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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
 Posted - 06/12/2002 : 04:57:14 AM
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I'm wondering if anyone out there sees slack key as a "spiritual" experience (not necessarily like related to a particular Religion or Sect.) There are times when I get into a very meditative-type of place -- it really feels like the music is coming from some very "deep" place and is just playing through me. For me that's like being in touch with the creative power that is the source of everything. Also, playing slack key "restores me" to a saner self and helps me keep my "heart" open when I go about daily things. Finally, I've been starting to use slack key in my work with disturbed individuals and seniors in nursing homes. I'm finding that if I can get myself into that "channeling zone" a lot of interesting stuff happens with my patients -- very agitated, even psychotic, people get very mellow -- and staff that way for a good bit of time. Somehow it also seems to help seniors who are grieving move along in their process -- not all, but enough to make it a worthwhile try. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the spiritual and healing aspects of art and, especially, slack key, anybody have thoughts on the subject? Want to discuss in more depth?
Raymond
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Pauline Leland
`Olu`olu
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2002 : 10:43:38 AM
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Raymond,
Those are exciting concepts. Music does speak straight to our emotions. "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast," or something close to that quote (with the "r"!). I've also read of musicians going into a trance state while playing. Musical therapy is something I've heard of, know nothing about, but you may have explored that already.
You may be onto something about slack key being different than most music one hears. I don't think it grabbed me instantly; it may have taken as many as 3 listens for slack key to really sink its hooks into me. I still enjoy listening to other kinds of music, but slack key is what I want to play. An Ozzie CD is playing this moment, and it is calming, not emotionless but not fiery. So far, in what I've heard of slack key, virtuosity is used to serve the music, not for look-at-me showing off with lightning fast passages.
I've compared slack key to flamenco because both are improv styles, regional/cultural, and can be/are played on nylon string guitars. The cultures of Hawaiians and Spanish gypsies seem very different to me, and their music reflects it. Whoa, just this instant, Ozzie put some rasgueados into the conclusion of one piece. What a contrast! Flamenco is not laid back. I wonder if a case could be made for music serving to reinforce the emotional mein that a culture prizes. If so, maybe that is part of what sets slack key apart from flamenco's fiery laments or the jittery bounce of celtic (not new age celtic).
Pauline |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2002 : 11:10:56 AM
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Yesterday, I was driving home from work with "MASTERS COLLECTIONS VOL. 2" in the CD player. There is something about the opening song, Ray Kane's "Popoki Slack Key", that is way calming. Nothing complex - mostly parallel sixths with an almost hypnotic alternating bass. It's simplicity is just beautiful. Kept me insulated from the nutty driving going on around me. My experience is not so deep but you're on to something.
The first time I saw Hawaiian music played live, I felt there was something spiritual about it. More than simply music to the ears but something heartfelt. I'm fascinated that you're experimenting with slack key at work Raymond. Without a doubt, music can be therapeutic. Unfortunately, I guess it could be destructive too. Depends on the music.
I think my cat likes slack key because he sleeps when I play too. But then again, he's sleeping about 90% of the time.
Andy |
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cgriffin
Aloha
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2002 : 11:17:06 AM
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I think that it's not so much the genre of the music which determines its healing (or un-healing) value, but the space from which the musician is coming.
Now it just happens that musicians who live in a very great state will be playing great music like Slack Key Guitar, not popular rock music.
The first time I listened to Keola Beamer play E Ku'u Morning Dew I went into an incredibly deep peaceful meditation. He's a beautiful musician.
I play drum for chanting music at the local Siddha Yoga Meditation Center. I hold chanting to be one of the greatest spiritual practices ever: as I chant God's name I enjoy the presence of the divine within me.
It's all what's inside, in your Heart. If you have love there, then your music will be healing to others, even if you play rock-n-roll! But I find, however, that some forms of music can really pollute my inner landscape, so I don't listen to or play any popular rock music anymore.
Blessings,
Chris
Chris
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Chris Griffin
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2002 : 12:43:13 PM
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aloha e andy,
i was listening to that album while coming into work today. when someone asks me what slack key is all about, i put on "popoki slack key" for them. to me, it's about as pure as you can get of what i think slack key is all about; it's beautiful in its simplicity.
keith
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Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2002 : 2:07:52 PM
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At the risk of coming across as some sort of grinch, I'd caution against flattening slack key into a one-dimensional music-of-meditation. As important as nahenahe is to the slack key aesthetic, there are other strains just as strong, especially dance and native, immigrant, and mainland popular song. Plenty of bouncy tempos there, along with latin rhythms from the Portuguese and Mexican branches of the family (Sonny, Moses Kahumoku) and bits of ragtime, swing, and jazz (Gabby, Leonard Kwan). And then there's the high-energy, athletic end of the tradition in the virtuoso (not to say show-off) pieces by Sonny and Led in particular, a practice that goes back at least to Uncle Fred Punahoa.
Of course, much of slack key *is* nahenahe--some of its thickest roots, after all, are in what people played for their own satisfaction, alone or with family members, at the end of the work day. But it was also party music, dance music, naughty-song music, soak-up-the-new-influence music. And now, new-age-elevator and even singer-songwhiner music (I name no names [and if we're lucky, you wouldn't recognize them anyway], but it's as inevitable as it is unfortunate.)
Seems to me that all music expresses big chunks of the individual internal and cultural landscapes of the people who create it, and that those landscapes are varied, complex, and sometimes contradictory.
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Bopcat
Aloha
5 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2002 : 2:08:20 PM
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Hi everyone,
I've been listening to and learning slack key for only a few months now but I've had the same feelings as RJS. I was going to post something similar - but RJS has put it far more eloquently than I could. What strikes me about slack key is that the sounds of slack key blend in with and compliment nature's sounds. Imagine sitting on the beach or in the woods and listening to the sounds of the wind in the trees or the waves on a beach or birds singing or a waterfall - and then think of what you would play on a guitar to join in with this sound - not overpower nature's sounds but simply add another voice. This is what I hear when I listen or play slack key.
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2002 : 2:37:40 PM
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quote:
(Russell:) As important as nahenahe is to the slack key aesthetic, there are other strains just as strong, especially dance and native, immigrant, and mainland popular song.
yup. i think that in this way (and lots of others) it parallels the delta blues. it's sort of fun to try to figure out what inspired, say, cyril pahinui's version of "panini pua kea" (leo kottke, maybe?)
keith
(how'm i doing in the race with bruddah chrispy?)
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2002 : 7:58:07 PM
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I would like to add a comment inspired by my reading Pauline's, cgriffen's and Russell's postings, and finish with a neat "animal" study. Advanced apologies for typos. If you don't want to read the "stuff" especially the more technical stuff in the middle paragraph, at least please check out the true story in the last paragraph.
First of all I'm glad Russell brought up the different styles within slack key. Absolutely true and in no way do I want to reduce slack key just to nahenahe. On the otherhand, I do have a definite preference for "end of the day campfire" and "3 AM when the house is all quiet" slack key. (Sometimes I do like to put a lot of passion into a piece, especially if playing a sey. A lot of my own music is also influenced by Mexican music of various styles. Nonetheless, even within "showmanship" styles -- some players definitelt get me into an altered state of consciousness, while others keep me "on the surface" of the music. (Hope that makes sense.) Some of Sonny Chillingworth's "show pieces" still get me into an altered state. (By the way, Nachmanovich's book "Improvisation" is a fun to read and insightful study of these issues in jazz.)
I think at least three things are working together to help slack key create a special effect. 1) I have an intuition that it might have to do with sympathetic resonance. For example. In Taro Patch, cleanly strum the 4th string and the 1st and 6th will vibrate. (Actually there is also some vibration in the other strings as well, but more subtle. Play a guitar in Taro Patch and keep another guitar in Taro Patch on a stand nearby, and you can see/hear the vinrations in the one that isn't strummed. So, sound is vibration. I think that what is happening, in part, is that slack key is setting up a sympathetic wave pattern in the brain. (I don't have access to the scanning equipment needed to prove this, but there have been studies of how Gregorian Chant affects the brain wave patterns of monks.) I don't think that's the total explanation (it doesn't explain variations between players) but I think that's a part of what's going on. 2) Much traditional Hawaiian music is still very close to chanting. Chanting, generally, serves more to induce states of consciousness than to just transmit "information." There is that kind of spiritual basis underlying this music (as well as hula.) 3) Finally, cgriffen strikes a sympathetic note in stating that the consciousness of the performer has a lot to do with the communication of emotion and "spiritual" or "altered" states.
Last year my wife and I took a few days vacation on the Monterray Peninsula -- I was out in a clearing of a woodsey area playing slack key. Some "regular" songs, some improv. After some time, I looked up and saw 3 deer standing within 5 -8 feet of where I was sitiing. Two were looking at the guitar. As I retarded to a stop, they slowly started to turn away. I started another song, they turned back. They stood there for about a half an hour. At one point or another I was able to make "eye contact" with each of them. After about a half hour, my hands got tired and I stopped. Then they slowly walked away. There IS Mana in that music.
Raymond.
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2002 : 8:07:59 PM
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Interesting thread, for lots of interesting reasons.
"But it was also party music, dance music, naughty-song music, soak-up-the-new-influence music."
Amen to that!
And, at the risk of getting slammed, uppity loud funky dirty dance music can be pretty dang spiritual, too. Fact is, your spirit needs to shake out the kinks sometimes....
But using slack key as musical therapy is a wonderful thing to do. In fact, using any music as musical therapy is a wonderful thing to do. Music is the deepest communication we have; it transcend age, language, and culture.
Real music from the heart is instantly recognizable - no matter what the idiom.
By all means share your music with people in institutions.
Raymond, the effects you see are very real, and well documented. There is a growing need for music therapists, and a number of colleges offer degree programs.
But you don't need a degree, just your guitar and an open heart.
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2002 : 2:27:20 PM
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Aloha e Mark,
quote:
And, at the risk of getting slammed, uppity loud funky dirty dance music can be pretty dang spiritual, too. Fact is, your spirit needs to shake out the kinks sometimes....
I submit that you were doing something like that when, last August, you played Leonard's piece with a funky bottleneck slide, looked at the Heavens and asked for his forgiveness. We have it on tape, of course, and it is one of the great, and funny, moments in music.
How did you ever think to do it?
...Reid
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2002 : 2:49:15 PM
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Excuse me for going off topic, everybody.... Reid asked about my use of a bottleneck to play a decidedly funked up version of "Opihi Moemoe" at last summer's Aloha Camp.
Hi Reid! Hope you a Sarah are well and happy.
Here's the deal on "Opihi Noenoe," as it was renamed by Keola Donaghy...
I'd learned a note-for-note version of "Opihi Moemoe" from Leonard Kwan and Dennis Ladd's great Tab book. After fooling around with it for a few years, it still sounded like I was playing somebody else's version, not mine.
Now I've played blues and rock and African and Old Time and Irish and Western Swing and every other kind of music you can think of -- that's who I am. And, I reasoned, Taro Patch tuning is known in the blues world as "Spanish" tuning – because of the 19th Century Parlor Guitar piece "Spanish Fandango." And it's also the Robert Johnson tuning – one of the great bottleneck stylists of all time.
So to me it is only natural to play "Opihi Moemoe" with a bottle neck. Or to throw in a little clave or a funk bass line. I'm not alone there, either; check out the funky bass section on Keola's "Kamakani `Olu`olu" in our book....
It's natural, too, to use slack key technique to back up a western singer or second a Scottish fiddler. Or to adopt slack key technique to the Appalachian dulcimer. Which is way cool.
I don't pretend to be a "Hawaiian Slack Key Guitarist." I'm a guitar player who plays slack key.
If anyone wants to hear what any of this sounds like, patience. I'm sloooowwwwwly getting around to recording a new CD.
Should be out by the end of this millenium. If there is still an internet, I'll keep ya posted.
Take care!
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2002 : 2:38:14 PM
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I had a long conversation last night with Cyntia Smith, an old friend who recently became a certified music therapist. She's a singer and dulcimer player, quite well known in that world.
A few years ago she learned that she could use her gifts to help people in institutions – hospitals, nursing homes, etc.
Her experiences are similar to what Raymond described – even severely disturbed patients respond to live music.
In California, three colleges offer degrees in music therapy: University of the Pacific, Chapman University, and Cal State University, Northridge.
Of course, you do not need a degree to share your aloha. Most institutions would be overjoyed to let you volunteer.
For more info, she suggests you consult the American Music Therapy Association, http://www.musictherapy.org
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wdf
Ha`aha`a
USA
1153 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2002 : 11:17:55 AM
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I don't know about all of this "savage beast" stuff?!!? My cat, Barney runs from me every time I get out a guitar. Maybe he is trying to tell me something?
http://www.csusm.edu/wdfoster/barney.html
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Dusty |
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Pauline Leland
`Olu`olu
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2002 : 3:59:25 PM
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Hi Dusty,
That's no savage beast, dat's a puddy-tat, fresh from grooming for his portait. He does have a serious look, tho. Maybe he's just a music critic. 
That's one more bit of famous literature that I've managed to duck, but I heard it originally was "soothe the savage breast" not "beast". I've certainly seen plenty of "savage beast" quotes, too. Do any of the more literate have an expert opinion?
Pauline |
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Bruddah Chrispy
Lokahi
USA
164 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2002 : 6:55:04 PM
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Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak
William Congreve The Mourning Bride
Aloha a hui hou,
Chris P. |
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