Music is part of everyday life. We hear it on the way to work, when we work out, while running errands; very often in the background. However, music is a unique form of expression that traces history, tradition and culture. Music is the very structure of Hawaiian culture, its history intertwining over the centuries and evolving into the sound you hear today. European settlers may not have discovered the islands until 1700, but Hawaiians discovered the gift of music long before foreigners stepped onto Hawaii’s shores.
One of the most curious things about the Hawaiian language is that there is no word for “music”, but its structure has been a mainstay of the Hawaiian tradition. Mele, or singing, was a ritual in ancient Hawaii, a means of preserving ancestral history. These songs told stories of family lineage and legends of Hawaiian gods, tales told visually through hula dancing. The rituals were guided by a drum beat and a small orchestra of stones, sticks and rattles, laying the foundation for ancient Hawaiian music.
Contact with European settlers in 1700 introduced Hawaiians to the cultures of the world. The missionaries brought Christian hymns and various European instruments, such as flute, violin and piano. But the Hawaiians were more fascinated with the guitar brought by Spanish cowboys, or paniolos. Hawaiians refer to Spanish music as Cachi-cachi because his fast, improvised style of playing quickly caught on. When the Spaniards returned to their home countries, they left their guitars as a gift.
Desiring to create their own style of playing, the locals began to loosen the strings, creating a distinct style of picking that suited their rhythmic sensibilities. The “Slack-key” guitar became a local craze and encouraged the innovation of another style of play – “steel guitar”. This involved sliding a piece of steel along the strings, which gave off a soft and dreamy quality that would soon become the sound that represents Hawaiian music.
These innovations inspired locals to embrace other forms of instrumentation. The melody remained firm on the vocals, an emphasis on language and culture, while the sound, as the ancient rituals dictated, provided harmony and support. Many were discovering that they had an innate musical talent, and Hawaii quickly accumulated that talent for an orchestra. In 1915, the Royal Hawaiian Band was invited to compete at the Panama Pacific Exhibition in San Francisco. This was the first time that people had heard of Hawaii, a culture and language that is expressed through music. He painted an exuberant portrait of the islands, an impression that everything is as melodic and polished as the music they performed.
The Royal Hawaiian Band put the culture of Hawaii on the map and it was Tau Moe, a family of four also known as “The Aloha Four”, who popularized the steel guitar. They were Hawaii’s own supergroup, traveling across the continent and then around the world. The innovations and rhythmic harmonies of the islands of Hawaii have found a global audience.
The start of the recording made it possible for people to bring Hawaii home with them. In the 1920s, “Hawaii Calls” radio programming and live Hawaiian music broadcasts made people feel like they were really there. Almost all hotels – the only venues large enough to house bands and orchestras – had radio equipment installed. A band that was entertaining guests was suddenly playing for the world. In the 1950s, Hawaii Calls was being broadcast to 750 stations.
Hawaiian music declined in the 1960s. Local musicians like Don Ho and Joe Keawe still thrived, but artists from the continent flooded the scene, having tried the genre just because of its popularity. Hawaiian music was in danger of becoming a fashion if it weren’t for the next generation of musicians.
Gabby Pahinui again emphasized culture. A prodigy of loose key and falsetto, he found inspiration through tradition. As Hawaiian music became more popular, it became more and more a matter of style. With the change of artists from the continent, the genre has returned to focus on long-standing cultural themes of national sovereignty and pride, thus leading a cultural awakening.
Hula was in the middle of a resurgence. The Merrie Monarch Festival, once a tourist parade, has become a celebration of culture as hula groups, or halaus, now they were forced to create original songs for their routine. It was a license to create rather than repeat, introducing a new tradition to the festival by honoring those of the past. Merrie Monarch gave birth to artists like Keali’i Reichel and The Brothers Cazimero.
This revival ushered in an era of Hawaiian superstars. Sonny Chillingworth and Willie K were revered for their lax feats, while Linda Dela Cruz and the wonder of Amy Hanaiali’i Gillom’s falsetto made them feel overnight. Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, simply known as Braddah Iz, remains the most renowned Hawaiian musician of all time. His medals for “Starting All Over Again” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” are in circulation today, while “Hawaiian Supa ‘Man” is a suitably mythical representation of his talent and style.
Reggae did not arrive in Hawaii until the 1980s. Initially avoided by traditionalists, the rhythmic wonder of reggae combined well with Hawaii’s similar musical sensitivities. Since then, Hawaii has embraced reggae and Jamaican culture with open arms. The Rastafari flag is a symbol of national pride alongside the state emblem of Hawaii. Reggae and Hawaii are inseparable on the radio today, creating “Jawaiian” as a popular and significant subgenre in the canon.
What made Hawaiian music so important was the culture. It made people stop and listen. Hawaiian themes, traditions and the stories they tell are what define Hawaiian music as a genre. As long as artists are inspired by language and culture, music will continue to be essential to the world.