In Hawai’i, distant memories of Queen Lili’uokalani and her short reign are held close to the heart of the Hawaiian people. Besides being a compassionate and caring leader, our queen was also a wonderful composer. (I once examined her guitar, by request of the Bishop Museum on the Island of ‘Oahu.) Queen Lili’uokalani played both guitar and piano and is certainly one of my most favorite composers.
“Sanoe” is attributed to Lili’uokalani and I have created a wonderful arangement of it for solo guitar. Over the years, it has become one of my students’ most favorite pieces.
This is a great song with a sweet melody.
Keola Beamer
The key to the musicality of “Sanoe” lies in the smooth execution of the RH Free Stroke, the understanding of the phrasing of the piece coupled with the smooth modulation to Bb and back to F. Please read and understand the background / history of Sanoe to understand the context of the piece. I always encourage my students to do this, because it enriches our interpretation of the music and aids our basic understanding of the “layers” of the piece. Please also refer to the the video lesson notes provided below.

• Level: Intermediate
• Tempo: Slow
• Tuning: F Wahine or Leonards’ F
• Length: 2:50
• 5 pages

Listed below are some of the techniques and concepts covered in this detailed lesson:

• Create and finger Arpeggios
• Sustaining inner voices
• Modulation – Changing the Key of the piece from F to Bb
• Barring – includes a very useful bar exercise!
• Video Illustration of Vibrato coming from a Bar

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