Hawaiian Music In The 1800's

Hawaiian music began in the mid 1800’s when steam boats began to bring visitors from all over the world to the Honolulu Harbor. The visitors would bring instruments with them just for entertainment, the Hawaiians would then mix their instruments with the visitor’s instruments and, that’s how a new sound was created. The Paniolo in other words Mexican Cowboys also came in the mid 1800’s and they taught the Hawaiians a few tricks on how to play music on a guitar. Also throughout the history of Hawaiian music there were some popular Artists in Hawaiian music which helped spread the culture throughout the world. Ancient Hawaiian music was established in religious chants and hymns, their instruments were rocks, gourds, sticks and drums made from …show more content…
From there on the Hawaiians knew how to loosen up the strings from the guitar in other words slack them, and they would adopt the sound to their melody and chants. The Hawaiians were then the first to come up with slack key guitar, it became so popular that different families would slack the stings in many ways to come up with their sound, but they were very secretive about it, because they wanted to be unique and have their own sound. Now these rhythms have become well known in slack key festivals mainly in Mainland and Japan. (Discover Oahu …show more content…
Ceremonies like the hula called for the playing of specific instruments that were very important to the performance. The First instrument is called the kâ`eke `eke, is a large ancient tremble drum, made out of bamboo pipes or tubes or tubes of varying length and it’s from 20 to 60 inches. The second instrument is the nî `au kani, is a harp made out of coconut wood. Another instrument is the ohe hano ihu, which is a nose flute that is made out of bamboo as well; this instrument is used to accompany chants, but mainly for romantic serenades. The Pahu, is a large drum, made from either hollowed, coconut or breadfruit tree and the top of the drum is made out of shark skin, this is the most important instrument of the hula dance. The pahu pa`I, is also a drum made out of shark skin and also used in the hula dance. A papa hehi, is a board that is danced on, like a surf board, but just used with one foot to make music on the ground. The pû, is used as a ceremonial trumpet, it’s the shell of a large triton conch, and its sound is known to reach within two miles. Ancient Hawaiian used it whenever someone arrived to the islands but now, it’s just used pageants, ceremonies, and performances. Pûni, is a small knee drum made out of coconut shell and fish skin. The ûkêkê, is a bow with three strings