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DaSlacker
Aloha
USA
4 Posts |
 Posted - 08/21/2005 : 5:39:37 PM
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| Now if only I could play as good as the guitar looks.... |
Aloha,
Joe |
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Larry Miller
Akahai
USA
65 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2005 : 05:39:21 AM
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I was a Coast Haole going to Hilo High back in 1956 when I took up the guitar. I was already into finger-picking, thanks to the influences of Scotty Moore, Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. A friend of mine loaned me a big old Kay jumbo, and showed me the Taro patch G tuning. I listened to whatever recordings were out at the time- I think I first heard Leonard Kwan around 1958. By the time I graduated and left for a hitch in the Navy, I had figured out G wahine and Leonard's Drop C.
I lived on the Windward side in Kailua in '61 and '62, then moved over to Waikiki where I was in a folk trio called We 3, which played mostly at a pizza joint called Humbum's. I got really involved in folk music, and when I started playing slide and bottle-neck, I already knew how to finger pick in open tunings.
Meanwhile, I hung out at Honey's in Kaneohe, and not only got to see Gabby and Sonny play in Don Ho's first band, but got to know them and learn from them as well. I learned more tunings, including Gabby's "Hiilawe" tuning.
I left in '64 for the mainland and haven't been back since, but I still love to play slack-key. We had a series of slack- key concerts in Somerville in the middle of winter for seferal years, but they have stopped.
I have been collecting Hawaiian music on CD lately, and have acquired a baritone uke and a Gold Star Weissenborn type steel guitar, to go with my old Gibson B 45 12 string.
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Whee ha!
Larry M |
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slackkeymike
Lokahi
440 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2005 : 07:18:18 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by DaSlacker
Now if only I could play as good as the guitar looks....
How much does one like that cost? If you prefer, just email me on that.
Mike
Never mind...looked 'em up on the Goodall site. That's a chunk of change for a decoration!! |
Aloha, Mike |
Edited by - slackkeymike on 09/12/2005 03:36:01 AM |
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Kiwini
Lokahi
USA
203 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 12:13:41 PM
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I was born in Hawaii and as far back as I can remember it was always Hawaiian music being played around the house mostly in the form of records and tapes as no one in my family played instruments except for my mom's rare performances on her Martin soprano. Dad was in the military and we moved to Germany when I was 6. TV was in German so the next form of entertainment was the radio. If we weren't being forced to hear country music, we would hear him playing his reel to reel full of Hawaiian music. He bought my older brother a guitar in hopes of him playing Hawaiian music but he was only interested in playing to his favorite rock and roll band. Dad used to put down my brothers favorite band saying that all they made was noise and that the kind of music they were playing was for trouble makers and that the music would die. That band was the Beatles. When my dad passed away years later, my brother got to missing him and in honor of him, he began learning to play Hawaiian music. Being the older brother that he was, wanted to teach me. At a time when sibling rivalries kept us apart and bitter, Kihoalu was bringing us back, healing our relationship and becoming closer that ever. I could not be any happier to have my brother back in my life. We loved each other and the music he was teaching me to play. Suddenly, he passed away. Grief stricken, I turned to my guitar to comfort me but nothing could keep the tidal wave of emotions that would constantly surge through me, at bay. I kept on playing none the less. I wanted to continue to honor him as he did our dad. My commitment to that promise has given me eight years of playing since his Hawaiian Soul left us. My son now plays a little slack key and a lot of ukulele while serving in the US Army in stations around the globe. What a wonderful circle of tradition that has been created. We have seemingly come full circles.
In Memory of Albert and Jim Corioso.
Mahalo for allowing me to share my story with you.
Kiwini/Steve Corioso |
Me Ke Aloha,
Steve |
Edited by - Kiwini on 09/13/2005 2:51:30 PM |
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wdf
Ha`aha`a
USA
1153 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 1:29:43 PM
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| Mahalo for the story, Steve. Your playing does your father and brother proud. |
Dusty |
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cpatch
Ahonui
USA
2187 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 2:14:44 PM
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| Wow. |
Craig
My goal is to be able to play as well as people think I can. |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 2:15:47 PM
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Very moving
Mahalo nui |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 2:21:24 PM
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Steve,
I will never hear your playing in the same way again.
Keep making those sweet notes that sound so much of life in the face of mortality.
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 09/13/2005 2:21:50 PM |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2005 : 3:33:01 PM
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| Maybe I should count down from, what.. 23? |
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slackkeymike
Lokahi
440 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 07:44:37 AM
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Mahalo Kiwini for sharing.
Mike |
Aloha, Mike |
Edited by - slackkeymike on 09/14/2005 07:44:54 AM |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 08:13:36 AM
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| Thanks for sharing the story, Steve. It's amazing how powerful a thing music can be. |
Andy |
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Kiwini
Lokahi
USA
203 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 2:23:37 PM
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Bruddahs,
Aloha and mahalo nui for such warm sentiments guys. I thought it was a great topic to create as I have always been curious as to how or why other people have been drawn to Kihoalu, so thanks for creating it Mike. I started typing for therapuetic reasons and found myself swimming in a sea of wonderful memories. I had no idea that my post would ellicit your responses for which I am deeply humbled by.
Mahalo nui,
Steve |
Edited by - Kiwini on 09/14/2005 2:24:21 PM |
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slackkeymike
Lokahi
440 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 4:54:46 PM
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You da Bruddah,
But mahalo none the less.
Keep on pressin'
Mike |
Aloha, Mike |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2164 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2005 : 5:53:34 PM
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| It seems that food and music anchor us to our dear ones in the past and helps us feel a "continuation" of their aloha. The great Cajun fiddler, Dewey Balfa said that a song shouldn't die, even though people do. It's a very special type of connection and communication when we share music. |
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richard
Aloha
USA
28 Posts |
Posted - 09/15/2005 : 2:49:10 PM
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This is pretty typical for a long time ago – before recordings and books. In 1961 I was a 24 year old banjo-playing engineer assigned to Oahu for six months. My job had me at a little Army base east of the Dole pavilion in red dirt upcounty. I was put up at the Reef hotel in Waikiki. One night about 11 pm I wandered out to the beach and came across a couple of people playing astonishingly beautiful guitar music, unlike anything I ever heard. When they finished playing I asked what the music was: Slack key, of course.
How do I learn to play?
You can’t. It’s family music, belongs to an o’hana and has to be passed down in special teaching.
Can you teach me?
No.
For years when visiting the islands I asked hotel musicians, record store clerks, and friends about ki’hoalu with little luck. One day in Santa Cruz I asked a neighbor if she knew of the music while growing up in Hawaii. She said she did, played a bit, and lent me her 1973 Beamer book – she’s studied with Keola when he and Kapono had a little guitar shop in Honolulu. Later came the UC Santa Cruz 0festival, lots of visiting musicians, Dancing Cat, and Keola’s 2001 Aloha camp.
Hooked and happy now. No more banjo. Mostly slack key. This is a greatest of retirement gifts.
Richard |
Edited by - richard on 01/05/2007 7:03:10 PM |
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