Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-17

! the musical art as shown forth by
such masters as Wagner
Between the two, we unhesitatingly
| speak in favor of MIR. Kaai and his
stirring phrasing, 1.-The embodiment OF
advance progression of musical mys-
| tics" Let him continue
Still we must give credence to its
strong and enchanting environment,
which must have attributed uncon-
sciously to the wonderful construction
| of pleasing and soothing melodies.
| The fascination of these plaintive airs,
although not entirely original and yet
very characteristic, have attracted
| hundreds and hundreds of musical
| souls in every land"
| Mr.. Kaai gives fun credit TO the
| Methodist missionaries thus getting
the jump on several bright souls who
| later declared, with an air of great
| discovery, that Aloha De" resembled
| a hymn tune" Our authority says:
1T is true that the formation of
| Hawaiian melodies dates its origin
during the period of the early invasion
! of the missiona ries." CInvasion" is
| good) Their hymns were translated
| into the native language and congre-
| cations were taught to sing them.
| The native soul, which was instinc.
| lively full of rythm, was soon inspired
| "hN NhNS THESE NdflA-
| tons OF pitch, modulating therefrom
the present much heralded melodic
construction. Their earlier compost
lions bore strong similarity to the
early hymns and from this, one can
readily see how limited are the extent
of any originality in the Hawaiian
| songs"
Mr.. kaai tells us that prior to the
invasion OF any set meditation" the
native Hawaiians were already "im-
bued' with the knowledge of time and
rhythm.
They beat on CORDS" and primitive
drums and chanted in unision to their
dances. Intervals were next adopted.
tneh came the study Of music, under
the missionaries.
= X x
OF the ukulele. Mr.. Kaai saws: This
| charming and sweet-toned instrument
is one that is dearly beloved by every
Hawaiian. In their sweetest melodies
and hula (dance) music, the ukulele
plays an important part. which is used
mostly as an accompaniment
Although solos and selections can
oe prayed on them, or fascinating OBJ
llgatoes and the like, yet the real
beauty of the instruments is the gentle
stunning across the strings in such
manner as to ring forth the LIQUID
tones clearly and distinctly"
AS to the correct manner of holding
the luke" he gives the following: "AI.
low the neck Of the ukulele to rest be.
tween the thumb and the first Joint of
the hrst finger of left hand, and never
let 1t rest in the palm of the hand or
even In the cavity between thumb and
nnger. This rule is violated bv 90
out of 100 players
or the tremolo our author saws.
TO affect pleasing and most beau.
thul tonal production. also impartine
tenderness and expression for a sus.
tanned tonal effect on the ukulele the
tremolo is used
This is obtained by placing the
hand half way up on the finger hoard
of the instrument, while the finger is
shaken with energy, following with
the motion the direction of the frets "
But what pleases US most, in the
whole work, is a sentence to which
Time. old worker of magic, has given
new meaning. Declaring that the use
or various strokes must be left to the
| performer, Mr.. kaai says that it is not
compulsory to use one set stroke
throughout a selection. and concludes.
"A little This and That, inserted in
| the proper place, makes an exouisitelv
pleasing effect
Thanks, Mr.. Kaai,