| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
 Posted - 07/22/2008 : 2:10:12 PM
|
Do any of you know where I might purchase a copy of Auty Alice's Slack Key LP? It has long been out of print. Peter Medeiros refers to her "ku'i" form of slack key as closest to the origins of slack key than Gabby, Peter, Atta, Ray, Led, Oz, Sonny, and Leonard. 
________
1974, Hula LP, "Auntie Alice Namakelua," HS-552
________
I've been asking my Hawaiian friends with LP collections -- no joy. 
Been looking on ebay for months -- no joy. 
I guess if I lived on Oahu, I could go to Jellie's in Aiea. 
|
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
|
|
kihoalukid
Lokahi
USA
289 Posts |
|
|
keoladonaghy
Lokahi
257 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2008 : 07:29:21 AM
|
Hula ku‘i simply means that the song's structure is strophic - all verses and no chorus or bridge. AFAIK he wasn't referring to the slack key style itself as "ku'i", though he's far more knowledgeable on this than I and hopefully will correct me if I'm mistaken in my interpretation of that. I listened to a number of interviews with Alice and she never referred to the style of slack key as such in them. Perhaps she did to others.
The song structure we know as mele hula ku‘i began in the late 1860s (according to Amy K. Stillman's research), contains either 2 or 4 lines per verse, with 4 or 8 beats per line. Hi‘ilawe is a mele hula ku‘i. A lot of popular and contemporary Hawaiian language songs are as well, such as Keali‘i Reichel's Kawaipunahele. Alice's tended to contain 2 lines.
It would be nice if some label would locate the owner of the rights and release it on CD or digitally. Someone I spoke to believe she gave the rights to her songs to the Mormon church, but I've not been able to confirm that.
|
Edited by - keoladonaghy on 07/23/2008 07:43:21 AM |
 |
|
|
Russell Letson
`Olu`olu
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2008 : 07:54:34 AM
|
I've seen at least three or four copies on eBay over the last year or so, though not generally at prices as high as Hakurama (who deals as well as collects) paid. If you haven't already done so, set up an eBay search with the appropropriate terms, bookmark the results page, and check it frequently. That's what I've been doing for Hawaiian LPs in general for a long time now--it's how I continue to fill in much of my collection. Prices can go all over the place, so patience is in order.
|
|
|
|
Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2008 : 10:03:28 AM
|
Actually . . I hope Peter doesn't mind, but the following quote may whet your appetite for his soon to be published book. From "Ki Ho'alu Foundations of Slack Key Guitar, Book I Methodology, by Peter Medeiros, Copyright 2007, Kapahua, LLC, -- Preface:
quote:
The tunings that we use in slack key are neutral, that is these tunings could be played anywhere in the world, however, they may be called alternate tunings or open tunings. But what makes slack key different from the other styles of playing is the plain fact that it evolved here in Hawai'i and is linked to the Hawaiian culture in a way no other guitar form could.
Actually if I were Aunty Alice Namakelua who was born in 1892 and was a slack key player and composer of note, Gabby's name would be interchangeable with Pater Moon, Atta Isaac, Keola Beamer, Oz, Peter Medeiros, Charlie brotman, and Daniel Ho. By Alice's standards none of these guys would be considered playing slack key including me.
(para not quoted)
Almost all of her slack key music was in the ku'i form -- which is strophic and accounts for the largest body of slack key repetoire. Singing the melodies she composed -- telling the stories that were hers alone until she presented them to the public were the primary focus of her music. Slack key was simply accompiment for the "leo" -- voice.
|
Edited by - Mika ele on 07/24/2008 12:39:51 PM |
|
|
|
Peter Medeiros
`Olu`olu
546 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2008 : 1:41:52 PM
|
Eh Mike,
I don't think I had any spelling errors in the preface.
But anyway,I do have just a little bit of time now so I will weigh in on this. Aunty Alice was born in 1892 and was raised in the Hamakua district of the Big Island. Although Hawaii was still fairly insulated at the point in time when Alice was growing up and developing a sense of what was slack key, change was still occurring, albeit at a much slower pace. Throughout her life for Auntie Alice the words to her songs were more important than the tune. Her music was two or three chords used in very simple kinetic patterns. Playing slack key was a means of presenting the song, it wasn’t meant to be anything more or anything less. There is form and structure to her music, but it is all very simple, it was not meant to be elaborate.
In general all songs can be performed in a slack key tuning. Not just Hawaiian songs but all songs regardless of origin. Although slack key tunings are viewed as diatonic in nature, that is the music is played in one key, chords for all 12 keys can be found in a tuning. So as slack key has evolved through the years there has been an inevitable change occurring where there is more chord voicing being used than say there was a hundred years ago before the advent of broadcast media. The changes in public perception were of some concern to her but what could she do about it? You have to remember that during her lifetime she was entertaining Queen Lili`uokalani and Prince Kuhio
Not all but most of what we now call traditional Hawaiian music (as well as hula) is in the strophic form -- this is an academic term that simply categorizes the structure of a song or poem as being all verses. Each verse is made up of two lines called a couplet. Where in song form a verse = A, the structure of strophic song is AAA, or as Keola says all verses and no chorus or bridge. So all the verses are sung or played to the same music, ad nauseum. However this is a characteristic of most traditional music, as well as classical poetry and literature. Try looking at the works of Homer (not Simpson) or William Shakespeare and you will see what I mean. In addition to songs like “Hi`ilawe”, Aunty's songs like “Haleakala”, “Aloha Ko`olau”, “Punalu`u Paka”, “Pua Kalaunu” would be examples in the strophic form.
Now Aunty Alice was not just some old tutu, she was a sharp cookie, but she did not use these terms. They were not a part of her vocabulary. They are not from her world they are academic. So you know us college guys yeah, we no mo nothing betta fo do, so we gotta categorizem, so it looks like we doing sometin real smart yeah, and not laying around like bumps on won log. So most of her music or at least the music that I know that she composed took the form of the hula ku`i, as opposed to through composed music – all music that is not hula ku`i.
The hula ku`i was a very popular form of hula in the last half of the nineteenth century. In general the audience either knew the song or dance and it was quite common for all to sing along or dance to the music – it was highly participatory. And even today this still happens all of time. The mele hula ku`i was the folk music of Hawaii, and the slack key that was played in accompaniment or derived from this form logically has the same characteristics of the mele; in the structure, the melody, the harmony and the rhythm.
|
Edited by - Peter Medeiros on 07/23/2008 3:15:25 PM |
|
|
|
Claudia
Lokahi
USA
152 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2008 : 3:40:23 PM
|
Thank you Peter and Keola for weighing in on this subject. I am fascinated by Auntie Alice and am starting to learn her "figures" which I have found in Ron Loo's book and Keola Beamer's book. Somewhere I saw a mention that there are about 14 figures - I am guessing these are all variations on her basic figures in Bb Wahine and G wahine, which I can figure out myself after I get comfortable with the basic pattern.
I would love to read more about her.
And I look forward to getting your book, Peter. Will you let us know when we can buy it? |
|
|
|
wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
|
|
Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 12:40:35 PM
|
| Sorry Peter. The spelling errors were all mine. Dang fingers are too FAT. |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
|
|
|
RobO
Akahai
USA
97 Posts |
|
|
cpatch
Ahonui
USA
2187 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2008 : 05:55:05 AM
|
| Hey Mike, if you don't get one from eBay you're welcome to borrow mine. |
Craig
My goal is to be able to play as well as people think I can. |
|
|
|
Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2008 : 1:46:50 PM
|
| Mahalo Rob and Craig! |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
