You see Hawaiian artists touring over here today. You didn't used to see that. It's not just Hawaiian artists discovering the hybrid music, rooted in the guitar sounds of 19th-century native Hawaiians. Both ethnic islanders and non-native musicians are embracing a return to the old sounds, which to many are actually new. Full circle Slack-key guitar, or ki ho'alu, is back at the forefront.
Players use their thumb to hit the bass notes, while other fingers carry the melody.
Before outsiders arrived in the late 18th century and early 19th century, island music came through percussion and chanting. But when Spanish and Mexican cowboys departed the islands in the 1830s, after a few years of tending transplanted cattle, they left guitars behind. Having no guidance, the Hawaiians devised their own tuning and their own music. To this day, different families have slightly different tunings. But it was also part of their downfall.