitar was brought to the Hawaiian Islands in the 1800s by Spanish and Mexican cowboys who had been hired to herd cattle. Called paniolo, from the Hawaiian word for espanol, the cowboys taught the Hawaiians how to ride horses and rope cattle. Eventually, the cowboys left Hawai'i, but some of their guitars remained behind. The local Hawaiians, by experimentation with tuning and chord structures, developed their own form of guitar playing known as slack key. With loosened ("slackened") strings and "open" tunings and utilizing "hammer-on's," performers master a complex articulation of chords. The resulting harmonics yield a most unusual, resonant sound. Though it is comparatively new (no more than 150 years old), slack key guitar is a true folk art. The practice is handed down from player to apprentice player with each new artist adding his or her own stylistic innovations, furthering the development of the tradition.
In the late 1960s, a cultural explosion known as the Hawaiian renaissance brought this music to the fore, and its visibility and popularity has continued to spread to younger generations. Raymond Kaleoalohapoina'oleohelemanu Kane has been recognized as one of its most important living practitioners. He was one of the handful of Hawaiian musicians who helped to keep this unique and original art form alive. Gabby Pahinui, who died in 1973, was perhaps the most famous slack key guitarist to date. Raymond grew up in Nanakuli, a district of O'ahu with a large ethnic Hawaiian population and strong ties to the land. Ricardo Trimillos, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Hawai'i, writes of Raymond, "His style of playing is strongly influenced by the slack key tradition of Ni'ihau, the only island of the Hawaiian chain where ethnic Hawaiians are the majority population and where Hawaiian language is still the mother tongue." Raymond Kane's hands are those of an ex-welder, thick and strong, but when he begins to play "that slack key guitar," as he calls it, his fingers caress the guitar, making the soft and tender music his daughter describes in the film as being "Hawaiian Soul Music."
At 72, Raymond is stocky and handsome and effusive in speech and gesture. His profound depth of character and warm sense of humor shines brightly. Kī Hōʻalu: That's Slack Key Guitar follows him, cinema verite style, going about his daily life, and conveys the intimate connection between this style of music and Native Hawaiian culture.
