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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
 Posted - 07/10/2003 : 7:05:27 PM
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So here I am at the Augusta Heritage Center, 80% if the way through a week of slack key workshopping with George Kahumoku. For those who aren't familiar with it, Augusta is a West Virginia folk-arts organization that sponsors five weeks of music, dance, and crafts workshops every summer, and last year for the first time they invited a slack key artist--George--to do a workshop, and Nancy Sweeney offered a hula class. This year is a repeat of last, except that the other genre being offered this time is cajun and creole music, which means lots and lots of accordions and fiddles and triangles and huge ad-hoc dance bands playing until all hours.
I got a couple of surprises this year. First, when I learned that instead of safe, familiar taropatch, George was going to teach a C-wahine tuning handed down in his family (or, to be precise, a D-wahine tuning slacked down a step: CGCEGB). I've never gotten the hang of wahine tunings, so it looked like I'd be going back to the beginners' section. Then I found that thanks to the inscrutable workings of the workshop universe, the class had an enrollment of one: me. Very strange, since the workshop filled last year, and George was a big hit at Augusta in general. Maybe the fact that the guitar workshops changed weeks this year has something to do with it--George's performances have certainly gone over well.
In any case, it's been just me and George every morning, and once I got my fingers around the new tuning, we've sat and played tunes and talked story. The tuning turns out to be not as gnarly as I feared it would be, and has refreshed my playing. In afternoon drop-in sessions George has been showing slack key and Hawaiian songs to anybody who is curious, and we've done some wahine-tuning 'ukulele as well, another revelation.
I knew from earlier workshops how good George is at teaching, but I'm impressed all over again. He's also fun to play with, and seems to be enjoying exploring C wahine and trying out all kinds of songs in it. Tonight he's cooking up a lu'au for all comers, so I'd probably better go help chop onions or whatever. Then we'll eat, and Nancy's hula class will dance, and we'll show the cajun players that they're not the only ones who know how to throw a party.
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Pops
Lokahi
USA
387 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2003 : 9:18:27 PM
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Look up Bob Smakula, an incredible fiddler, who's on the faculty, and tell him your a slack key pal of Mark Laskey. He's a dear old friend and arguably one of the best musicians I'ever met. He'll probably be playing cajun all night. Have a great time!
--Mark |
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bluzdulcimer
Aloha
USA
11 Posts |
Posted - 07/11/2003 : 09:57:31 AM
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I'm envious, one on one instruction, doesn't get any better than that. I'm also curious,
what is wahine-tuning ukulele? I have a slack key ukulele book that uses a GCEG tuning.
Is it the same? |
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