VOICE ONE:
The American state of Hawaii is a group of islands in the NorthPacific Ocean. Its people, culture and music are different from therest of America. I’m Doug Johnson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Sarah Long. The music of Hawaii is our report today onthe VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
((CUT ONE: KUMA HULA))
VOICE ONE:
The kind of singing you just heard is very old. It is the voiceof a Kuma Hula, a teacher of the Hawaiian dance called the hula. Thesong she is singing is as old as the people and culture of Hawaii.This kind of song is called a chant. It is extremely important inHawaii. It helps to connect the ancient Hawaiian culture of the pastwith the present and the future.
The Kuma Hula is teaching a class of children, some as young asfive years old. Already they perform the slow ancient dance stepswith a sure knowledge they will carry into the future. Without thisstrong connection to the past, the music of Hawaii would slowly dieand disappear.
VOICE TWO:
The words the Kuma Hula sings arein the language of Hawaii. The language has become important inrecent years. If you use a computer to look on the World Wide Web,you can find lessons in the old language. It is now popular inHawaii to learn the language. The Hawaiian language is important tothe music. It is also important as a connection with the past.
Something is unusual about both the lessons for young huladancers and those who are learning the language. Not all thestudents are Hawaiian by birth.
The people who live in Hawaii today are a mix of many differentcultural groups. There are people whose ancestors are Hawaiian.Others came from Japan, China, Korea, and the Philippines. Somepeople who live in Hawaii are from American Samoa or the mainland ofthe United States. Still others came from Mexico and Portugal.
Almost all these people are citizens of the United States. Butthey also consider themselves to be Hawaiian. And many have learnedto enjoy the rich musical tradition of the Hawaiian culture.
VOICE ONE:
A good example of this tradition is the beautiful guitar musicplayed in Hawaii. You cannot hear it anywhere else in the world. Itis called slack key. The guitar came to the islands of Hawaii in theearly Eighteen-hundreds with Mexican cowboys who worked on cattleranches.
The people of Hawaii took the guitar and changed the sound bymaking the strings much looser. There are several different methodsused to tune a slack key guitar. How it is tuned depends on what theguitar player is trying to do.
Listen for a few minutes to a slack key guitar that produces avery deep, rich sound. This sound also provides feelings that veryclosely represent the Hawaiian culture, both past and present. JohnKeawe (KEY-Why) plays the guitar. The name of the song is “WhaleTalk.”
((CUT TWO: WHALE TALK))
VOICE TWO:
Slack key guitarist Ozzie Kotani really represents modern Hawaii.The music he plays is a rich mix of ancient and modern Hawaiiansounds played on the slack key guitar. Mister Kotani is also a goodexample of the mix of cultural groups that are the people of Hawaii.
Mister Kotani’s ancestors came to Hawaii from Japan. But he istruly a Hawaiian. He is also one of the best Hawaiian slack keyartists in the Islands. Listen as Ozzie Kotani plays a song hewrote, “My Old Guitar.”
((CUT THREE: MY OLD GUITAR))
VOICE ONE:
Another stringed instrument used in Hawaiian music is extremelyimportant. People who came from Portugal brought it to the Islands.It looks like a very small guitar or a child’s toy. It only has fourstrings. It is called an ukulele (oo-koo-LAY-lay).
It may look like a child’s toy but in the hands of an expert itcan produce very serious music. Listen for a minute to part of asong played on a ukulele. It is called “Morning Dew.” It is playedby Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (KA-MA-KA-WEE-WHOA-OLAY).
((CUT FOUR: MORNING DEW))
VOICE TWO:
We have played some Hawaiian slack key guitar, and you have justheard the Hawaiian ukulele. To better understand Hawaiian music, youmust hear a song sung in the ancient language.
This song is performed by singing extremely high notes. This kindof singing is called falsetto. The use of a falsetto voice lets theperformer sing low notes and extremely high notes. It also lets theperformer bring a very different sound to the music.
It is extremely difficult to do well. Here is IsraelKamakawiwo’ole singing a song called “Kuhio(KU-HI-O) Bay.”
((CUT FIVE: KUHIO BAY))
VOICE ONE:
Now, we will put the slack key guitar together with the ukuleleand add a song in the Hawaiian language with normal and falsettovoice. The singer again is Israel Kaamakawiwo’ole. This song iscalled “Ka Huila Wai” (ka-he-la-WAI). It is a combination of veryancient and modern music. It is the sound of Hawaii today.
((CUT SIX: KA HUILA WAI))
VOICE TWO:
Many different kinds of music are played in Hawaii today. Manyvery good songs are sung in English. Many modern electric musicalinstruments are used. Much of this kind of music is very popularwith the people of Hawaii and those who come to spend their holidaysin these famous islands.
However, for the music of Hawaii to carry on in the future, themusicians will continue to look to the traditions of the past.
((CUT SEVEN: HAWAII ’78))
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byCaty Weaver. Our studio engineer was Mick Shaw. I’m Doug Johnson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English programTHIS IS AMERICA.
((SLACK KEY GUITAR INSTEAD OF THEME))