Tag Archives: tranquil song

LIVE 135 • Keiki Slack Key (412ce)

Live, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Fred Kelly, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, honolulu, keiki slack key, ki ho’alu, love, nahenahe, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open G, open tunings, peace, peaceful guitar, Ray Kane, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, Slack Key, St. Louis Heights, Taro Patch, Taylor 412ce-R, taylor grand concert, Taylor guitars, thumbpicks, tranquil song

Here is another version of the Ray Kane classic “Keiki Slack Key” I recorded on my Taylor 412ce-R steel string guitar. Keiki Slack Key (not to be confused with the Sonny Chillingworth song of the same name) is one of the first slack key songs I transcribed, and has stayed on my setlists ever since. To me, Ray Kane is probably the best example of an ‘old style’ slack key player, and his tracks are always nahenahe. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) a Neumann TLM 102 microphone in Honolulu, Hawai’i.

LIVE 147 • Keiki Slack Key (Nylon, Alt Take)

Live, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Fred Kelly, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, keiki slack key, ki ho’alu, love, nahenahe, nick borho, open G, open tunings, peace, peaceful guitar, Ray Kane, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, Slack Key, Taro Patch, taylor 414ce-NR, taylor classical guitar, taylor nylon, thumbpicks, tranquil song

Here is another version of the Ray Kane classic “Keiki Slack Key” I recorded on my Taylor 414ce-NR nylon string guitar. Keiki Slack Key (not to be confused with the Sonny Chillingworth song of the same name) is one of the first slack key songs I transcribed, and has stayed on my setlists ever since. To me, Ray Kane is probably the best example of an ‘old style’ slack key player, and his tracks are always nahenahe. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 414ce-NR (Rosewood/Spruce grand auditorium nylon string) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

LIVE 141 • “Horn” Improv – Nick Drake Uke Cover

Classic Rock, Live, Ukuleleblue sky guitar, fingerstyle ukulele, Horn, Kamaka HF-3D, Kamaka Koa Deluxe Tenor, nick borho, Nick Drake, open tunings, peaceful ukulele, Pink Moon, relaxing music, relaxing ukulele, Telefunken M60, tranquil song

Here’s an improv around Nick Drake’s “Horn” I recorded one day between takes of another song I was working on. Appearing as a sort of interlude on the Pink Moon album, Horn is a fascinating little study of a song in its own right. I love the simple, atmospheric melody, and think it translated well to ukulele. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Kamaka Koa Deluxe Tenor ukulele (Kamaka HF-3D, high G with Uke Logic Soft Tension strings and a Thomastik-Infeld CF-27 flat wound third string) and a Telefunken M60 microphone.

LIVE 115 • Mino’aka (Alt Take)

Slack Keyacoustic guitar, altered tunings, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, harmonics, Hawaii, keola beamer, ki ho’alu, nick borho, open g tuning, open tunings, peaceful guitar music, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, Slack Key, soliloquy, Taro Patch, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert, tranquil song

Here’s an alternate take of Keola Beamer’s Mino’aka (Smile), from his awesome Soliloquy album. Soliloquy is one of my favorite Dancing Cat era albums from Keola and a highly recommended listen. Keola’s book is one of the first I picked up when I really delved into the slack key style years ago, and this was one of my favorite songs featured in the book. In fact, I also recommend Keola’s book for beginner to intermediate fingerstyle players who are looking to learn some slack key. Although the version I recorded here is at a slightly faster tempo, I hope it still captures the original’s relaxed feel. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

LIVE 117 • Makalawena (alternate take)

Fingerstyle, Open Tunings, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, altered tunings, anchialine ponds, apogee one, big island, classical guitar, Fingerstyle, Hawaii, Hawaiian coot, kailua kona, Keahole Point, Kekaha Kai State Park, ki ho’alu, Kona International Airport, love, Mahaiʻula Bay, makalawena, mauna loa tuning, Neumann TLM 102, open tunings, peaceful guitar music, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, taylor 414ce-NR, taylor nylon guitar, tranquil song

Here is an alternate take of “Makalawena,” an original song I named after a charmingly beautiful and relatively isolated beach on the Kona Coast. Makalawena is part of that long stretch of white sandy beaches you see right before landing at Kona International Airport at nearby Keahole Point. The beach is generally accessible via a short hike from the neighboring Mahaiʻula Bay section of Kekaha Kai State Park. I remember camping out at Makalawena as a kid, exploring the rare anchialine ponds with their delicate red shrimp, and swimming in the waters of the bay. Today still, the neighboring marsh is a protected nesting ground, home to rare birds such as the Hawaiian coot. The song’s bridge seems to capture the strange sense of converging energies that I feel in special places such as these. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 414ce-NR (Rosewood/Spruce grand auditorium nylon string) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

77 Minutes Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Instrumental Music

Live, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, hanalei, Hawaii, Holualoa, kailua kona, kapaa, kauai, ki ho’alu, love, maui, mauna loa tuning, nick borho, open tunings, paia, peace, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, Taro Patch, taylor grand concert, tranquil song

For your listening pleasure here is a collection of Ki Ho’alu a/k/a Hawaiian Slack Key guitar instrumentals. This compilation includes both energetic and relaxed tunes, though I’d say the overall vibe is relaxing. I like to listen to some of those longer “relaxing music” videos while working on the computer and became inspired to produce some videos featuring my own performances. Hope you enjoy.

LIVE 108 • Wonderful Tonight Remix

Classic Rock, Fingerstyle, Liveacoustic guitar, apogee one, blue sky guitar, Elixir HD Light, Eric Clapton, fingerstyle guitar, Fred Kelly, honolulu, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, Pattie Boyd, peaceful guitar music, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, rosewood taylor, st louis heights, Taylor 400 series, Taylor 412ce-R, taylor grand concert, Taylor guitars, thumbpicks, tranquil song

Here is a remix of my fingerstyle rendition of Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight. Eric wrote the song about his then-wife Pattie Boyd, who had already inspired great songs from Eric and previous husband George Harrison. This song has been the theme to many a high school prom, and its simple yet tasteful melody has held up over the years. In keeping with that, my arrangement here is fairly straight forward: it doesn’t move around the neck very much or have any unusual chord voicings. Hope you enjoy it.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone in Honolulu, Hawaii 4/27/15.

LIVE 097 • Kaiminani Slack Key (Alt Take)

Slack Keyear trumpet labs, edwina, kailua kona, Keahole Point, Ki Ho'alu, Kona International Airport, Kona Palisades, Mamalahoa, open g tuning, OTEC beach, peaceful guitar music, Pine Trees beach, Queen Kaahumanu, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, Taro Patch, taylor 414ce-NR, taylor classical guitar, taylor nylon, tranquil song, Wawaloli

Here is an alternate take of my original slack key song, “Kaiminani Slack Key.” The song is named for Kaiminani Drive in Kalaoa, North Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Kaiminani Drive is a main mauka-makai road that connects the Queen Kaahumanu and Mamalahoa highways (lower and upper roads, respectively). It also runs through the Kona Palisades neighborhood where I lived for a number of years as a child. Back then, the neighborhood was less developed, and my friends and I would build tree houses and play in the vacant lots. We could also watch the planes come and go at Kona International Airport at Keahole Point (KOA), and had easy access to then-uncrowded OTEC (Wawaloli) and Pine Trees (Kohanaiki) beaches. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 414ce-NR (Rosewood/Spruce grand auditorium nylon string) and an Ear Trumpet Labs “Edwina” microphone.

LIVE 089 • Bumble Bee Slack Key

Fingerstyle, Live, Slack Keybig island, Fred Kelly, Hawaii, Holualoa, Ki Ho'alu, kona coffee, ksm141, peaceful guitar music, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, shure, Slack Key, Taro Patch, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught, thumbpicks, tranquil song

Demo recording of original song Bumble Bee Slack Key, inspired in part by the nalo meli, honey bees buzzing about their business. I wanted a song that was both lively and mellow and think I achieved it. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 12/16/07.

LIVE 071 • Green Tea (Fingerstyle Improv)

Live, Open Tuningsbig island, Hawaii, Holualoa, improvisation, Ki Ho'alu, peaceful guitar music, pen D, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, shure ksm 141, Taylor 310, taylor 310ce, Taylor 310e, tranquil song

“Green Tea” is a fingerstyle improvisation based on the idea of toying with certain oft used open tuning tropes and seeing how they could be morphed. Listening back, I enjoy the sound of the dreadnaught guitar I recorded it on, even though I have been using predominantly smaller bodied guitars for the last 4-5 years or so. While small bodied guitars have a great balance that is perfect for many situations, sometimes there’s just something nice about the sound of a big boomy acoustic box. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 12/14/07.

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