What is slack key guitar?

Jake Doell · Post by **Jake Doell** » 15 Jan 2002 11:27 pm

I've the term"slack key guitar" mentioned and
I have no idea what the heck it is.Can some one enlighten me?Thanks,
Jake Doell in Vancouver

Fernando Fernandez · Post by **Fernando Fernandez** » 18 Jan 2002 12:18 pm

Bump! Sorry[This message was edited by Fernando Fernandez on 18 January 2002 at 12:22 PM.]

Don McClellan · Post by **Don McClellan** » 18 Jan 2002 1:35 pm

It's tuning the guitar to an open chord. Like E or D so that you can play a major chord by just barring one finger across the strings. This style is very popular here in Hawaii for old Hawaiian folk music but for my money its gets very boring very fast. Although some players are very creative with it, most are not. From the hands of a good player it can be quite beautiful for a while.

Cindy Cashdollar · Post by **Cindy Cashdollar** » 20 Jan 2002 10:04 pm

Dear Jake:

i love the slack key style, and I think a good example of it is "Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters" instrumental collection on the Dancing Cat label. It's an older CD ('95), but certainly a good mix of different artists and styles

Ron Randall · Post by **Ron Randall** » 21 Jan 2002 3:18 pm

A beautiful sound for the 6 string and 12 string acoustic guitar.
There are many many tunings.

In slack key, players usually tune down some of the strings from the standard guitar tuning.

C Major. "Atta's C" Tuning (C G E G C E), from the lowest to the highest.

D Major " open D". (D A D F# A D)
sometimes these tunings will be slacked to C.
C major can be slacked to Bb.

Great CD with Bob Brozman on National steel guitars with Cyril Pahinui on acoustic guitars.

Dancing Cat records. www.dancingcat.com

seldomfed · Post by **seldomfed** » 31 Jan 2002 5:12 pm

AND - Slack Key gave us steel!!

Slack key preceeds steel playing by many years. Without it, the steel we know today in it's many forms (pedal and blues slide playing etc.) would not be the same, or may not exist at all IMHO!

Joseph Kekuku turned his slack key tuned guitar on it's side and slid a 'bar' on the strings when he was a young pup - and here we are today.

Read "The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians" by Lorene Ruymar if you have not yet - and see what you think.

Why do you think the dobro is tuned the way it is? ANY chance it's based on the 'taro patch' tuning in use for over 100+ years!

I personally don't think slack key is boring at all. It's quite beautiful. There are dozens of exciting slack key players in Hawaii and elsewhere. I will agree there are boring musicians! Slack key is not easy to play well. You need a special spirit behind it - just like steel. I think Hawaiian steel playing is quite boring with the wrong person behind the bar. I'll admit oft times it's me

But I'm getting there.

------------------
Chris Kennison
Ft. Collins, Colorado
"We can't afford to let Nature Run Wild" - govt. offical - Alaska

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