Vermont is known for many things, including but not limited to maple syrup, outdoor activities and long, snowy winters. I chose to enroll at UVM knowing well that the winter season would be mentally and physically taxing—something that requires patience to endure.
While some students spend the cold season on the mountain or stay warm in the dorm, I’ve brought in a tone from somewhere more tropical. Music from the warm state of Hawai’i has quickly become a favorite of mine to listen to on harsh winter days.
Hawaiian slack key guitar, or kī hōʻalu, is a style of rhythmic music based around the slackening of strings on the guitar. In English, kī hōʻalu means “to loosen the key,” where participants of the style will often create specialized tunings, which are sometimes passed down through generations to keep specific sounds and techniques a secret.
The harmonics of Hawaiian slack key guitar are rich and warm, using complex picking patterns to create fluidity within a single song’s motifs.
Calming tones are created using an alternating bass strumming pattern, hammer-ons, slides, damping and chimes worked into the melody. The creativity and history of this style shine through the layers of glittering musical phrasing, with entirely unique sounds offered by the genre.
Slack key guitar was first brought to the Hawaiian Islands in the mid-1800s by Spanish and Mexican vaqueros—cowboys—who played their guitars in the evenings after work. Hawaiian natives learned from the vaqueros and eventually adopted the guitar into their culture.
Rhythms and themes of traditional Hawaiian music were blended with the new sounds that the guitar brought to the islands, and the style evolved into its own realm. The music is characterized by its alternating bass and melodic string picking, which create the tempo and lilting feel through the pattern of low and high pitches.
Whereas other traditional Hawaiian music often features vocals accompanied by instrumentals in the background, much of modern-day slack key gives the guitar the spotlight. Songs typically only have one to two individuals playing to emphasize the instrument’s harmonies and sounds.
While some songs have vocals, most are fully instrumental, making this style perfect for long study sessions or simply for listening enjoyment.
“Kani Kī Hōʻalu” by Ozzie Kotani, is a favorite album of mine that I feel displays the complexity and beauty of the genre very well. The record features 14 songs with bright, tropical melodies.
I am also a fan of curated collections of tracks by masters of the craft, such as “Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters: Instrumental Collection, Vol 1.”
I’ve found that the colorful sounds of slack key guitar pair perfectly with the sparkling ground and chilly air. The warm tones of the music contrast with the bitter Vermont winters in a way that leaves me optimistic, even cheerful.
The stark difference between the sunny beaches of Hawai’i and the white, mountainous landscape of Burlington is complemented in the genre, where the ever-changing twinkling sounds of the guitar emulate both the island waves and the snow falling over campus.
