Intro to Slack Key | Free Online Guitar Lesson

lesson summary

Lesson 1 of 24 in our Hawaiian Series: Intro to Slack Key

About this teacher

Aloha! Welcome to the first lesson of Mark Nelson’s Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar series! Slack Key Guitar is an indigenous form of Hawaiian soul music. In this series, Mark will walk you through the basic techniques and tunings idiomatic to this style of play. Also, you will learn some interesting historical information regarding the origin of slack key guitar.

Note: For more information regarding Mark and his career, check out his full biography.

Slack key playing is a Hawaiian form of guitar music that involves playing in open tunings. The Hawaiian word “ki ho’alu” refers to the genre of slack key guitar. This translates literally to “loosen key” or slack key. Each string of the guitar is detuned so that the open strings from a major chord. Typically, slack key players tune to an open G major chord. Here is a string-by-string breakdown of this open tuning:

6th: D
5th: G
4th: D
3rd: G
2nd: B
1st: D

Slack Key isn’t the only genre that utilizes open tunings. American blues players from the southwest cultivated their own system of open tunings. Open E, and open D are tunings frequently used by blues guitarists. As Mark later explains, slack key is closely related to blues and country blues music.

Open tunings have found their way into rock and roll as well. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards exploits open G tuning to great effect. Open tunings allow for certain chord shapes and techniques that are not possible in standard tuning.

Slack Key must be played fingerstyle. Bass and chord patterns are combined with soulful melody lines. The musical arrangement of the music necessitates the use of fingerstyle playing. For this reason, we recommend you check out the Phase 2 Fingerstyle lessons available on Jamplay. Studying these lessons in conjunction with this series will maximize your fingerstyle training.

Don’t worry if you have no experience with these techniques. Mark will walk you slowly through the right hand mechanics necessary to play in this style.

Mexican cowboys originally brought the guitar to Hawaii. Most historians speculate that this occurred around the middle of the nineteenth century. The Hawaiians referred to their visitors as “paniolo.” This Hawaiian word translates most closely to “Spaniards.” The Spaniards taught Hawaiians the basic fundamentals and techniques of their guitar style. From this point, the Hawaiians began to cultivate their own style. In the slack key style, traditional dance rhythms are combined with harmony native to the Hawaiian Islands.

The primary focus of this lesson series is to develop guitar skills that are applicable to several genres. Studying the slack key style will hopefully open your eyes to an endless amount of new possibilities on the guitar.

Slack key playing is a Hawaiian form of guitar music that involves playing in open tunings. The Hawaiian word “ki ho’alu” refers to the genre of slack key guitar. This translates literally to “loosen key” or slack key. Each string of the guitar is detuned so that the open strings from a major chord. Typically, slack key players tune to an open G major chord. Here is a string-by-string breakdown of this open tuning:

6th: D
5th: G
4th: D
3rd: G
2nd: B
1st: D

Slack Key isn’t the only genre that utilizes open tunings. American blues players from the southwest cultivated their own system of open tunings. Open E, and open D are tunings frequently used by blues guitarists. As Mark later explains, slack key is closely related to blues and country blues music.

Open tunings have found their way into rock and roll as well. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards exploits open G tuning to great effect. Open tunings allow for certain chord shapes and techniques that are not possible in standard tuning.

Slack Key must be played fingerstyle. Bass and chord patterns are combined with soulful melody lines. The musical arrangement of the music necessitates the use of fingerstyle playing. For this reason, we recommend you check out the Phase 2 Fingerstyle lessons available on JamPlay. Studying these lessons in conjunction with this series will maximize your fingerstyle training.

Don’t worry if you have no experience with these techniques. Mark will walk you slowly through the right hand mechanics necessary to play in this style.

Mexican cowboys originally brought the guitar to Hawaii. Most historians speculate that this occurred around the middle of the nineteenth century. The Hawaiians referred to their visitors as “paniolo.” This Hawaiian word translates most closely to “Spaniards.” The Spaniards taught Hawaiians the basic fundamentals and techniques of their guitar style. From this point, the Hawaiians began to cultivate their own style. In the slack key style, traditional dance rhythms are combined with harmony native to the Hawaiian Islands.

The primary focus of this lesson series is to develop guitar skills that are applicable to several genres. Studying the slack key style will hopefully open your eyes to an endless amount of new possibilities on the guitar.

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about Mark Nelson

Mark Kailana Nelson: Heralded Slack Key Guitarist, Author, and Performer

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