Hi’ilawe for Fingerstyle Ukulele: Lesson and Performance

In this article we’ll look at two versions of Jeff’s wonderful solo arrangement of the popular Hawaiian song Hi’ilawe for fingerstyle ukulele. The first video above features the main theme (with Gabby Pahinui’s famous intro vamp) all in one solo arrangement. Jeff’s performance is followed by a full lesson. He walks you through all of the rhythmic elements, the intro, and the melody in the key of F in low-G tuning.

The second video takes the first version and adds a series of solos (paʻani) in the style of different artists from Hawaiʻi.

The first paʻani is modeled after Cyril Pahinui, Gabby’s son. (You can hear Jeff and Cyril play this together on the album Amy Hanaialiʻi and the Slack Key Masters of Hawaiʻi.)

Then the second solo is based on Sonny Chillingworth off of his Sonny Solo album, with some lines from Leonard Kwan thrown in.

Finally, the third and last paʻani blends some of these different styles together.

Hi’ilawe

The song Hiʻilawe was written by Sam Liʻa Kalainaina, Sr. around 1902. It talks about two lovers in the mists of Hiʻilawe, the highest waterfall in Hawaiʻi, on the Big Island. Gabby Pahinui recorded it in 1947 on what is considered the first commercial recording of slack-key guitar (kī hōʻalu). Listen to it below:

You can check out the full lyrics here.

 

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This performance comes from our Hawaiian course at Ukulele Corner Academy! You can learn Hiʻilawe first with the accompaniment, then the main theme, and finally with the paʻani (all with sheet music + TAB).

But Hiʻilawe is just one of many songs from our Hawaiian course at Ukulele Corner Academy. The Hawaiian course includes chord progressions, accompaniments, solos, strumming patterns, and special techniques. Itʻs structured into 5 units of lessons that are progressive. This allows you to learn how to play Hawaiian songs and styles in a fingerstyle method at your own pace.

The course moves through songs from the Monarchy era to the explosion of Hawaiian music in the 1920s. And then it looks at swing and all kinds of other contemporary Hawaiian styles. By the end of the course you’ll have a deeper appreciation of Hawaiian music. Youʻll be able to play accompaniment confidently in a kanikapila (Hawaiian jam session). And youʻll also know how to take paʻani or solos. There are video lessons, sheet music with TAB, vocal sheets and lead sheets, as well as backing tracks.

There are already 30+ lessons available in the course with more coming soon. Join Ukulele Corner Academy today!