Slack key style developed in the 1830s, when Spanish and Mexican cowboys brought the guitar to the Islands. The Hawaiians quickly adopted the guitar into their culture, creating many original tunings to suit their music and to better match the key of the vocals.
Slack key is a finger-picked style with some of the strings slacked from the standard tuning.
Slack key is a living art form and many Hawaiian musicians have put their own special stamp on this unique sound. The songs on this CD span nearly a century. You ll hear Lovely Hula Hands by the renowned hapa-haole composer, Alex Anderson, and the contemporary sounds of J. P. Cruz on Island Style. On the Beach at Waikiki and Tiny Bubbles . The definitive slack key swing tune, Sophisticated Hula from Sol Bright is included, as is that big movie number, Blue Hawaii .