Aloha! Welcome to the Slack Key Guitar online lessons page
Hawaiian slack key guitar or ki ho`alu is a celebrated cultural art form that developed many generations ago with the introduction of the guitar to the islands by the vaqueros who were brought in to teach Hawaiians the art of ranching.
Unique tunings and a nahenahe or beautiful and soothing guitar style evolved that captures the essence of the aloha spirit and provides great joy for listeners and performers alike.
In this full curriculum of online lessons, you will be immersed in this wonderful tradition while learning from the comfort of home. Drawing on over 20 years of teaching experience Jeff Peterson leads courses for absolute beginners through advance level guitarists. Traditional songs, accompaniment, solo arrangements, chord progressions, a wide variety of tunings, a full range of guitar technique, improvising, arranging, music theory, and original compositions will all be shared. Whether you are interested in learning some new chords for kanikapila or your are interested in learning exact transcriptions from recordings, you can study at your own pace and enjoy the musical journey and discovery of the unique and enriching sounds of Hawaiian slack key guitar.
Here is what you will need to start:
- An acousitc guitar with either steel or nylon strings
- A web browser with video capabilities
- Adobe Acrobat Reader or a similar program to view lessons PDFs
- A tuner (try a smartphone App like Pano Tuner)
Start your lessons here. More lessons, podcasts, and sheet music will be added regularly.
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Keola Beamer
Slack Key Master