Even if you don’t know exactly what a Hawaiian slack key guitar (or ki ho’alu) is, you can probably easily recognize its music. It’s that smooth, sweet sound that evokes island breezes and warm sunny ...

For more than 150 years, slack key guitar, or ki ho’alu, has been the “house music” of Hawaii. Islanders were introduced to guitars by Spanish and Mexican vaqueros and quickly adapted the sound and ...

Opihi moemoe --Yellow ginger lei --Kilakila Haleakala --Willy's tune --Meleana e --Nahenahe --Auwe! --Punahele --Kaneohe Mama --Manini --WaEahila --Hawaiian love ...

One of the greatest acoustic guitar traditions in the world is a fingerstyle guitar unique to Hawaii. Slack key guitar or “ki ho’alu,” which translates to “loosen the tuning key,” starts with standard ...

Slack key guitar is the sound of Hawaiian fellowship, protest, and love for native land. Most scholars trace the origin of the indigenous fingerstyle technique—named for the fact that the strings are ...

Slack key virtuoso Jeff Peterson performs a concerto he composed with a North Carolina orchestra. Maui-born musician Jeff Peterson earned multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards for his slack key ...

According to Matthew Swalinkavich, known by fans as Makana, there are obvious reasons that few musicians master slack key guitar. "It's a very challenging style technically, and it's hard to learn ...

Hawaiian slack key guitar is a finger picking style that stands with the world’s great guitar traditions like flamenco and blues. Its resonant sound often associated with Hawaii is alive, evolving and ...

Rev. Dennis Kamakahi performs at the 2012 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia With his quiet dignity and self-assurance, leadership becomes Slack Key guitarist Reverend Dennis ...

When he’s not playing lead guitar touring and recording with “Weird Al” Yankovic, Grammy winning musician Jim “Kimo” West pursues his love for Hawaiian slack key guitar. Releasing several acclaimed ...

There's no music in the world quite like Hawaii's slack-key guitar. This unlikely marriage of the Spanish guitar with and Polynesia's rippling rhythms gets its name from the islanders' habit of ...

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