“He Hawai’i Au” is an anthem from the renaissance of Hawaiian music in the 1970s. Peter Moon wrote the song as a celebration of Hawaiian culture. The title means “I am Hawaiian.” Below you can watch Jeff’s arrangement of He Hawai’i Au for fingerstyle ukulele.
He Hawai’i Au for Fingerstyle Ukulele
This arrangement uses a lot of different techniques including rasgueado, ornaments, syncopation, cascading voices, and more. In this performance you can hear the main theme the first time through and then Jeff’s improvisation on the repeat. A lot of Hawaiian music will vamp on certain chord changes and give players the chance to improv over top. This arrangement is a great example of this style.
Jeff’s arrangement is for reentrant tuning and is in the key of G.
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This is just one of many Hawaiian songs available to members at Ukulele Corner Academy! Not only is there a huge number of resources to help you learn fingerstyle ukulele, but we have a structured curriculum to walk you through playing step by step. This makes the learning process easier to manage. But it also makes it more fun because you’re not frustrated by material you’re not ready for yet. Go here to learn much more and to Join Ukulele Corner Academy.
