This original ballad was originally published in my first slack key instruction book from 1973, "Keola Beamer's First Method For Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar" (which was expanded and issued with a flexi-disk including this song in 1977 on Oak Publications with the title "Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar").

Kolowaka is a beautiful lullaby type piece in my signature nahenahe (soft and gentle) style, exploring the idea of theme and variation. I wrote it for my students as a kind of etude. Simple on the surface, it opens up a lot of possibilities for growth and for playing one's own variations.

After you have finished this piece, go on to Isa Lei.

Keola Beamer