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Music of Hawaii

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Musical genres, styles,
eras and events

   Music of the United States
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   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 Centre
   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"
   Other topics Hawaiian folk music - Music of Honolulu - Polynesian music

   The music of Hawai`i 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.

   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".

Music festivals and venues

   Major music festivals in Hawai`i 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. There is also a Hawaii International Jazz Festival,
   which was founded in 1993, and holds festivals on O'ahu, Hawaii, Maui
   and Kauai.

   Hawai`i is home to numerous hotels, most of which feature music in the
   afternoon or evening; some of the more prominent ones include the
   Kahala Hilton, the Sheraton Moana Hotel, Casanova's and the King
   Kamehameha Hotel. Large music venues in Hawaii include the University
   Theatre, which has 600 seats and is the largest venue on the Big
   Island. The largest venue and cultural exhibition centre on Kauai is
   the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Centre. The Neal S.
   Blaisdell Centre is the largest venue in Honolulu and among the largest
   in the state. The historic Lanai Theatre is a cultural landmark on
   Lanai, dating back to the 1930s.

Music institutions and industry

   Hawai`i 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. The Orchestra has
   collaborated with other local institutions, like the Hawaii Opera
   Theatre and the O'ahu Choral Society's Honolulu Symphony Chorus, which
   operates the Hawai`i International Choral Festival.

Folk music

   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 attentuated forms in which they survive today".
   Hula performance at a ceremony turning over U.S. Navy control over the
   island of Kahoolawe to the state
   Enlarge
   Hula performance at a ceremony turning over U.S. Navy control over the
   island of Kahoolawe to the state

   The chant (mele) is typically accompanied by an ipu heke (a double
   gourd drum) and/or pahu (sharkskin covered drum). Some dances require
   dancers to utilize hula implements such as an ipu (single gourd drum),
   `ili`ili (waterworn lava stone castanets), `uli`uli (feathered gourd
   rattles), pu`ili (split bamboo sticks) or kala`au (rhythm sticks). The
   older, formal kind of hula is called kahiko, while the modern version
   is `auana. There are also religious chants called oli; 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 favour 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 foreign colonizers arrived on the island.
   During this period, Hawaii began a period of acculturation with the
   introduction of numerous styles of European music, including the hymns
   (himeni) introduced by Protestant missionary choirs. Mexican and
   Spanish cowboys, or paniolos, were particularly influential immigrants
   in the field of music, introducing falsetto singing and the use of
   string instruments such as the guitar, while Portuguese sailors brought
   the ukulele-like braguinha.

   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.

   From 1915 to 1930, mainstream audiences outside of Hawaii became
   increasingly enamoured of Hawaiian music, though by this time the songs
   marketed as Hawaiian had only tangential relations to 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
   MacIntire 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.

Queen Lili'uokalani and Henry Berger

   Queen Lili'uokalani
   Enlarge
   Queen Lili'uokalani

   Queen Lili'uokalani was the last Queen of Hawaii before the Hawaiian
   monarchy was overthrown. She was also a musician and composer, known
   for the unofficial Hawaiian anthem " Aloha 'Oe". Though she arranged
   the music for "Aloha 'Oe", and wrote the lyrics, she appropriated the
   tune from a Croatian folk song called "Sidi Mara na kamen studencu".

   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. As a result, the traditional
   Hawaiian music that he documented was a hybrid of native and German
   styles, brought both by Berger and Lutheran missionaries.

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.

   Steel-string guitars also arrived with the Portuguese in the 1860s and
   slack-key had spread across the chain by the late 1880s. Legend has it
   that a ship called the Ravenscrag arrived in Honolulu on August 23,
   1879, bringing Portuguese field workers from Madeira. One of the men,
   João Fernandes, later a popular musician, tried to impress the
   Hawaiians by playing folk music with a friend's braguinha; 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).

Late 19th and early 20th century

   1913 sheet music cover
   Enlarge
   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 steel guitar. Kalakaua's successor, his sister Lili'uokalani,
   composed music herself, 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.

   In about 1900, Joseph Kekuku began sliding a piece of steel across
   slacked keys, thus inventing steel guitar (kila kila); at about the
   same time, traditional Hawaiian music with English lyrics became
   popular — this was called hapa haole. 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.

   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 music. In 1903, Albert "Sonny" Cunha
   composed My Waikiki Mermaid, arguably the first hapa haole song.

   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, one of
   the first recordings of traditional Hawaiian music. Rose and Tau
   continued touring for over fifty years, living in countries such as
   Germany, Lebanon and India. 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.

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 (G
   or C, sometimes D) or a major 7th. (The latter are called "wahine"
   tunings.) 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
   Hawai`i 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, drew rhythms from traditional Hawaiian beats and
   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.

   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. 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.

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. 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.

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, while Keola Beamer and Peter Moon have been more eclectic in
   their approach. George Kanahele's Hawaiian Music Foundation did much to
   spread slack-key and other forms of Hawaiian music, especially after a
   major 1972 concert.

   Don Ho from the small Honolulu neighbourhood of Kaka'ako figures among
   the more widely known Hawaiian musicians. Although he perhaps does not
   produce completely "traditional" Hawaiian music, Ho has become an
   unofficial ambassador of Hawaiian culture throughout the world as well
   as on the American mainland. Ho's style often appears to combine
   traditional Hawaiian elements and older 1950s and 1960s-style crooner
   music with an easy listening touch.

Jawaiian

   Jawaiian is a Hawaiian style of reggae music, a genre that evolved in
   the late 1960s and early 70s in Jamaica. Reggae has become popular
   across the world, especially among ethnic groups and races that have
   been historically oppressed, such as Native Americans, Pacific
   Islanders and New Zealand Maori, and Australian Aborigines. In Hawaii,
   ethnic Hawaiians and others in the state began playing a mixture of
   reggae and local music in the early 1990s. By the end of that decade,
   it had come to dominate the local music scene, as well as spawned a
   backlash that the Honolulu Star-Bulletin compared to the " disco sucks"
   movement of the late 1970s.

Hip Hop

   Hawaii Hip Hop can be dated back to its first inception back in the
   early 1980s (though the birth of Hip Hop can be dated as far back as
   the early 1970s, originating in New York City). With breakthrough A.M.
   radio station KISA playing Hip Hop in the prime time. Radio
   personalities for KISA included Auntie Loki, Johnny Jay Jam and Mother
   Goose. In regards to the continuation and preservation of Hawaii Hip
   Hop on the airwaves, came Kavet the Catalyst of the LightSleepers camp,
   and he hosted a radio show on the University of Hawaii's KTUH. You can
   still tune in to KTUH periodically to find the tradition living on
   strong with current DJs/hosts. KIKI (FM) also played a big role in
   bringing Hip Hop to mainstream radio. Campbellock dancer, Double
   Klutch, is noted as being one of Hawaii's most veteran Hip Hop dancers.
   Some of the Hawaii Hip Hop crews & solo emcees include the Aiga,
   Nomasterbacks, Direct Descendants, HI State, Umgawd, Deadmonkeys,
   Audible Lab Rats, Sisters in Sound, Omega Cix, Earth Movers, Amphibieus
   Tungs, 808 Natives, P.O.P. (Prince's of Percussions), Club Rox Rock,
   Rhythm & Rhyme, C.O.D. (Concept's of Desire), Skream Team and many
   more. One of the first ever solo artists noted to do Hawaiian Hip Hop
   was a Hawaiian female emcee by the name of, Charlotte Kaluna, better
   known as Frumpy. One of the first Hawaiian Hip Hop groups, Sudden Rush,
   received notice for their integration of Hawaiian language into their
   rhymes, and came up with the term na mele paleoleo (literally "music of
   fast repetitive poetry") to describe their music. Asita Recordings,
   Tiki Entertainment and Flip the Bird Entertainment are prominent Hawaii
   based hip hop record labels. Quad Mag a long-standing zine that covers
   the Hawaii Hip Hop scene. Another longtime contributor is producer &
   dj, DJ ELITE, of Elite Empire Entertainment, Hawaii's first Hip Hop DJ
   Champion.

Jazz

   Musicians

          Some notable current jazz musicians in Hawaii include Gabe
          Baltazar (saxophone), Robert Shinoda, Tim Tsukiyama, DeShannon
          Higa (trumpet), Danny Del Negro, Abe Weistein (saxophone), David
          Choy (saxophone), Rich Crandall (piano), Abe Lagrimas Jr.
          (drums), John Kolivas (bass), and Adam Baron (drums). There are
          frequent performances by the two University of Hawaii jazz
          bands.

   Locales

          Regular venues to hear jazz in Honolulu include:

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

   Links
     * Hawaii International Jazz Festival
     * University of Hawaii Jazz Ensembles

Ukulele

   Some well known ukulele recording artists include Jake Shimabukuro, Abe
   Lagrimas Jr., Herb Ohta, Jr., Brittni Paiva, Daniel Ho, Benny Chong,
   and Ululwehi Guerrero.

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.

   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. And as a result Hawaii has become a mixing plate for many
   cultures (and subcultures), and is home to many bands that incorporate
   world influence in a unique fusion of sound. Quadrophonix (India).
   Mabanzi (Zimbabwe), and Gamelan (Hawaii) just to name a few.

   Still a subculture, amazingly, continues to thrive with music from
   bands such as Technical Difficulties, Moemoea, Living in Question, and
   Missing Dave. And the incredible efforts of 808 Shows, and Unity
   Crayons (a non profit organization that promotes all ages shows in
   Hawaii).

   Links
     * University of Hawaii Ethnomusicology Ensembles
     * Hawaii Underground: Island Music and Entertainment

                              Polynesian music
     Easter Island - Fiji - Hawaii - Samoa - Tonga - Tuvalu - Wallis and
                                   Futuna

         French Polynesia: Austral - Marquesas and Tahiti - Tuamotus
    New Zealand: Chatham Islands - Cook Islands - Maori - Niue - Tokelau

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Hawaii"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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