Aloha

You’ve heard the music – did you ever think about creating it yourself? The Hawaiian slack-key guitar is a wonderful platform for expression. It’s easy to learn to play and a great way to relieve stress and achieve a sense of well being. Hawaiian slack-key guitar defines the word “relaxation”. It’s a rewarding and enjoyable activity that can give you years of meaningful interaction with a whole world of rich, beautiful, and somehow still mysterious music. It can take you places that you never imagined.a picture of keola on a stool with a guitar

Teaching the slack-key guitar has been one of the greatest joys of my life and through the years I’ve helped many aspiring musicians.

It’s an exciting time in distance learning technology and thanks to some wonderful innovations on the internet, we can share the resources and knowledge of our culture like never before. I’ve given considerable thought to using the net as a teaching tool which has resulted in the some wonderful innovations. My web-lessons are new teaching methods, enabling you to work faster and smarter. These powerful techniques really work. This wonderful style of music will come alive from beneath your own hands, as you create it from the story of your own life.

What you need

  1. A guitar. It doesn’t have to be anthing fancy – any guitar will do: electric, acoustic, nylon, steel string – it doesn’t matter!
  2. PDF reader software to download and view my PDF tablature and other documents.
  3. A modern web browser to download or play the pieces you’ll be studying. I recommend using Safari (Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc), Chrome (Mac, Windows), or Firefox (Mac, Windows). Make sure the browser is fully updated.
  4. A pono attitude or consciousness. You must learn to play with aloha in your heart. Slack-key is filled with the beauty and mysticism of the Hawaiian culture. To get the most out of your lessons, come with respect for its traditions and an openess in your heart.

Get started now

I offer instruction at three levels, which I call “realms”. Select the realm you wish to go to from the links below:

  1. Beginning Realm : for those of you who are just starting out
  2. Intermediate Realm : ready to take your technique to the next level
  3. Advanced Realm : now you’re wanting to play with the “Big Dogs”!
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Lahaina, Hawaiʻi