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Music of Hawaii

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143-509: The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop . Styles like slack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part of Hollywood soundtracks . Hawaii also made a contribution to country music with the introduction of the steel guitar . In addition, the music which began to be played by Puerto Ricans in Hawaii in

286-601: A Prussian military bandleader, Henri Berger , who was sent by the Kaiser at the request of Kamehameha V . Berger became fascinated by Hawaiian folk music, and wrote much documentation on it. However, he also brought his own musical background in German music , and heavily guided the Hawaiian musicians and composers he worked with. King Kamehameha V also, in 1847, sent to Germany for a "band Leader" for "The Kings Own Band", now

429-509: A Union Jack . An influx of European and American explorers, traders, and whalers soon arrived, leading to the decimation of the once-isolated indigenous community through the introduction of diseases such as syphilis, tuberculosis, smallpox, and measles; the native Hawaiian population declined from between 300,000 and one million to less than 40,000 by 1890. Hawaii became a unified, internationally recognized kingdom in 1810, remaining independent until American and European businessmen overthrew

572-610: A temperate climate , to alpine conditions with a cold, dry climate. The rainy climate impacts soil development , which largely determines ground permeability, affecting the distribution of streams and wetlands . Several areas in Hawaiʻi are under the National Park Service 's protection. Hawaii has two national parks: Haleakalā National Park , near Kula on Maui, which features the dormant volcano Haleakalā that formed east Maui; and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park , in

715-476: A "wahine" tuning). A tuning might be invented to play a particular song or facilitate a particular effect, and as late as the 1960s they were often treated as family secrets and passed from generation to generation. By the time of the Hawaiian Renaissance , though, the example of players such as Auntie Alice Namakelua , Leonard Kwan , Raymond Kane , and Keola Beamer had encouraged the sharing of

858-546: A Christian monarchy with the signing of the 1840 Constitution . Hiram Bingham I , a prominent Protestant missionary, was a trusted adviser to the monarchy during this period. Other missionaries and their descendants became active in commercial and political affairs, leading to conflicts between the monarchy and its restive American subjects. Missionaries from the Roman Catholic Church and from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were also active in

1001-534: A cappella individual songs, while the latter were accompanied dance music performed by a group. The chanters were known as haku mele and were highly trained composers and performers. Some kinds of chants express emotions like angst and affection , or request a favor from another person. Other chants are for specific purposes like naming , ( mele inoa ), prayer ( mele pule ), surfing ( mele he'e nalu ), and genealogical recitations ( mele koihonua ). Mele chants were governed by strict rules, and were performed in

1144-458: A cappella choral arrangements of mele (Hawaiian songs) as a class. Every year the theme changes, for example, in 2023 the theme was Na Mele Paniolo, songs and Hoʻike (half-time hula and music exhibition) were about the songs of the Hawaiian cowboy. According to the Director of Music at Kamehameha from 1926-1947, Miss Laura Brown, "the objectives of the song contest are to build up the repertoire of

1287-545: A cognate is the name of the underworld or of the ancestral home, but in Hawaii, the name has no meaning". In 1978, Hawaiian was added to the Constitution of the State of Hawaii as an official state language alongside English. The title of the state constitution is The Constitution of the State of Hawaii . Article   XV, Section   1 of the Constitution uses The State of Hawaii . Diacritics were not used because

1430-538: A company that benefited from the annexation of Hawaii, became president of the republic when the Provisional Government of Hawaiʻi ended on July 4, 1894. Slack-key guitar Slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian kī hōʻalu , which means "loosen the [tuning] key") is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii . This style of guitar playing involves altering the standard tuning on

1573-718: A diverse vocabulary exists to describe rhythms, instruments, styles and elements of voice production. Hawaiian folk music is simple in melody and rhythm , but is "complex and rich" in the "poetry, accompanying mimetic dance ( hula ), and subtleties of vocal styles... even in the attenuated forms in which they survive today". The chant ( mele ) is typically accompanied by an ipu heke (a double gourd ) and/or pahu (sharkskin covered drum). Some dances require dancers to utilize hula implements such as an ipu (single gourd), ʻiliʻili (waterworn lava stone castanets), ʻuliʻuli (feathered gourd rattles), pu`ʻili (split bamboo sticks), or kalaʻau (rhythm sticks). The older, formal kind of hula

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1716-494: A few sailors arrived in 1778 with Cook's journey, and more in 1789 with an American trader who settled in Hawaiʻi in the late 18th century. It is said that Chinese workers introduced leprosy by 1830, and as with the other new infectious diseases, it proved damaging to the Hawaiians. During the 1780s, and 1790s, chiefs often fought for power. After a series of battles that ended in 1795, all inhabited islands were subjugated under

1859-409: A friend's braguinha ; it is also said that the Hawaiians called the instrument `ukulele ( jumping flea ) in reference to the man's swift fingers. Others have claimed the word means gift that came here or a corruption of ukeke lele ( dancing ukeke , a three-string bow). The popularity throughout the 1920s of Hawaiian music, with its unique slide-style of guitar playing, prompted the invention of

2002-400: A guitar from E-A-D-G-B-E, which has been used for centuries, so that strumming across the open strings will then sound a harmonious chord, typically an open major. This requires altering (usually loosening) or "slacking" certain strings, which is the origin of the term "slack key". The style typically features an alternating-bass pattern, played by the thumb on the lower two or three strings of

2145-649: A half centuries, Spanish galleons crossed the Pacific from Mexico along a route that passed south of Hawaiʻi on their way to Manila . The exact route was kept secret to protect the Spanish trade monopoly against competing powers. Hawaiʻi thus maintained independence, despite being on a sea route east–west between nations that were subjects of the Viceroyalty of New Spain , an empire that exercised jurisdiction over many subject civilizations and kingdoms on both sides of

2288-498: A higher percentage of its endemic species than any other U.S. state. The endemic plant Brighamia now requires hand pollination because its natural pollinator is presumed to be extinct. The two species of Brighamia — B. rockii and B. insignis —are represented in the wild by around 120 individual plants. To ensure that these plants set seed, biologists rappel down 3,000-foot (910 m) cliffs to brush pollen onto their stigmas. The archipelago's extant main islands have been above

2431-475: A huge demand for the product from Hawaii . Hawaiian sugarcane plantation owners began to recruit the jobless, but experienced, laborers in Puerto Rico. They took with them their music and in the early 1900s introduced what is known as Cachi Cachi music , on the islands of Hawaii. From 1915 to 1930, mainstream audiences outside of Hawaii became increasingly enamored of Hawaiian music, though by this time

2574-475: A mainland audience during the Hawaiian music craze of the early 20th century, during which Hawaiian music came to be identified outside the Islands with the steel guitar and the ukulele . Slack key remained private and family entertainment, and it was not even recorded until 1946–47, when Gabby Pahinui cut a series of records that brought the tradition into public view. During the 1960s and particularly during

2717-530: A minor. There are examples of slack key played in standard tuning, but the overwhelming majority of recorded examples use altered tunings. The most common slack-key tuning, called " taro patch," makes a G major chord. Starting from the standard EADGBE, the high and low E strings are lowered or "slacked" to D and the fifth string from A down to G, so the notes become DGDGBD. As the chart below shows, there are also major-chord tunings based on C, F, and D. Another important group of tunings, based on major-seventh chords,

2860-428: A narrow sense. Generally, songs are sung to the ukulele or steel guitar. A steel string guitar sometimes accompanies. Melodies often feature an intervallic leap, such as a perfect fourth or octave. Falsetto vocals are suited for such leaps and are common in Hawaiian singing, as is the use of microtones. Rhythm is mostly in duple meter. A musical scale that is unique to Hawaiian music imbues it with its distinct feel, and so

3003-647: A new constitution to proclaim herself an absolute monarch. On January 14, 1893, a group of mostly Euro-American business leaders and residents formed the Committee of Safety to stage a coup d'état against the kingdom and seek annexation by the United States. U.S. Government Minister John L. Stevens , responding to a request from the Committee of Safety, summoned a company of U.S. Marines. The queen's soldiers did not resist. According to historian William Russ,

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3146-506: A number of styles include the rapid kepakepa and the enunciate koihonua . Historical documentation of Hawaiian music does not extend prior to the late 18th century, when non-Hawaiians ( haoles ) arrived on the island. From 1778 onward, Hawaii began a period of acculturation with the introduction of numerous styles of European music, including the hymns ( himeni ) introduced by Protestant missionary choirs. Spanish-speaking Mexican cowboys ( paniolos ), were particularly influential immigrants in

3289-500: A piece of steel across the strings of a guitar, thus inventing steel guitar ( kika kila ); at about the same time, traditional Hawaiian music with English lyrics became popular. Vocals predominated in Hawaiian music until the 20th century, when instrumentation took a lead role. Much of modern slack-key guitar has become entirely instrumental. From about 1895 to 1915, Hawaiian music dance bands became in demand more and more. These were typically string quintets. Ragtime music influenced

3432-455: A renaissance, with renewed interest from both ethnic Hawaiians and others. The islands have also produced a number of well-regarded rock , pop , hip hop ( na mele paleoleo ), dubstep , soul , and reggae performers, and many local musicians in the clubs of Waikiki and Honolulu play outside the various "Hawaiian" genres. Hawaii has its own regional music industry, with several distinctive styles of recorded popular music. Hawaiian popular music

3575-512: A single ruler, who became known as King Kamehameha the Great . He established the House of Kamehameha , a dynasty that ruled the kingdom until 1872. After Kamehameha II inherited the throne in 1819, American Protestant missionaries to Hawaiʻi converted many Hawaiians to Christianity. Missionaries have argued that one function of missionary work was to "civilize" and "purify" perceived heathenism in

3718-468: Is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania . Hawaii's ocean coastline is consequently the fourth-longest in the U.S. , at about 750 miles (1,210 km). The eight main islands, from northwest to southeast, are Niʻihau , Kauaʻi , Oʻahu , Molokaʻi , Lānaʻi , Kahoʻolawe , Maui , and Hawaiʻi , after which the state is named; the latter is often called

3861-409: Is a unique melting pot of North American and East Asian cultures, in addition to its indigenous Hawaiian heritage. Settled by Polynesians sometime between 1000 and 1200 CE, Hawaii was home to numerous independent chiefdoms. In 1778, British explorer James Cook was the first known non-Polynesian to arrive at the archipelago; early British influence is reflected in the state flag , which bears

4004-443: Is also restricted and anyone who enters without permission will be arrested. This island may also be dangerous since it was a military base during the world wars and could still have unexploded ordnance. The Hawaiian archipelago is 2,000 mi (3,200 km) southwest of the contiguous United States. Hawaii is the southernmost U.S. state and the second westernmost after Alaska . Like Alaska, Hawaii borders no other U.S. state. It

4147-510: Is aptly named the Hawaiian scale. The Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915 introduced Hawaiian steel guitar to mainland country music artists, and by the 1930s country stars Hoot Gibson and Jimmy Davis were making records with Hawaiian musicians. The influx of thousands of American servicemen into Hawaii during World War II created a demand for both popular swing rhythm and country sounds. The western swing style, popular on

4290-405: Is around two-two and a half hours, and consists of the oli hoʻokipa (opening chant), pule (prayer), singing Hoʻonani Ka Makua Mau (Doxology), singing Hawaiʻi Ponoʻi (The Hawaiʻi National Anthem), the main program with 10 songs sung by classes singing their co-ed, men, and women songs, Hōʻike (hula half-time exhibition performance), results and awards being presented (Ka Hāʻawi Makana), and ending with

4433-404: Is called "wahine" . G wahine, for example, starts with taro patch and lowers the third string from G to F ♯ , making DGDF ♯ BD. Wahine tunings have their own characteristic vamps (as in, for example, Raymond Kāne's "Punahele" or Gabby Pahinui's 1946 "Hula Medley") and require fretting one or two strings to form a major chord. A third significant group is Mauna Loa tunings, in which

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4576-400: Is called kahiko , while the modern version is ʻauana . There are also religious chants called ʻoli ; when accompanied by dancing and drums , it is called mele hula pahu . In the pre-contact Hawaiian language , the word mele referred to any kind of poetic expression, though it now translates as song . The two kinds of Hawaiian chanting were mele oli and mele hula . The first were

4719-550: Is creating a conflict between economic and environmental health. In 2020, the Center for Biological Diversity reported on the plastic pollution of Hawaii's Kamilo beach, citing "massive piles of plastic waste". Invasive species are spreading, and chemical and pathogenic runoff is contaminating groundwater and coastal waters. Hawaiʻi is one of two U.S. states, along with Texas , that were internationally recognized sovereign nations before becoming U.S. states. The Kingdom of Hawaiʻi

4862-697: Is getting drier and hotter . The warmest temperature recorded in the state, in Pahala on April 27, 1931, is 100 °F (38 °C), tied with Alaska as the lowest record high temperature observed in a U.S. state. Hawaiʻi's record low temperature is 12 °F (−11 °C) observed in May   1979, on the summit of Mauna Kea . Hawaiʻi is the only state to have never recorded subzero Fahrenheit temperatures. Climates vary considerably on each island; they can be divided into windward and leeward ( koʻolau and kona , respectively) areas based upon location relative to

5005-582: Is highly unlikely he would have heard it. Kalakaua's successor, his sister Lili'uokalani , was also a prolific composer and wrote several songs, like "Aloha 'Oe", which remain popular. During this period, Hawaiian music evolved into a "new distinctive" style, using the derivatives of European instruments; aside from the widespread string instruments, brass bands like the Royal Hawaiian Band performed Hawaiian songs as well as popular marches and ragtimes. In about 1889, Joseph Kekuku began sliding

5148-535: Is known primarily for singing Hawaiian and "Hawaiian country" music, she has also earned good reviews as a jazz singer. Hawaii Hawaii ( / h ə ˈ w aɪ . i / hə- WY -ee ; Hawaiian : Hawaiʻi [həˈvɐjʔi, həˈwɐjʔi] ) is an island state of the United States , in the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of

5291-401: Is largely based on American popular music , but does have distinctive retentions from traditional Hawaiian music. The Hawaiian Renaissance was a resurgence in interest in Hawaiian music, especially slack-key, among ethnic Hawaiians. Long-standing performers like Gabby Pahinui found their careers revitalized; Pahinui, who had begun recording in 1947, finally reached mainstream audiences across

5434-417: Is more complicated, but this is the version that is most often offered by Hawaiian musicians. Slack-key guitar adapted to accompany the rhythms of Hawaiian dancing and the harmonic structures of Hawaiian music . The New York Times described the music as "liquid, rippling, and hypnotic". The style of Hawaiian music that was promoted as a matter of national pride under the reign of King David Kalākaua in

5577-515: Is national defense when what is being destroyed is the very thing the military is entrusted to defend, the sacred land of Hawaiʻi?" Contemporary Indigenous Hawaiians are still protesting the occupation of their homelands and environmental degradation due to increased militarization in the wake of 9/11. After the rise of sugarcane plantations in the mid 19th century, island ecology changed dramatically. Plantations require massive quantities of water, and European and American plantation owners transformed

5720-634: Is preserved in the names of some locations in the US state of Idaho , for example. Spanish explorers may have arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in the 16th century, 200 years before Cook's first documented visit in 1778. Ruy López de Villalobos commanded a fleet of six ships that left Acapulco in 1542 bound for the Philippines, with a Spanish sailor named Juan Gaetano aboard as pilot. Gaetano's reports describe an encounter with either Hawaiʻi or

5863-467: Is that it accompanied the Mexican cowboys ( vaqueros ) brought by King Kamehameha III in 1832 in order to teach the natives how to control an overpopulation of cattle . The Hawaiian cowboys ( paniolo ) used guitars in their traditional folk music. The Portuguese introduced an instrument called the braguinha , a small, four-stringed Madeira variant of the cavaquinho ; this instrument was a precursor to

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6006-518: Is the only U.S. state not in North America, and the only one completely surrounded by water and entirely an archipelago. In addition to the eight main islands, the state has many smaller islands and islets. Kaʻula is a small island near Niʻihau. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is a group of nine small, older islands northwest of Kauaʻi that extends from Nihoa to Kure Atoll ; these are remnants of once much larger volcanic mountains. Across

6149-495: The kapu system, the prevailing legal system before European contact, and heiau , or "temples" to religious figures. Kapu , which typically translates to "the sacred", refers to social regulations (like gender and class restrictions) that were based upon spiritual beliefs. Under the missionaries' guidance, laws against gambling, consuming alcohol, dancing the hula , breaking the Sabbath, and polygamy were enacted. Without

6292-591: The Guitar and Lute Workshop in Honolulu specialized in the development and manufacture of guitars custom made to order for slack-key performance. Many prominent Hawaiʻi-based players got their starts during the Cultural Renaissance years: Cindy Combs, Ledward Kaapana , George Kahumoku, Jr. , his brother Moses Kahumoku, Dennis Kamakahi , Ozzie Kotani , three Pahinui brothers (Bla, Cyril, and Martin),

6435-535: The Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance of the 1970s, slack key experienced a surge in popularity and came to be seen as one of the most genuine expressions of Hawaiian spirit, principally thanks to Gabby Pahinui, Atta Isaacs , Leonard Kwan , Sonny Chillingworth , Raymond Kāne , and the more modern styles of younger players such as Keola Beamer , his brother Kapono Beamer, Peter Moon , and Haunani Apoliona . During this period, luthiers such as

6578-626: The Hawaiʻi hotspot . The process is continuing to build islands; the tectonic plate beneath much of the Pacific Ocean continually moves northwest and the hotspot remains stationary, slowly creating new volcanoes. Because of the hotspot's location, all active land volcanoes are on the southern half of Hawaiʻi Island. The newest volcano, Kamaʻehuakanaloa (formerly Lōʻihi), is south of the coast of Hawaiʻi Island. The last volcanic eruption outside Hawaiʻi Island occurred at Haleakalā on Maui before

6721-578: The Marshall Islands . Most scholars have dismissed these claims due to a lack of credibility. Nonetheless, Spanish archives contain a chart that depicts islands at the same latitude as Hawaiʻi, but with a longitude ten degrees east of the islands. In this manuscript, Maui is named La Desgraciada (The Unfortunate Island), and what appears to be Hawaiʻi Island is named La Mesa (The Table). Islands resembling Kahoʻolawe' , Lānaʻi , and Molokaʻi are named Los Monjes (The Monks). For two and

6864-638: The Merrie Monarch Hula Festival , which brings together hula groups from across the world, as well as a number of slack-key and steel guitar festivals: Big Island Slack Key Guitar Festival, Steel Guitar Association Festival and the Gabby Pahinui/Atta Isaacs Slack Key Festival. April's Aloha Week is a popular tourist attraction, as is the Moloka'i Music Festival held around Labor Day . There

7007-619: The Neal S. Blaisdell Center Arena, Concert Hall, and Exhibition Hall are three of the largest venues in the state. Other venues for Hawaiian music on Oahu include the Waikiki Shell, an establishment used primarily for concerts and entertainment purposes. Over the years many local, as well as international artists, have graced the stage there. It is a unique outdoor theater located in Kapiolani Park. This venue seats 2,400 persons, with

7150-602: The Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco followed in 1915; one year later, recordings of indigenous Hawaiian music outsold all other U.S. musical genres. The increasing popularization of Hawaiian music influenced blues and country musicians; this connection can still be heard in modern country. In reverse, musicians like Bennie Nawahi began incorporating jazz into his steel guitar , ukulele , and mandolin music, while

7293-468: The Seal of Hawaii use the spelling without symbols for glottal stops or vowel length. There are eight main Hawaiian islands. Seven are inhabited, but only six are open to tourists and locals. Niʻihau is privately managed by brothers Bruce and Keith Robinson ; access is restricted to those who have their permission. This island is also home to native Hawaiians. Access to uninhabited Kahoʻolawe island

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7436-518: The `ukulele . Steel-string guitars also arrived with the Portuguese in the 1860s and slack-key had spread across the chain by the late 1880s. A ship called the Ravenscrag arrived in Honolulu on August 23, 1879, bringing Portuguese field workers from Madeira . Legend has it that one of the men, João Fernandes, later a popular musician, tried to impress the Hawaiians by playing folk music with

7579-586: The chiefdoms , which grew to encompass whole islands. Local chiefs, called aliʻi , ruled their settlements, and launched wars to extend their influence and defend their communities from predatory rivals. Ancient Hawaiʻi was a caste -based society, much like that of Hindus in India. Population growth was facilitated by ecological and agricultural practices that combined upland agriculture ( manuka ), ocean fishing ( makai ), fishponds and gardening systems. These systems were upheld by spiritual and religious beliefs, like

7722-461: The kapu system, many temples and priestly statuses were jeopardized, idols were burned, and participation in Christianity increased. When Kamehameha III inherited the throne at age 12, his advisors pressured him to merge Christianity with traditional Hawaiian ways. Under the guidance of his kuhina nui (his mother and coregent Elizabeth Kaʻahumanu ) and British allies, Hawaiʻi turned into

7865-464: The kapu system, the practice of human sacrifice, and the building of heiau . This later immigration is detailed in Hawaiian mythology ( moʻolelo ) about Paʻao . Other authors say there is no archaeological or linguistic evidence of a later influx of Tahitian settlers and that Paʻao must be regarded as a myth. The islands' history is marked by a slow, steady growth in population and the size of

8008-424: The lava flows and the sulfur dioxide fumes, necessitated the evacuation of more than 2,000 inhabitants from their neighborhoods. The islands of Hawaiʻi are distant from other land habitats, and life is thought to have arrived there by wind, waves (i.e., by ocean currents), and wings (i.e., birds, insects, and any seeds that they may have carried on their feathers). Hawaiʻi has more endangered species and has lost

8151-594: The lokahi , that linked cultural continuity with the health of the natural world. According to Hawaiian scholar Mililani Trask , the lokahi symbolizes the "greatest of the traditions, values, and practices of our people ... There are three points in the triangle—the Creator, Akua ; the peoples of the earth, Kanaka Maoli ; and the land, the ʻaina . These three things all have a reciprocal relationship." In January 1778, British Captain James Cook encountered

8294-591: The "Big Island" or "Hawaii Island" to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands make up most of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument , the largest protected area in the U.S. and the fourth-largest in the world. Of the 50 U.S. states , Hawaii is the eighth-smallest in land area and the 11th-least populous ; but with 1.4 million residents, it ranks 13th in population density . Two-thirds of Hawaii residents live on O'ahu, home to

8437-487: The 1920s and 30s, Hawaiian music became an integral part of local tourism , with most hotels and attractions incorporating music in one form or another. Among the earliest and most popular musical attractions was the Kodak Hula Show , sponsored by Kodak , in which a tourist purchased Kodak film and took photographs of dancers and musicians. The show ran from 1937 through 2002. Several vinyl LPs featuring music from

8580-404: The 1960s and 1970s during the second Hawaiian renaissance . In the oral-history account, the style originated from Mexican cowboys in the early 19th century. These paniolo (a Hawaiianization of españoles —"Spaniards") provided guitars, taught the Hawaiians the rudiments of playing, allowing the Hawaiians to develop the style on their own. Musicologists and historians suggest that the story

8723-582: The 1960s and 1970s, rock concerts were frequently held at venues like the Honolulu International Center and The Waikiki Shell by artists like Jimi Hendrix , Led Zeppelin , The Rolling Stones , The Doors , Eric Clapton , Deep Purple , Jeff Beck , and many other top rock artists. The three-day-long Crater Festivals (held over the New Years and July 4 holidays) at Diamond Head in the 1960s and 1970s were well attended through

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8866-459: The 20th century. Although he did not play "traditional" Hawaiian music, Ho became an unofficial ambassador of Hawaiian culture throughout the world as well as on the American mainland. Ho's style often combined traditional Hawaiian elements and older 1950s and 1960s-style crooner music with an easy listening touch. Loyal Garner also embraced Hawaiian elements in her Vegas-style lounge act and in

9009-894: The Emerson Brothers and Owana Salazar . These artists, and slack key in general, have become well known outside Hawaiʻi largely through George Winston 's Dancing Cat Records record label, which has most often showcased the music in solo settings. One indication of slack key's increasing visibility beyond the Islands is that the first four winners of the Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album were slack key collections: Slack Key Guitar, Volume 2 in 2005, Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Volume 1 in 2006, Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar—Live from Maui and "Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar – Live in Concert from Maui." Players from outside Hawaiʻi have also taken up

9152-609: The Hawaiian Buckaroos, including a set of square dance numbers. The Kamehameha Schools Song Contest, a well-known tradition within Hawaiʻi, is held by Kamehameha Schools Kapālama annually in the Spring, typically mid-March, at the Neal Blaisdell Center. It is a musical competition between high school classes and every year, during the third semester, students prepare and rehearse to perform these different

9295-474: The Hawaiian Islands serendipitously while crossing the Pacific during his third voyage of exploration . This marked the first documented contact by a European explorer with Hawaiʻi. Cook named the archipelago "the Sandwich Islands" in honor of his sponsor John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich . The native name of the islands was originally rendered and published as " Owyhee" or "Owhyhee" , a form which

9438-673: The Jawaiian style, while other influences include Walter Aipolani , known as the Father of Hawaiian Reggae. By the end of the 1980s, Jawaiian came to dominate the local music scene, as well as spawning a backlash that the Honolulu Star-Bulletin compared to the " disco sucks" movement of the late 1970s. Reggae culture as a whole began to dominate Hawaii, as many locals can be seen sporting Bob Marley memorabilia, and much local merchandise and souvenirs have been emblazoned with

9581-603: The Kalama Quartet introduced a style of group falsetto singing. The musician Sol Hoʻopiʻi arose during this time, playing both Hawaiian music and jazz, Western swing and country, and developing the pedal steel guitar; his recordings helped establish the Nashville sound of popular country music. Lani McIntire was another musician who infused a Hawaiian guitar sound into mainstream American popular music through his recordings with Jimmie Rodgers and Bing Crosby . In

9724-670: The Kodak Hula Show were released by Waikiki Records, with full color photographs of the show's performers. In the first half of the 20th century, the mostly young men who hung around the Honolulu beaches, swimming and surfing, came to be known as the Waikiki Beachboys and their parties became famous across Hawaii and abroad; most of them played the ukulele all day long, sitting on the beach, and eventually began working for hotels to entertain tourists. Popular Hawaiian music with English verse (hapa haole) can be described in

9867-563: The National Park Service's control include Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail on Hawaiʻi Island and the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor on Oʻahu. President George W. Bush proclaimed the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument on June 15, 2006. The monument covers roughly 140,000 square miles (360,000 km ) of reefs, atolls, and shallow and deep sea out to 50 miles (80 km) offshore in

10010-539: The Nazi racism was on the rise and people of a darker color were regarded as inferior people; it is said that they even performed for Adolf Hitler himself. With their children, the Tau Moe family did much to spread the sound of Hawaiian folk music and hapa haole music throughout the world. In 1988, the Tau Moe family re-recorded the 1929 sessions with the help of musician and ethnomusicologist Bob Brozman. The 1920s also saw

10153-479: The New World. This carried into Hawaiʻi. According to historical archaeologist James L. Flexner, "missionaries provided the moral means to rationalize conquest and wholesale conversion to Christianity". But rather than abandon traditional beliefs entirely, most native Hawaiians merged their Indigenous religion with Christianity. Missionaries used their influence to end many traditional practices, including

10296-570: The Pacific Ocean—an area larger than all the national parks in the U.S. combined. Hawaiʻi has a tropical climate . Temperatures and humidity tend to be less extreme because of near-constant trade winds from the east. Summer highs reach around 88 °F (31 °C) during the day, with lows of 75 °F (24 °C) at night. Winter day temperatures are usually around 83 °F (28 °C); at low elevation they seldom dip below 65 °F (18 °C) at night. Snow, not usually associated with

10439-657: The Pacific. Despite such contested claims, Cook is generally considered the first European to land at Hawaiʻi, having visited the Hawaiian Islands twice. As he prepared for departure after his second visit in 1779, a quarrel ensued as he took temple idols and fencing as "firewood", and a minor chief and his group stole a boat from his ship. Cook abducted the King of Hawaiʻi Island , Kalaniʻōpuʻu , and held him for ransom aboard his ship to gain return of Cook's boat, as this tactic had previously worked in Tahiti and other islands. Instead,

10582-742: The Poi", was published in Ka Buke o na Leo Mele Hawaii...o na Home Hawaii in Honolulu in 1888 [See Kanahele, George S., Hawaiian Music and Musicians pp 71–72]). In 1927, Rose Moe (1908–1999), a Hawaiian singer, with her husband Tau Moe (1908–2004), a Samoan guitarist, began touring with Madame Riviere's Hawaiians . In 1929 they recorded eight songs in Tokyo . Rose and Tau continued touring for over fifty years, living in countries such as Germany, Lebanon and India. They even performed in Germany as late as 1938 when

10725-754: The Rocky Mountains, founded in 1900. The Orchestra has collaborated with other local institutions, like the Hawaii Opera Theatre and the Oʻahu Choral Society, which sponsors the Honolulu Symphony Chorus and the Honolulu Chamber Choir. Numerous businesses have been created supporting the special musical styles and instruments suited to the Hawaiian musical tradition. The Guitar and Lute Workshop

10868-649: The Royal Hawaiian Band, William Mersberg, from Weimar, Germany. He is Henry Kaleialoha Allen 's great grandfather. Henry Kaleialoha Allen is "one of Hawaii's Living Treasures of Hawaiian Music" and a master music educator and has been honored many times on the Senate Floor and by the Legislature for such. Guitars could have come to Hawaii from several sources: sailors, missionaries, or travelers to and from California. The most frequently told story

11011-547: The United States when sessions on which Ry Cooder played with him and his family were released as The Gabby Pahinui Hawaiian Band, Vol. 1 on a major mainland label. Pahinui inspired a legion of followers who played a mix of slack-key, reggae, country, rock, and other styles. The more traditional players included Leland "Atta" Isaacs, Sr. , Sonny Chillingworth , Ray Kane , Leonard Kwan , Ledward Ka`apana , Dennis Pavao , while Keola Beamer , and Peter Moon have been more eclectic in their approach. The Emerson brothers rekindled

11154-489: The alma mater (Sonʻs of Hawaiʻi). Kamehameha Schools Song Contest is also very famous for the intermission Hōʻike performance. It is a half-time performance celebrating Hawaiian music and hula, and relates to the theme for that year. The performance also features live Hawaiian music, props, and many special guests, narration from students, and hula ʻauana (modern-style hula) and hula kahiko (traditional-style hula). In recent decades, traditional Hawaiian music has undergone

11297-564: The archipelago are around 130 small rocks and islets, such as Molokini , which are made up of either volcanic or marine sedimentary rock. Hawaiʻi's tallest mountain Mauna Kea is 13,796 ft (4,205 m) above mean sea level; it is taller than Mount Everest if measured from the base of the mountain, which lies on the floor of the Pacific Ocean and rises about 33,500 feet (10,200 m). The Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanic activity initiated at an undersea magma source called

11440-420: The authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands. The treason trials of 1892 brought together the main players in the 1893 overthrow. American Minister John L. Stevens voiced support for Native Hawaiian revolutionaries; William R. Castle, a Committee of Safety member, served as a defense counsel in the treason trials; Alfred Stedman Hartwell, the 1893 annexation commissioner, led

11583-498: The beginning of the 20th century, and was marked by the creation of an acculturated yet characteristically Hawaiian modern style, while European instruments spread across the islands. Tatar's third period, from 1900 to about 1915, saw the integration of Hawaiian music into the broader field of American popular music, with the invention of hapa haole songs, which use the English language and only superficial elements of Hawaiian music;

11726-496: The beginning of the Hawaiian recording industry was in 1906, when the Victor Talking Machine Company made the first 53 recordings in the territory. By 1912, recorded Hawaiian music had found an audience on the American mainland. Puerto Rican immigration to Hawaii began when Puerto Rico 's sugar industry was devastated by two hurricanes in 1899. The devastation caused a worldwide shortage in sugar and

11869-417: The best in Hawaiian music for the cultural heritage of any student who attends Kamehameha; to develop leadership, cooperation and good class spirit; and to give students the use of their singing voices and to give them pleasure in singing as a means of expression". Song contest is a way to celebrate and showcase Hawaiian music and Hawaiian culture with people from all around the world. The entire program length

12012-487: The campus of Windward Community College , and the Leeward Community College Theatre. The historic Lanai Theatre is a cultural landmark on Lanai , dating back to the 1930s. Hawaii is home to a number of renowned music institutions in several fields. The Honolulu Symphony Orchestra is an important part of the state's musical history, and is the oldest orchestra in the United States west of

12155-684: The capacity to hold up to 6,000 more on the lawn area. Concerts, graduation ceremonies, and hula shows are very popular at this site, as well as Kennedy Theatre and Andrews Amphitheatre on the campus of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the Blaisdell Center Concert Hall, the Hawaii Theatre in downtown Honolulu, the Red Elephant (a performance space and recording studio in downtown Honolulu), Paliku Theatre on

12298-471: The classic sound of Sol Ho'opi'i with the National steel guitar on their vintage 1920s stylings. George Kanahele 's Hawaiian National Music Foundation did much to spread slack-key and other forms of Hawaiian music, especially after a major 1972 concert. Don Ho (1930–2007), originally from the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kaka'ako, was the most widely known Hawaiian entertainer of the last decades of

12441-500: The defense effort; and Sanford B. Dole ruled as a supreme court justice against acts of conspiracy and treason. On January 17, 1893, a small group of sugar and pineapple-growing businessmen, aided by the American minister to Hawaii and backed by heavily armed U.S. soldiers and marines, deposed Queen Liliʻuokalani and installed a provisional government composed of members of the Committee of Safety. According to scholar Lydia Kualapai and Hawaii State Representative Roy Takumi, this committee

12584-520: The development of a uniquely Hawaiian style of jazz , innovated by performers at the Moana and Royal Hawaiian Hotels. Slack-key guitar ( kī ho`alu in Hawaiian) is a fingerpicked playing style, named for the fact that the strings are most often "slacked" or loosened to create an open (unfingered) chord, either a major chord (the most common is G, which is called "taro patch" tuning) or a major 7th (called

12727-483: The document, drafted in 1949, predates the use of the ʻokina ⟨ʻ⟩ and the kahakō in modern Hawaiian orthography. The exact spelling of the state's name in the Hawaiian language is Hawaiʻi . In the Hawaii Admission Act that granted Hawaiian statehood, the federal government used Hawaii as the state name. Official government publications, department and office titles, and

12870-673: The earliest days of rock music. Elvis Presley 's career included several Hawaii-related performances and records: a March 1961 live performance to raise money for the construction of the USS Arizona Memorial at the Pearl Harbor Bloch Arena in March 1961, his Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite "comeback" record and concert in 1973, and three of his movies were based in Hawaii ( Blue Hawaii , Girls! Girls! Girls! , and Paradise, Hawaiian Style ). Through

13013-454: The early 1900s is called cachi cachi music , on the islands of Hawaii. The traditional music of Hawaii's Native Hawaiian community is largely religious in nature, and includes chanting and dance music . Hawaiian music has had a notable impact on the music of other Polynesian islands ; Peter Manuel called the influence of Hawaiian music a "unifying factor in the development of modern Pacific musics". Major music festivals in Hawaii include

13156-426: The early 21st century as Roman Catholic saints . The death of the bachelor King Kamehameha V —who did not name an heir—resulted in the popular election of Lunalilo over Kalākaua . Lunalilo died the next year, also without naming an heir. In 1874, the election was contested within the legislature between Kalākaua and Emma, Queen Consort of Kamehameha IV . After riots broke out, the U.S. and Britain landed troops on

13299-473: The electric guitar in 1931, as a lap steel guitar , the "frying pan" , by George Beauchamp. Electric amplification allowed the Hawaiian-style guitar to be heard in performances of larger popular bands. In the 1880s and 90s, King David Kalakaua promoted Hawaiian culture and also encouraged the addition of new instruments, such as the ukulele and possibly steel guitar; Kalakaua died in 1891, and so it

13442-886: The era, and frequently featured popular bands like Fleetwood Mac , Journey and Santana ( Carlos Santana and Buddy Miles actually released their 1972 Crater Festival performance on the LP Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live! ). Some notable current and retired jazz musicians in Hawaii include Gabe Baltazar (saxophone), Martin Denny (piano), Arthur Lyman (vibraphone and marimba), Henry Allen (guitar), vonBaron (drums), David Choy (saxophone), Rich Crandall (piano), Dan Del Negro (keyboards), Pierre Grill (piano/keyboards/trombone), Bruce Hamada (bass), DeShannon Higa (trumpet), Jim Howard (piano), Steve Jones (bass), John Kolivas (bass), Noel Okimoto (drums/percussion/vibes), Michael Paulo (reeds), Rene Paulo (acoustic grand piano)

13585-521: The field of music, introducing string instruments such as the guitar and possibly also the technique of falsetto singing, while Portuguese immigrants brought the ukulele -like braguinha . also immigrants from all over the world had brought their own instruments along with them to the islands. Elizabeth Tatar divided Hawaiian music history into seven periods, beginning with the initial arrival of Europeans and their musical cultures, spanning approximately from 1820 to 1872. The subsequent period lasted to

13728-503: The guitar, while the melody is played by the fingers on the three or four highest strings. There are as many as fifty tunings that have been used in this style of playing, and tunings were once guarded fiercely and passed down as family secrets. In the early 20th century, the steel guitar and the ukulele gained wide popularity in America, but the slack-key style remained a folk tradition of family entertainment for Hawaiians until about

13871-491: The higher mountains. Windward sides face cloud cover. Hawaii has a decades-long history of hosting more military space for the United States than any other territory or state. This record of military activity has taken a sharp toll on the environmental health of the Hawaiian archipelago, degrading its beaches and soil, and making some places entirely unsafe due to unexploded ordnance . According to scholar Winona LaDuke : "The vast militarization of Hawaii has profoundly damaged

14014-419: The highest costs of living in the U.S. However, Hawaii is the third-wealthiest state, and residents have the longest life expectancy of any U.S. state, at 80.7 years. The State of Hawaii derives its name from the name of its largest island, Hawaiʻi . A common explanation of the name of Hawaiʻi is that it was named for Hawaiʻiloa , a figure from Hawaiian oral tradition. He is said to have discovered

14157-416: The hula tradition, and other harmonic and structural features are descended from hīmeni and from the hula kuʻi encouraged by King David Kalakaua . Nearly all slack key requires retuning the guitar strings from the standard EADGBE, and this usually means lowering or "slacking" three or more strings. The result is most often a major chord, although it can also be a major seventh chord, a sixth, or (rarely)

14300-518: The islands to restore order. The Legislative Assembly chose King Kalākaua as monarch by a vote of 39 to   6 on February 12, 1874. In 1887, Kalākaua was forced to sign the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi . Drafted by white businessmen and lawyers, the document stripped the king of much of his authority. It established a property qualification for voting that effectively disenfranchised most Hawaiians and immigrant laborers and favored

14443-483: The islands when they were first settled. The Hawaiian language word Hawaiʻi is very similar to Proto-Polynesian Sawaiki , with the reconstructed meaning "homeland." Cognates of Hawaiʻi are found in other Polynesian languages, including Māori ( Hawaiki ), Rarotongan ( ʻAvaiki ) and Samoan ( Savaiʻi ). According to linguists Pukui and Elbert, "elsewhere in Polynesia, Hawaiʻi or

14586-510: The kingdom, initially converting a minority of the Native Hawaiian population, but later becoming the first and second largest religious denominations on the islands, respectively. Missionaries from each major group administered to the leper colony at Kalaupapa on Molokaʻi, which was established in 1866 and operated well into the 20th century. The best known were Father Damien and Mother Marianne Cope , both of whom were canonized in

14729-412: The land in order to access it, primarily by building tunnels to divert water from the mountains to the plantations, constructing reservoirs, and digging wells. These changes have made lasting impacts on the land and continue to contribute to resource scarcity for Native Hawaiians today. According to Stanford scientist and scholar Sibyl Diver, Indigenous Hawaiians engage in a reciprocal relationship with

14872-409: The land, "based on principles of mutual caretaking, reciprocity and sharing". This relationship ensures the longevity, sustainability, and natural cycles of growth and decay, as well as cultivating a sense of respect for the land and humility towards one's place in an ecosystem. The tourism industry's ongoing expansion and its pressure on local systems of ecology, cultural tradition and infrastructure

15015-585: The land. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are more federal hazardous waste sites in Hawaii – 31 – than in any other U.S. state." Hawaii State Representative Roy Takumi writes in "Challenging U.S. Militarism in Hawai'i and Okinawa" that these military bases and hazardous waste sites have meant "the confiscation of large tracts of land from native peoples" and quotes late Hawaiian activist George Helm as asking: "What

15158-429: The late 18th   century, possibly hundreds of years earlier. In 1790, Kīlauea exploded ; it is the deadliest eruption known to have occurred in the modern era in what is now the United States. Up to 5,405 warriors and their families marching on Kīlauea were killed by the eruption. Volcanic activity and subsequent erosion have created impressive geological features. Hawaii Island has the second-highest point among

15301-540: The late 19th century combined rhythms from traditional dance meters with imported European forms (for example, military marches), and drew its melodies from chant ( mele and oli ), hula , Christian hymns ( hīmeni ), and the popular music brought in by the various peoples who came to the Islands: English-speaking North Americans, Mexicans, Portuguese, Filipinos , Puerto Ricans , Tahitians , and Samoans. The music did not develop

15444-559: The mainland since the 1930s, employed the steel guitar as a key element and was therefore a natural evolution. Beginning in 1945, the Bell Record Company of Honolulu responded to the demand with a series of releases by the western swing band Fiddling Sam and his Hawaiian Buckaroos (led by fiddler Homer H. Spivey, and including Lloyd C. Moore, Tiny Barton, Al Hittle, Calvert Duke, Tolbert E. Stinnett, and Raymond "Blackie" Barnes). Between 1945 and 1950 Bell released some 40 sides by

15587-413: The monarchy in 1893; this led to annexation by the U.S. in 1898. As a strategically valuable U.S. territory , Hawaii was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941, which brought it global and historical significance, and contributed to America's entry into World War II. Hawaii is the most recent state to join the union , on August 21, 1959. In 1993, the U.S. government formally apologized for its role in

15730-404: The monarchy was unable to protect itself. In Hawaiian Autonomy , Liliʻuokalani states: If we did not by force resist their final outrage, it was because we could not do so without striking at the military force of the United States. Whatever constraint the executive of this great country may be under to recognize the present government at Honolulu has been forced upon it by no act of ours, but by

15873-1003: The more prominent ones include the Kahala Hilton, the Sheraton Moana Hotel, the Sheraton Waikiki, the Halekulani, Casanova's and the King Kamehameha Hotel. Large music venues in Hawaii include the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center, which has 600 seats and is the largest venue on the Big Island. A 560-seat venue and cultural exhibition center on Kauai is the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center . In Honolulu,

16016-408: The music, and English words were commonly used in the lyrics. This type of Hawaiian music, influenced by popular music and with lyrics being a combination of English and Hawaiian (or wholly English), is called hapa haole (literally: half white) music. In 1903, Albert "Sonny" Cunha composed My Waikiki Mermaid , arguably the first popular hapa haole song (The earliest known hapa haole song, "Eating of

16159-410: The natural world, resulting in widespread biodiversity and intricate social and environmental relationships that persist to this day. On a single island, the climate around the coasts can range from dry tropical (less than 20 inches or 510 millimeters annual rainfall) to wet tropical; on the slopes, environments range from tropical rainforest (more than 200 inches or 5,100 millimeters per year), through

16302-471: The once-isolated islands, causing the Hawaiian population to drop precipitously. Native Hawaiians had no resistance to Eurasian diseases, such as influenza , smallpox and measles . By 1820, disease, famine and wars between the chiefs killed more than half of the Native Hawaiian population. During the 1850s, measles killed a fifth of Hawaiʻi's people. Historical records indicate the earliest Chinese immigrants to Hawaiʻi originated from Guangdong Province ;

16445-444: The overthrow of Hawaii's government, which had spurred the Hawaiian sovereignty movement and has led to ongoing efforts to obtain redress for the indigenous population. Historically dominated by a plantation economy , Hawaii remains a major agricultural exporter due to its fertile soil and uniquely tropical climate in the U.S. Its economy has gradually diversified since the mid-20th century, with tourism and military defense becoming

16588-638: The red, yellow, and green colors of the Hawaiian sovereignty as well as the Lion of Judah flag, a known symbol of the Rastafari movement . The Rasta colors have also become a symbol of local pride. Rock and roll music has long been popular in Hawaii - numerous rock and roll artists spent their developmental years in Hawaii (i.e. members of The Association , The Electric Prunes , 7th Order , Vicious Rumors , as well as guitarists Marty Friedman and Charlie "Icarus" Johnson ), and its local popularity dates back to

16731-477: The reign of King David Kalakaua as a matter of national pride and cultural revival, drew rhythms from traditional Hawaiian beats and European military marches, and drew its melodies from Christian hymns and the cosmopolitan peoples of the islands (although principally American). In the early 20th century Hawaiians began touring the United States, often in small bands. A Broadway show called Bird of Paradise introduced Hawaiian music to many Americans in 1912 and

16874-489: The show and through live performances. In the 1960s, Hawaiian-style music declined in popularity amid an influx of rock, soul and pop acts from the American mainland. This trend reversed itself in the final period of Hawaiian music history, the modern period beginning with the Hawaiian Renaissance in the 1970s and continuing with the foundation of a variety of modern music scenes in fields like indie rock , Hawaiian Rap ( Na mele paleoleo ) and Jawaiian . Queen Liliʻuokalani

17017-663: The songs marketed as Hawaiian had only peripheral aspects of actual Hawaiian music. Tahitian and Samoan music had an influence on Hawaiian music during this period, especially in their swifter and more intricate rhythms. The following era, from about 1930 to 1960, has been called the "Golden Age of Hawaiian music". National radio host Webley Edwards , broadcasting from Honolulu, first introduced most Americans to authentic and adapted for orchestra and big band styles through his popular hour-long radio show Hawaii Calls . Hawaiian performers like Lani McIntire , John Kameaaloha Almeida and Sol Hoʻopiʻi became mainstream stars as regulars on

17160-497: The songs she recorded. A third notable performer, Myra English , became known as the "Champagne Lady" after recording the song "Drinking Champagne" by Bill Mack in 1963 became her signature song in Hawaii, and she achieved considerable commercial success both locally and abroad. Jawaiian is a Hawaiian style of reggae music. Reggae music is a genre that evolved in the late 1960s and earlier in Jamaica . It has become popular across

17303-570: The southeast region of Hawaiʻi Island, which includes the active volcano Kīlauea and its rift zones. There are three national historical parks : Kalaupapa National Historical Park in Kalaupapa, Molokaʻi, the site of a former leper colony; Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park in Kailua-Kona on Hawaiʻi Island; and Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park , an ancient place of refuge on Hawaiʻi Island's west coast. Other areas under

17446-405: The state's capital and largest city, Honolulu . Hawaii is among the country's most demographically diverse states, owing to its central location in the Pacific and over two centuries of migration. As one of only seven majority-minority states , it has the only Asian American plurality, the largest Buddhist community , and largest proportion of multiracial people in the U.S. Consequently, Hawaii

17589-462: The supporters of Kalaniʻōpuʻu attacked, killing Cook and four sailors as Cook's party retreated along the beach to their ship. The ship departed without retrieving the stolen boat. After Cook's visit and the publication of several books relating his voyages, the Hawaiian Islands attracted many European and American explorers, traders, and whalers, who found the islands to be a convenient harbor and source of supplies. These visitors introduced diseases to

17732-477: The surface of the ocean for less than 10   million years, a fraction of the time biological colonization and evolution have occurred there. The islands are well known for the environmental diversity that occurs on high mountains within a trade winds field. Native Hawaiians developed complex horticultural practices to utilize the surrounding ecosystem for agriculture. Cultural practices developed to enshrine values of environmental stewardship and reciprocity with

17875-410: The three or four highest strings, using any number of fingers. Many kī hōʻalu players incorporate various embellishments such as harmonics (chimes), the hammer-on , the pull-off , slides, and damping . Slack key compositions exhibit characteristics from indigenous Hawaiian and imported musical traditions. The vamp or turnaround (a repeated figure, usually at the end of a verse) is descended from

18018-568: The tradition, for example, Chet Atkins (who included slack key pieces on two of his albums), Yuki Yamauchi (a student of Raymond Kāne's and an advocate of Hawaiian music in Japan), pianist George Winston , and Canadian Jim "Kimo" West (perhaps better known as guitarist with "Weird Al" Yankovic ). George Winston has identified fifty slack-key tunings. Some are only commonly used for a single song, or by particular players. Mike McClellan and George Winston have developed similar schemes that organize

18161-452: The tropics, falls at 13,800 feet (4,200 m) on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on Hawaii Island in some winter months. Snow rarely falls on Haleakalā. Mount Waiʻaleʻale on Kauaʻi has the second-highest average annual rainfall on Earth, about 460 inches (12,000 mm) per year. Most of Hawaii experiences only two seasons; the dry season runs from May to October and the wet season is from October to April. Overall with climate change , Hawaiʻi

18304-401: The tunings and techniques and probably saved the style from extinction. Playing techniques include "hammering-on", "pulling-off", "chimes" (harmonics), and "slides," and these effects frequently mimic the falsettos and vocal breaks common in Hawaiian singing. The guitar entered Hawaiian culture from a number of directions—sailors, settlers, and contract workers. One important source of the style

18447-401: The tunings by key and type. The chart below follows their categories and naming conventions. The tunings were often passed down in families from generation to generation, and tunings were often guarded as fiercely as any trade secret. Kī hōʻalu often uses an alternating-bass pattern, usually played by the thumb on the lower two or three strings of the guitar, while the melody is played on

18590-469: The two non-contiguous U.S. states (alongside Alaska ), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, the only state that is an archipelago , and the only state in the tropics . Hawaii consists of 137 volcanic islands that comprise almost the entire Hawaiian archipelago (the exception, which is outside the state, is Midway Atoll ). Spanning 1,500 miles (2,400 km), the state

18733-559: The two largest sectors. The state attracts visitors, surfers, and scientists with its diverse natural scenery, warm tropical climate, abundant public beaches, oceanic surroundings, active volcanoes, and clear skies on the Big Island. Hawaii hosts the United States Pacific Fleet , the world's largest naval command, as well as 75,000 employees of the Defense Department. Hawaii's isolation results in one of

18876-501: The unlawful acts of its own agents. Attempts to repudiate those acts are vain. In a message to Sanford B. Dole, Liliʻuokalani states: Now to avoid any collision of armed forces and perhaps the loss of life, I do under this protest, and impelled by said force, yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon the facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in

19019-476: The wealthier, white elite. Resident whites were allowed to vote but resident Asians were not. As the 1887 Constitution was signed under threat of violence, it is known as the Bayonet Constitution. King Kalākaua, reduced to a figurehead, reigned until his death in 1891. His sister, Queen Liliʻuokalani , succeeded him; she was the last monarch of Hawaiʻi. In 1893, Liliʻuokalani announced plans for

19162-499: The world's islands. On the volcanoes' flanks, slope instability has generated damaging earthquakes and related tsunamis , particularly in 1868 and 1975 . Catastrophic debris avalanches on the ocean island volcanoes' submerged flanks have created steep cliffs. Kīlauea erupted in May 2018, opening 22 fissure vents on its eastern rift zone . The Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens are within this territory. The eruption destroyed at least 36 buildings and this, coupled with

19305-471: The world, especially among ethnic groups and races that have been historically oppressed, such as Native Americans , Pacific Islanders , and Australian Aborigines . In Hawaii, ethnic Hawaiians and others in the state began playing a mixture of reggae and local music in the early 1980s, although it was not until the late 1980s that it became recognized as a new genre in local music. The band Simplisity has been credited by Quiet Storm Records as originators of

19448-403: Was Mexican cowboys hired to work on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi in the first half of the 19th century. These paniolo brought their guitars and their music, and when they left, the Hawaiians developed their own style of playing the instrument. Slack key guitar evolved to accompany the rhythms of Hawaiian dancing and the melodies of Hawaiian chant. Hawaiian music in general, which was promoted under

19591-587: Was a forerunner of recording Hawaiian music in the jazz venue in the early 1960s and is one of Hawaii's legendary music greats, Robert Shinoda (guitar), Arex Ikehara (bass), Phil Bennett (drums), Aron Nelson (piano), Tennyson Stephens (piano), Dean Taba (bass), Betty Loo Taylor (piano), Tim Tsukiyama (saxophone), Reggie Padilla (saxophone), and Abe Lagrimas Jr. (drums/ukulele/vibes). Notable jazz vocalists in Hawaii, both current and retired include Jimmy Borges, Rachel Gonzales, Azure McCall, Dana Land, Joy Woode, and I. Mihana Souza. Although Hawaiian vocalist Melveen Leed

19734-571: Was also a Hawaii International Jazz Festival, which ran from 1993 until 2007. The annual Pacific Rim Jazz Festival occurs in mid-autumn at the Hawaii Convention Center . The annual Manoa Jazz & Heritage Festival takes place in early autumn at the Andrews Amphitheatre on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa campus. Hawaii is home to numerous hotels, many of which feature music in the afternoon or evening; some of

19877-640: Was an early manufacturer and proponent of specialty slack-key guitars in the early 1970s, and the Kamaka Ukulele company was established as key manufacturer of ukuleles for Hawaiian musical acts. Hawaiian folk music includes several varieties of chanting ( mele ) and music meant for highly ritualized dance ( hula ). Traditional Hawaiian music and dance was functional, used to express praise, communicate genealogy and mythology, and accompany games, festivals and other secular events. The Hawaiian language has no word that translates precisely as music , but

20020-497: Was formed against the will of Indigenous Hawaiian voters, who constituted the majority of voters at the time, and consisted of "thirteen white men" according to scholar J Kehaulani Kauanui. The United States Minister to the Kingdom of Hawaii ( John L. Stevens ) conspired with U.S. citizens to overthrow the monarchy. After the overthrow, Sanford B. Dole , a citizen of Hawaii and cousin to James Dole, owner of Hawaiian Fruit Company,

20163-481: Was probably by Polynesian settlers from the Marquesas Islands , and a second wave of migration from Raiatea and Bora Bora took place in the 11th century. The date of the human discovery and habitation of the Hawaiian Islands is the subject of academic debate. Some archaeologists and historians think it was a later wave of immigrants from Tahiti around 1000 CE who introduced a new line of high chiefs,

20306-437: Was sovereign from 1810 until 1893, when resident American and European capitalists and landholders overthrew the monarchy . Hawaiʻi was an independent republic from 1894 until August 12, 1898, when it officially became a U.S. territory. Hawaiʻi was admitted as a U.S. state on August 21, 1959. Based on archaeological evidence, the earliest habitation of the Hawaiian Islands appears to date between 1000 and 1200 CE. The first wave

20449-423: Was the last Queen of Hawaii before the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown. She was also a musician and prolific composer who wrote many musical works . She was best known for Aloha 'Oe . A compilation of her works, titled "The Queen's Songbook", was published in 1999 by The Queen Lili'uokalani Trust . Lili'uokalani was one of many members of the Hawaiian royal family with musical inclinations. They studied under

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