Hawaii

Hawaiian music consists of romantic, folk-based musings that unfold narratives of island life inspired by the tropical backdrop and native sounds. The slack key guitar style forms the heart and soul of most Hawaiian music. Known in the South Pacific as ki ho'alu, (which means "loosen the key"), major chords are produced by de-tuning (or "slacking") all six strings of a steel or nylon strung guitar, resulting in an open strummed chord with a major seventh or sixth note contained. Although there are thousands of tunings, each produces a sustained sound behind the chord's melody. Hawaiian music is usually very distinguishable by an electric guitar, lap steel guitar, and/or slide guitar player that often accompanies the acoustic resonance that comes from the fingering of a slack key guitar player. However, there is a small percentage of Hawaiian music that does not incorporate guitars with slacked strings -- some rely only on ukulele, lap steel guitar, and singing. Although many songs are sung in Hawaiian, many are sung in English. Hands down, the best known and most influential musician of Hawaiian music is the late, great Gabby Pahinui (1921-1980) who held the world's record for knowing the largest amount of slack key tunings.