Keola Beamer Teaches Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar

Let me cut to the chase: if you’re a beginner with slack key, you probably want to get Ozzie Kotani’s book Guitar Playing Hawaiian Style instead of this book.I hate to give a review that is somewhat negative since I have such respect for Keola and his music; Keola also seems to be a really nice guy. But I bought this book hoping to learn slack key guitar from scratch. I am not a novice guitar player - I have been playing for many years, and I regularly play bluegrass, gospel, James Taylor/Buffett, and I'm now learning jazz guitar. But I have never played slack key, so I was looking for an intro to playing in that style.What I found was a book with virtually no explanation of the songs or style. The techniques - all the hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, chimes, open/closed positions - are never explained. I would have loved to have explanations and tips, along with some simple exercises to get familiar with them. They say slack key is "front porch" music - something you don't get a feel for playing until you spend hours on the front porch playing around with it. I feel like this book doesn't really give you the basis to sit playing around with it.Just as bad, the book starts in the F Wahine tuning. I have no doubt this is a beautiful sounding tuning. But as your first kī hōʻalu tuning? Worse, then we move on to the more common - and simpler - taro patch tuning for two songs, and come back to C Wahine and F Wahine for the final two. From my point of view, the Wahine tunings are much more difficult, as it's not obvious what you do exactly to make them "work" the same way as with an open tuning like taro patch. And jumping between three tunings in five songs seems a bit unhelpful for a beginner like me. I need time and experience to get comfortable with a tuning, and for me anyway, one song each isn't enough.One positive is that it includes not only the tab but written music. For me, it's useful to have that written transcription in parallel with the tab.For beginners in slack key, I would recommend instead looking to Ozzie Kotani's book "Guitar Playing Hawaiian Style." This book is everything a book for beginning slack key players should be, with lots of explanations, simple exercises, and mostly concentrating on taro patch tuning. The more I use that book, the more I love it.

Good book but DVD was broken by USPS because they folded the package by cramming it into my mailbox

Keola does a great job. Homespun are reliable for having talented musician really teach their style--like John Doyle and Paul Mehling. The CD with this book has Keola going through each song pretty well-just like he was here-- and the music and tab are thorough and easy to read. There are three tunings introduced. The songs are very nice. My wife yelled from other side of the house:" Hey, I really like that song--what is that??" To me, that's a good sign. The song was Mino'aka. Great one. My only gripe is that there are only five songs, but I must admit, there is plenty to work on and many major points about Hawaiian Slack key are mentioned on the disc. This was exactly what I wanted to start learning this style.

This is a great book, easy to follow- especially when you pair it along with the CD. Mr. Beamer takes his time and breaks apart each song so that you can actually learn how to play in his style.He gives you seven beautiful songs and plays them all in such an enjoyable way that you are inspired to emulate him through your playing. I am only a beginnner, but I feel fairly confident that this book will get me to where I want to be because of his wonderful teaching style. I ♥ it!He gives you 3 different tunings, and the music he chose is conjures up fun and emotion. If I could rate this more stars, I would. Excellent book, I highly recommend this one over any other. Trust me, I bought the other one and it doesn't even come close to this- Keola Beamer's is the best.

What a great intro to slack key from Keola Beamer. The material presented herein should not present any problems for a lower intermediate fingerstylist. Anyone who has played country blues or other fingerstyle arrangements will be able to work through these tunes without much trouble. However, at some point during the lessson it just might dawn upon you just what great music this is. While the essence of slack key is the tuning and the style of play, in the end it's the beautiful music that is the reward. The notation and tablature are accurate and the selection showcases several popular tunings for modern Hawaiian slack key music. Add Beamer's DVD "The Art of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar" (Homespun Tapes) and you'll be well on your way to the Aloha spirit.

Keola Beamer plays and creates great music, and this book is a good way to get to know his music even better.Tablature, information about songs as well as tips and techniques are laid out in a good way in this book.A must have if you like playing slack key guitar

This is a good little book about slack key guitar but is limited in its tablature arrangements. I love slack key guitar and took Keola Beamer's online class a few weeks ago. There are 3 or 4 pieces at the beginner level, but most of the tabs are at the intermediate level or above.

Keola is truly a master. I love his music, and this book and CD make it easier (but not easy) to learn. I would say this book is for intermediate guitar players, so if you're a beginner you probably don't want to start with this one. Highly recommended.

●ハワイアン・スラック・キー・ギターの教則本。ソロギターのスタイル。　１曲だけ歌付きの曲も収録されているが、ソロギターとしても演奏できる内容。●掲載曲（全５曲。五線譜とタブ譜、ＣＤ音源付き）　　※曲名／使用チューニング（チューニング構成音）　(1) Isa Lei / F Wahine ( C F C G C E )　(2) Mino'aka / Taro Patch ( オープンＧと同様 )　(3) Moana's Laundry Basket / Taro Patch ( オープンＧと同様 )　(4) Papa's Okolehau / C Wahine ( C G D G B E )　(5) I Ka Po Me Ke Ao / F Wahine ※歌付き以下、感想を箇条書き。●Keolaの教則本だけあって収録曲と演奏のクオリティが高い。●オーディオＣＤで英語での演奏法解説もあるが、英語が分からなくても楽譜と音源だけで練習には十分役立つ。●歌付きの練習曲があるのがユニーク。●初心者向けではないと思う。「タロパッチの簡単な曲を数曲弾けるようになったんだけど、もう少し難しい曲とかタロパッチ以外のチューニングの曲を弾いてみたい」という人に適しているのではないだろうか。●自分は山内雄喜さんの『ハワイアン・スラック・キー・ギターをゆる～く弾こう』と松本ノボルさんの『スラック・キー・ギター　ハワイアン名曲集』の２冊で学習したところで、タロパッチ以外のチューニングでも弾けるようになりたくなり、本書を購入した。その意味では満足したし、また、タロパッチの掲載曲も上記２冊とは違った感じでよかった。●オーディオＣＤでの演奏解説は個人的にはちょっと使いづらい。演奏解説は映像の方がいい。あと、教則本ならば、もうちょっと曲数が多いほうがうれしい。よって星４つ。

スラッキー初心者には少しむずかしかったりしますが、ゆったりと、とても愉しく練習できるように、ケオラ自身によるCDの説明がついています。奥様もでていたりして、ユーモアたっぷりに愉しいです。ハワイを感じ取れて、スラッキーていいなあと想わせてくれるます。一ヶ月以上初曲のイサレイを練習していますが、なかなか想うようにはいきません。初心者にはタフですが、やりがいがあり、このゆっくり感がスッラキーなんですね　笑

スラッキーギターの練習には最適な教本だと思います。ＣＤも付いていてためになります。