Big Blog 2: Hawaiian Music

 Hawaii has a very special place in my heart not only because of how beautiful of a place it is but also because of how it makes me feel. I have never been to Hawaii, but it has always been one of my dreams to go one day. Me and my family have always talked about going during a vacation but honestly it has always been super expensive. Whenever I am having a bad day, I will joke about moving to Hawaii and just getting on a plane and flying there because to me Hawaii has just always been a place for people to relax and have fun in. A dream of mine is to go there with my family and when I do it is going to be the best experience I have ever had on a vacation. Honestly even during rough times just thinking about being in Hawaii helps me calm down and keep a good mindset in stressful situations.

Even though Hawaii is from the United states I believe that Hawaii has its own very cool and unique culture. Yes, all the states have different things about them. For example, Chicago is very different from South Carolina. However, Hawaii has a completely different way of life and I think that is so cool and I would absolutely love to learn even more about it. Honestly, I don't think a lot of people know too much about the Hawaiian culture but today you will know more.

Instruments:

The first things that I wanted to learn about was the different instruments that they have, because typically when I think about Hawaiian music I just think of the ukulele. However, that instrument isn't even a traditional Hawaiian instrument. That came to the islands later on as people started to migrate to the islands. The country of origin of the ukulele is Portugal. Traditionally their music only had a drum and maybe a shaker The drums that they use are made of gourds. They are very simple instruments that are made from emptying out a gourd. They call this instrument Ipu. As the music started to evolve, they started to get more instruments. One of which was also made out of the gourd, this instrument is called the 'uli'uli,this type of instrument is a shaker type of instrument. One thing that I found really cool about this instrument is that they cover it with feathers, but specifically red and yellow. I found that pretty neat, and I would love to know more about why they choose those colors. Personally, I think my favorite instrument of all of them is the 'ili 'ili,I like how simple it is. The instrument is just 2 rocks that you hit together. I feel like this just shows that even though something is not an expensive instrument it can mean a lot. One thing that I also like about the instruments is they are made from what they have. This is something that you notice when learning about other cultures, but one thing about the Hawaiian instruments is they are so plain and basic. The next instrument is an example of that. They use bamboo and they either hit them together (pu'ili) or they hit them on the ground (ka'eke'eke).The ka'eke'eke reminds me of an instrument that I used in music class growing up, the boomwhackers,so that is also interesting to see that even when I was a kid, I was using instruments that were almost a complete copy of something from an entirely different culture.

Hawaiian Music:

I feel like the most important thing to know about this music culture is that it has changed and altered itself so much over the years and it has not stayed the same. They have a different word for music in their culture and that is Mele and Hula. This is because their music started off as a way to tell stories like in so many other music cultures. They would also use it to connect with the Gods and the land that they live on. They used their music as a way to show their history and they did it in a performance. They would have dancers along with their music. Their music did start to change, this came from new people coming to the islands from different areas. This would bring new instruments and music traditions and they would adapt them into their music. Hawaiian culture very much values the land that they live on and it is shown in their music. Hawaiian music honestly sounds like all the rest of the music cultures when you're talking about reaching God and telling stories.

This is one of my favorite songs. This is an example of modern Hawaiian music, and you can hear the use of the ukulele in it. The song just makes me happy listening to it, and it makes me want to be on the beach, relaxing and taking in the beauty that the beach has to offer. I think that is also very motivating and it has a great meaning. Although it doesn't have the idea of passing down the history of the land. I think it does have the element of being grateful for the land that they live on. It talks about the beautiful world that he lives in and all the amazing things that come from it. Also, in traditional Hawaiian music it has the drum in the background and that is the only instrument throughout the song, and that is similar to this song it just has a ukulele instead.

This song is an example of traditional Hawaiian music. It is in the chant form that their music is traditional in. It also has the ipu in the background, which is keeping the beat. I think that it is very interesting to hear, and although it is simple, I do find the song nice to listen to and I would love to know the meeting of the song, but I can assume that they are talking about their history. Most chants like this are usually telling a story about their history so I will have to look more into this.

Dance:

You can tell based on watching the music that they have very specific hand and foot movements. I also really like how precise the movements are and how clean it looks. I think the movements flow well with the music. You can also tell based on the dance that it connects to their land and is important to their culture, as they pair it with their songs even linking back to their traditional music. What I found out that was pretty interesting was that this dance was on the Movie called Lilo & Stitch and they do the same exact movements. So even though in a movie the Hawaiian culture still sticks to it's roots.

Sources.

Milles, M Kaela. “The History of Hawaiian Music.” Hawaiian Culture Stories, https://www.hawaiian-culture-stories.com/hawaiian-music.html.

Folkways. “Na Leo Hawai'i.” Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, https://folkways.si.edu/na-leo-hawaii/music/article/smithsonian.

Del Amo, Thomas. “Pacific Sunrise at Lanikai Beach in Hawaii.” Dreams Time , 

HelloMusicThoery: Hawaiian instruments

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