Traditional/ Modern Music:
Slack- Key Guitar:

Spanish and Mexican cowboys who worked on the numerous cattle ranches throughout Hawaii introduced the guitar to the islands. They brought a playing style that influenced the development of kî hô 'alu (slack-key guitar). They say that the art of the slack-key guitar is to Hawaii' as the flamenco guitar is to Spain and the Delta blues guitar is to Mississippi. Slack-key guitar music is a uniquely Hawaiian synthesis of traditional Hawaiian vocal styles with elements of Western music. In slack-key guitar, the six strings are loosened or "slackened" to produce an open chord when strummed. This remarkable and creative style is traditionally learned by imitation, without tablature or scores. 
 
Falsetto Singing: 

Hawaiian music emphasizes the voice. Many Hawaiian songs feature falsetto, called leo ki'eki'e, a term coined in Hawaiian in 1973. Falsetto singing, most often used by men, extends the singer's range to notes above their ordinary vocal range. The voice makes a characteristic break during the transition from the ordinary vocal register to the falsetto range. In Western falsetto singing, the singer tries to make the transition between registers as smooth as possible. In Hawaiian-style falsetto, the singer emphasizes the break between registers. Sometimes the singer exaggerates the break through repetition, as a yodel. As with other aspects of Hawaiian music, it is probable that falsetto developed from a combination of sources, including pre-European Hawaiian chanting and early Christian hymn singing. Falsetto may have been a natural and comfortable vocal technique for early Hawaiians, since a similar break between registers called ha'iha'i, is used as an ornament in some traditional chanting styles. 

 


Immigrant influences: 
With the development of a plantation-based economy, other cultural groups came to Hawaii, bringing their own musical forms. These included immigrants from Puerto Rico, Portugal, China, Okinawa, Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. Playing their music for community events, each of these immigrant traditions has contributed to the cultural life of the islands. To the right are examples of how music from Japan, Puerto Rico, and China has transformed the soundscape of Hawaii.