| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
markwitz
`Olu`olu
USA
841 Posts |
 Posted - 02/20/2008 : 5:48:14 PM
|
|
I found a beautiful LP copy of Raymond Kane "Master of the Slack Key Guitar" on Rounder Records recently. As I was converting it to CD tonight I noticed, on one of the notes for a song listing, something that caught my eye. The song was "Punahele" credited to Ray Kane. Ok so far, now for the interesting part. It listed the tuning as "Wahine" and then in parenthesis the name Namakelua. I have heard the term "Wahine Tuning" used other places before but I had never seen it attributed to a particular person, and I'm also assuming that the person referred to is the great slack key player Auntie Alice Namakalua. I think it would be great to know if the term "Wahine Tuning" refers to a specific wahine. That being the great Auntie Alice Namakalua.
|
"The music of the Hawaiians, the most fascinating in the world, is still in my ears and
haunts me sleeping and waking."
Mark Twain |
|
|
Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2008 : 6:27:16 PM
|
| I am not sure if there are other tunings associated with specific wahine, but you are correct about Auntie Alice. If you check here, you'll find that there are several common names for this tuning: G Major 7 Wahine, Double Slack, Namakelua's tuning (D-G-D-F#-B-D). Mark Nelson's chord charts are also available for this tuning. Mahalo Mark! |
Andy |
 |
|
|
hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2008 : 7:49:26 PM
|
Dennis K. told us in a workshop that the term "wahine" referred to the simplicity of the fingering. He also said that Auntie Alice Namakelua played this tuning the old fashioned way, rarely changing from the open chord throughout a song.
Jesse Tinsley |
|
|
|
hwnmusiclives
`Olu`olu
USA
580 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2008 : 02:46:40 AM
|
According to Kanahele's "Hawaiian Music and Musicians," Auntie Alice learned her version of the tuning from an uncle. So, would it really have been named for her if the tuning had been passed down from a kane?
Who knows...
|
Join me for the history of Hawaiian music and its musicians at Ho`olohe Hou at www.hoolohehou.org. |
|
|
|
Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2008 : 10:42:54 AM
|
I was told that one of the reasons wahine tunings were referred to as such because the patterns didn't require big stretches. That is, wahine tunings generally were well suited to a wahine's smaller fretting hand. This may not always be true, but (D-G-D-F#-B-D) as an example, Uncle Ray plays most of Punahele in one near the first 3 frets.
I think (D-G-D-F#-B-D)is also known as Namakelua tuning not because Auntie invented it, but because she played in this tuning frequently. |
Andy |
|
|
|
Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2008 : 11:58:51 AM
|
I always thought it was becasue it costs more to keep that tuning "in paint and powder". 
Or was that why ships were called she . . . ? |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
|
|
|
Keoki Kahumoku
Akahai
USA
93 Posts |
Posted - 02/26/2008 : 7:02:15 PM
|
as was shared wit me in a conversation as to "wahine"slack-key tunning: in da old days most of the men/husbands went away to work especially in the Kona and Kaʻu districts on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Thus "where aunty alice is from". The Women and Kupuna were left home to care for the children. Most families were very large, so feeding and caring for dis much ʻohana required a certain amount of "ingenuity and simplicity". Wahine (women) were taking charge of getting things done for families in many aspects of life from farming to gathering to weaving to fishing, cleaning to cooking and feeding ʻauwe having moa babies ...just plain surviving...everyday... wouldnʻt that make anyone want to simplify things in general...and for someone to take the time to learn guitar as well as even having a guitar during these times was rare. ok ok so i stay babbling but i hope you get my point...instead of using tunings which we require many fingers for chordings, why not a tunning for just one or two fingerʻs... i remember seeing Aunty Alice on TV playing "noho pai pai"...not like how we hear it todayon da radio wit plenty fancy chords...she used two or tree chords...steady and simple, very slack key...nahenahe. I know today, its my wahine dat helps me to remember to KISS (keep it simple stu..dent).
I found notes in my Uncle Mokesʻ binder once that refer to my Great Grand Mamas songs1920ʻs and my grand pa George Sr. played this slack key tuning but tuned down to Eb and he noted it as a Wahine Slack key? maybe for a persons vocal range..but the Island of Hawaiʻi has had a few famous woman Slack Key players over the years... ok babbling again. hopes dis helps? keoki |
|
|
|
wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 03:34:40 AM
|
| Keoki, you are one good teacher. Mahalo. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
|
|
|
keoladonaghy
Lokahi
257 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2008 : 9:01:16 PM
|
| I was just listening again to an old interview with Alice from the Ka Leo Hawai'i tapes (think it was from 1972). She said in her youth they didn't name the tunings at all. All of the peope she knew who played did use different tunings, but no one named any of them. She did mentioned that she knew 8 different tunings in her youth, but had forgotten all but the two she used later in life. She did mention that the tuning that she was using on the show (C Wahine) was very old, but didn't refer to it as that at all. |
|
|
|
Basil Henriques
Lokahi
United Kingdom
225 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2008 : 1:23:04 PM
|
| Just a thought that it MAY be because of the "Gentleness" and melodic sweetness of the major seventh sound ? |
 |
|
|
|
Keoki Kahumoku
Akahai
USA
93 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2008 : 12:31:19 AM
|
hmmm?? ok, lets think...melodic, gentle, soothing...(wahine) . I tink it also depends on who dat wahine is  I kinda like to think every wahineʻs got their own "special tuning" inside of them that makes life so MAJOR7th
|
Edited by - Keoki Kahumoku on 03/02/2008 01:07:49 AM |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Topic Locked
