Hawaiian Music

Hawaiian music is the music of the Hawaiian Islands, encompassing ancient mele chant and hula accompaniment, the hymnody of the missionary era, and the string-band styles that made Hawai'i a global musical presence. Its signature instruments are the steel guitar, invented in Hawai'i in the 1880s, the 'ukulele, adapted from Portuguese imports, and the slack key guitar, played in open tunings unique to families and islands. From the royal composers of the nineteenth century, including Queen *Lili'uokalani*, through the hapa haole songbook and the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s, the music joins Hawaiian-language poetry to a gentle, swinging delivery recognized worldwide.