Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar

DaleR

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Anybody else experimented with this? I am using Taro Patch tuning on my acoustic right now and it works quite well, especially with my slide, although that is tricky, for now. Really fun sounds!
 
I've returned to playing and started listening to quite a bit of slack key guitar in the past 8 to 10 months. Taro Patch, C Wahine and my new favorite, F Wahine. Took the opportunity to attend a 4 day slack key guitar workshop with Keola Beamer at Strathmore last August. What a great experience.
 
Oh yes... Slack key is beautiful. Check out taropatch.net if you are looking for a Hawaiian-style resource. Tons of great info on there.
 
Oh yes...been learning slack key guitar in between playing the ukulele. Here is a link to a thread I started in June. Some good information!!
The slack key guitar sounds soooo beautiful!! Have fun and enjoy!!
 
The guy who helped me get started was Ozzie Kotani, through his book, Guitar Playing Hawaiian Style. Here's his web site: http://www.ozziekotani.com/

He currently offers two instruction DVDs as well, and has recorded a number of lovely CDs too.

Others have mentioned taropatch.net, definitely a place to visit for slack key and Hawaiian music info.

Fran
 
I'll admit to being lazy . . . what are some of the more common slack key tunings?? I used to (30+ years ago) do some open guitar tunings, but just never followed through.

Mahalo in advance!

bobinde
 
I'll admit to being lazy . . . what are some of the more common slack key tunings?? I used to (30+ years ago) do some open guitar tunings, but just never followed through.

Mahalo in advance!

bobinde

Probably the most common is "taropatch" which is exactly the same as open G or as the blues guys call it, "spanish" from its use in "Spanish Fandango." Spelled D G D G B D low to high.

Drop the low D down to C and you have a non-open tuning we call Drop C. It's both very convenient and a delightful tuning to play.

Some guys use open D (D A D F# A D) but more common is D Wahine (D A D F# A C#) because it makes for a more interesting set of runs and the V chord is more convenient.

Wahine tunings feature a major 7 note as in the D Wahine. Drop C is, then, a C Wahine. G Wahine is D G D F# B D and may be the oldest and most traditional slack key tuning. It's easy with this tuning to play a two chord song with only one finger.

The Pahinui family and their cohorts generally use a variety of C tunings such as C G E G B E (C Wahine), C G E G C E (open C), and C G E G A E (C Mauna Loa).

Naturally all these tunings can be varied up and down for versions in F, A, D, or Bflat, etc. With all the variations I think there have been over 50 tunings documented as being used in slack key, with some specific to a song, some to a family, some to an area. Presumably there are others that have been lost in time.

Fran
 
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