I requested the above-referenced book be scanned. It is now available in digital form here: https://hdl.handle.net/10524/63920
The Ukulele and How it's Played, Kaai, 1916 now freely available in digital form
- Thread starter etisdale
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MichaelMeekins89
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Thank you for letting us now about this. I've been searching for this book for many years! My dad used to have it after his grandparents, but after many moves, it has been lost somewhere. Fortunately it's online and it's better than nothing. I have to show it to him! 
I’ve never herd of this book. Is their some history to it that makes it a good read or is it more nostalgic for the period? Is there a view to read a chapter on that site before committing to the whole PDF file?
thanks
thanks
I did notice this morning some sluggishness with accessing the page I linked to above. But that link is their preferred link (as stated on the page).
You could also try searching for the book here: https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu
Enter "Kaai":
And your search for "Kaai" should put you here where you can continue to click through:
Ernest Kaai is credited with the first ukulele method book in 1906. It was called The ukulele, a Hawaiian guitar and how to play it. Kaai's 1906 book was revised, and the revised edition was released in 1910. (See for more: http://nalu-music.com/?p=13 ) There are at least two facsimiles of Kaai's first book currently available for purchase. (See here, for example: http://nalu-music.com/?page_id=63 ) Here's an example tune (Maile Waltz) from Kaai's first book played by John King:
The ukulele and how it's played is Kaai's second book. It is more extensive than the first. Here's an example of Aaron Keim playing Banjo Schottische from Kaai's second book:
I enjoyed learning the tunes and techniques in the first book, so I requested the second book be scanned. Also, I paid for the scan, but you don't have to! Now that The ukulele and how it's played has been scanned, UH is making it freely available to everyone in their digital repository as above.
merlin666
Well-known member
Thanks I was not aware of the second book, which has also improved tabulation with with regular scores.
PeteyHoudini
Well-known member
That was nice they scanned it. This book is included on page 49 in the following publication that contains many early Hawaiian methods:
Hawaiian Ukulele: The Early Methods
CENTERBROOK Publishing
ISBN 1574240528
ISBN 13: 9781574240528
I bought it many years back. It's great. Seems hard to find now.
WorldCat library catalogue record
https://www.worldcat.org/title/collection-of-popular-early-hawaiian-ukulele-methods/oclc/41923766
Hawaiian Ukulele: The Early Methods
CENTERBROOK Publishing
ISBN 1574240528
ISBN 13: 9781574240528
I bought it many years back. It's great. Seems hard to find now.
WorldCat library catalogue record
https://www.worldcat.org/title/collection-of-popular-early-hawaiian-ukulele-methods/oclc/41923766
ripock
Well-known member
Is the book actually useful or is it more of antiquarian interest? In the past you've championed things like Roy Smeck's stuff which is applicable, but I can imagine that there is a lot of stuff in your library which is more twee and not relevant to a modern musician.
PeteyHoudini
Well-known member
BTW - I have a twitter account but not ready to start really posting until my new blog website is secure.... damn GoDaddy hosting service says my WordPress site has been hacked in Google's indexing but not as a site itself. The site is fine. Damn, you pay GoDaddy good money and they fail you like a real jerk.
Anyway, back to the topic. Ukes and songbooks. The odds of getting your hands on that book is next to nothing now after my researches online so your question is not required. I don't have a clue why. The book is toast. It's an interesting compilation of old Hawaiian methods in a non-spiral bound book. If you think the published Hawawiian culture of ukulele methods are no longer useful to "a modern musician," you'd better give up the blues and jazz my friend. This music is their history. These days, try to look for a sheet music collection containing the song "Aloha Oe" and almost NONE contain the Hawaiian words. This collection of mine here has 3-4 interesting versions of the song in English and Hawaiian. That is a gem unto itself. Still, this is not for everyone. Indeed, I have a esoteric collection of many uke books and that's how I built my uke music on the shoulder of the uke giants who came before me. Long live the Hawaiians!
Smeck's playing is not for everyone. I am an advanced player but I have gotten into many methods.... do you think that the George Formby banjo uke style is not uselful for modern players? I went to England to learn it. I ended up using this style in a few of my modern songs. Makes them more interesting. Anyway, I'm not hear to battle. Just to share.
You've just been asking questions and that is good. Here's how I took an old 60s folk song and transformed it a uke song with old 1940s Formby split-stroke playing. haha
Anyway, back to the topic. Ukes and songbooks. The odds of getting your hands on that book is next to nothing now after my researches online so your question is not required. I don't have a clue why. The book is toast. It's an interesting compilation of old Hawaiian methods in a non-spiral bound book. If you think the published Hawawiian culture of ukulele methods are no longer useful to "a modern musician," you'd better give up the blues and jazz my friend. This music is their history. These days, try to look for a sheet music collection containing the song "Aloha Oe" and almost NONE contain the Hawaiian words. This collection of mine here has 3-4 interesting versions of the song in English and Hawaiian. That is a gem unto itself. Still, this is not for everyone. Indeed, I have a esoteric collection of many uke books and that's how I built my uke music on the shoulder of the uke giants who came before me. Long live the Hawaiians!
Smeck's playing is not for everyone. I am an advanced player but I have gotten into many methods.... do you think that the George Formby banjo uke style is not uselful for modern players? I went to England to learn it. I ended up using this style in a few of my modern songs. Makes them more interesting. Anyway, I'm not hear to battle. Just to share.
You've just been asking questions and that is good. Here's how I took an old 60s folk song and transformed it a uke song with old 1940s Formby split-stroke playing. haha
kozmoboxman
Well-known member
Very cool!
Apologies if it is common knowledge here in UU, but I think it is always worth digging around in the HathiTrust Digital Library for gems like this, too. I just came across this Kaai treasure with a quick search:
Apologies if it is common knowledge here in UU, but I think it is always worth digging around in the HathiTrust Digital Library for gems like this, too. I just came across this Kaai treasure with a quick search:
ripock
Well-known member
thanks for the explanation. What I meant is that sometimes what is revolutionary for old books is taken for granted in more contemporary methods. So I was essentially asking if this book had something new to offer or if we are already living by its tenets since newer pedagogy is based on the older stuff that was successful.
PeteyHoudini
Well-known member
No worries. I get it. But it's my inner ukulele archeology. I explore it all and share.
Petey
Thanks for the recommendation! I found a used but new-looking copy online. I just received it today. Looks good. I'm looking forward to digging in.
PeteyHoudini
Well-known member
No problem. There's LOT in that collection of collections and lots of TABs too. In the contents page, there is a special thanks to a few people like Jim Beloff.
Glad you could find a copy. I buy used copies of sheet music collections all the time. It's funny when you see people's names, addresses and phone numbers written in the front pages of some of the collections. I want to phone them and ask them, "Why did you get rid of this?" haha
I don't know why this collection seems so hard to find.
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What seems even harder to find is the second volume mentioned in the Forward: Mainland Ukulele, The Early Methods. I get the sense that it was never published.
Update (9/27/2021): I e-mailed the publisher (Centerstream Publishing). It turns out they had too many copyright issues to publish the second volume. Bummer! However, I was alerted to a number of more contemporary books that looked quite good.
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