What is a traditional Hawaiian song?

Django

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There was a recent thread looking for suggestions for "traditional" Hawaiian songs. The person said "I'm looking to learn some more "traditional" Hawaiian songs, and some to teach to my students." The responses were all over the map from IZ on back to the invention of the ukulele. I was curious what UU members feel constitutes a "traditional" Hawaiian song and more importantly, what Hawaiians feel are their traditional songs.
 
Please excuse my ignorance of Hawaiian music and culture. I have only been playing the Ukulele for 2 years and have not studied Hawaiian culture or music to any large degree, so I asked the question that I did, and also because so many others also seemed confused when asked for suggestions regarding "traditional" Hawaiian music, (thread: "Suggestions for fun to play Hawaiian songs", which asked for suggestions regarding traditional Hawaiian music). All I really know of Hawaii is that I love the Ukulele and what I have read about the deplorable way that the United States acquired the Islands.

We learn by asking or researching, so I asked the dumb question, but I got a very good answer from Kekani, thank you. My ignorance apparently also gave uke1950 a good laugh, (it appears that their laughter will be perpetual). At least the information provided by Kekani gives me and hopefully others an opportunity to learn. I hope that this thread did not offend.

I began playing Ukulele because of the instrument and sound, not the history, culture or tradition, (same as when I learned Guitar, Mandolin and Banjo). I am an all American Mutt living in New Hampshire, so I have no culture to preserve. My family and extended family are a true melting pot. If the music or an instrument speaks to me, I try to learn and enjoy it. I feel that the Hawaiian culture needs to be preserved and that we should never forget the terrible wrong done to the Hawaiian people by the United States.
 
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Sorry, Django, I wasn't laughing at you - It was because Kekani's answer, to me, said it all. :)

P.S. It is nice to know that there are people around that consider other cultures worth investigating.
 
Sorry, Django, I wasn't laughing at you - It was because Kekani's answer, to me, said it all. :)

P.S. It is nice to know that there are people around that consider other cultures worth investigating.

No problem. Things can be taken the wrong way through text. The little green guy is kind of funny.

I am thankful for the information that I obtained here because I now have some great recourses and have become a member of the Ukulele Guild of Hawaii. I have a long way to go, but I am enjoying the journey. Peace and Happy New Year.
 
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The two groups I with play with do "Aloha 'Oe" that I've always associated with Hawaii. Here's one rendition starting in English and part way through in Hawaiian.

[video]http://www.kohanmike.com/CCMusic/Aloha%20'Oe.mp3[/video]
 
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I'm sure there's an academic definition of "traditional Hawaiian music" observed by ethnomusicology researchers, perhaps based on time period (?). To me, if the piece is versed in the Hawaiian language and the subject matter consists of the recounting of, or has references to, pre-Statehood figures/events, then that (to me), would be considered "traditional," but those parameters would not be absolute! I would also include many love songs and anything slack key (ki ho alu) as traditional to my ears/heart.
 
There was a recent thread looking for suggestions for "traditional" Hawaiian songs. The person said "I'm looking to learn some more "traditional" Hawaiian songs, and some to teach to my students." The responses were all over the map from IZ on back to the invention of the ukulele. I was curious what UU members feel constitutes a "traditional" Hawaiian song and more importantly, what Hawaiians feel are their traditional songs.

How about Ulupalakua?

 
You can browse here for some stuffhttp://huapala.org/

Most guys I know either have, or have played from, have seen, have heard of He Mele Aloha. Hard not to when Kimo is on the UGH board.

I agree with this post. There are many more. By traditional, do you mean Olelo Hawai'i (Hawai'i language), or a mix of Hapa Haole (English mixed with Olelo Hawai'i) and/or English language only? Wanda did a great job of finding YouTube versions of songs in the He Mele Aloha songbook:

http://www.taropatch.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9603&SearchTerms=he,mele,aloha
 
Love that song. It's one we play with our group at the local senior center. About half of the group are from the Islands and we sing lots of song in Hawaiian. I guess they would be considered traditional. I often find the timing more difficult than the Hawaiian. I use the He Mele Aloha book but the song sheets we use at our group come from members who have had them from other older folks.
 
Traditional hawaiian songs are mostly in hawaiian, do you mean hapa haole, which are vintage written in English
 
Traditional hawaiian songs are mostly in hawaiian, do you mean hapa haole, which are vintage written in English

I guess that the question is not so simple. I think that a traditional Hawaiian song would have come from the true Hawaiian culture, before the United States annexed Hawaii, or at least have been written by someone of the Hawaiian culture. I did not weigh in at the beginning because I do not feel that I know enough about the culture of Hawaii or it's traditions to have a legitimate opinion.

I think that most would agree that Silent Night is a traditional Christmas song and that Jingle Bell Rock or Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer are not, (even though it might be a part of someone's personal tradition). I think that uke1950 got it right on the 3rd post, but it is good to know what the ukulele playing public and especially native Hawaiians think is a traditional Hawaiian song.
 
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I guess that the question is not so simple. I think that a traditional Hawaiian song would have come from the true Hawaiian culture, before the United States annexed Hawaii, or at least have been written by someone of the Hawaiian culture.

... I think that uke1950 got it right on the 3rd post, but it is good to know what the ukulele playing public and especially native Hawaiians think is a traditional Hawaiian song.

You're right, given Hawai'i's history it isn't a simple question at all! But it's one I find really interesting and I've really enjoyed reading the responses here. :)

I'm not going to claim even remotely to be an expert here, but many of the songs the ukulele-playing public that I encounter consider "traditional" Hawaiian songs are really Hapa Haole songs, often written by Mainlanders to exploit the tourist interest in Hawaii that was rampant during the first half of the last century. On first glance, I'd definitely *not* include those on the traditional list...

...except it gets even more complicated. "Pearly Shells" is a good example - the well-known English lyrics were written by Webley Edwards, a mainlander who moved to Hawaii in the 1920s and had a popular radio show there for years. But the original song is much older and the Hawaiian version is much older. So is it "traditional"? One could say both yes, and no.

For that matter, some of the songs that can be closely associated with Hawai'i - such as Aloha ʻOe by Queen Liliʻuokalani and Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī by King Kalākaua - could probably not be considered "traditional Hawaiian" in that the royal siblings were educated in missionary schools and exposed to western classical traditions.

And I don't know if it's accurate or not, but years ago I asked a teacher what "traditional" Hawaiian music was, and his reply was "chants." If I remember correctly, he said that prior to Western influence, Hawai'i didn't have much in the way of musical instruments beyond percussion, and what we think of as Hawaiian music is really a blend of many cultural influences. If I'm not mistaken, this is also touched on in John King and Jim Tranquada's excellent history. (Jim - if you're reading, please give us a few words!)

So perhaps where this gets sticky is the use of the word "traditional." I'd be inclined to agree with Kekani's response, but once you start browsing that link you'll notice a bit of hapa haole and more contemporary music mixed in. The lines get blurred!
 
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Defining a type of music by the term, "traditional Hawaiian", is very difficult. This difficulty is not limited to Hawaiian music but applies to all music genres because the music is constantly changing over time. For example when I was looking at Reggie music I found an ever changing continuum of different styles spanning several decades into the present. My "Reggie" music turned out to be centered on the music of Bob Marley.
For what it's worth, my "traditional" Hawaiian definition seems to be Hawaiian language songs. But that's not necessarily correct because it consists of the music plus all of my cultural and preconceived bias. Ask anyone else and you'll probably get a different but also valid answer.
 
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