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Topic: Fernando Perez lesson - How to Sound Hawaiian |
Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 21 Nov 2018 4:43 am |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIl7jVwjcWM
This is a well thought out and presented lesson with a deep dive about some of the nuances of the traditional Hawaiian sound. There's an x-factor that people worldwide have been trying to capture for 100 years that, I think, comes from spending one's life immersed in Hawaiian culture and living in an island environment that colors the music in ways that seem to defy intellectual analysis. The discussion of vibrato is particularly excellent.
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Martin Curnan
From:
Lihue, Kauai
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Posted 21 Nov 2018 10:56 am Video
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I am very impressed on this video presentation.
Very well explained and articulated.
Simply.....â€Right on the kinipopo “ |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 21 Nov 2018 4:20 pm
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This is a great instructional video! Reminds me of my teacher chiding me to take my time sliding into notes 
I have heard "nahenahe" described as sweetness, which I suppose is close enough to his definition (in context of taking your time with notes, working kind of behind the tempo).
(My wife caught me watching a video where a player was playing a Weissenborn the other day and accused me of wanting another steel guitar, which I justly denied...I'm going to have to exercise caution watching videos with Weissenborns from here on out, he sounds great on his )
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 21 Nov 2018 7:43 pm
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| Can't say I care for the sliding of the notes that much. Maybe the old timers did that ?? |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 22 Nov 2018 3:46 am
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Along with vibrato, when to slide and when not to slide are the keys to the steel guitar kingdom.
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Tom Snook
From:
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
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Posted 22 Nov 2018 3:45 pm
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All I can say is "Tapa Room Tapes"
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I wanna go back to my little grass shack........ |
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Mark Helm
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 22 Nov 2018 5:56 pm Yup!
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Great advice--thanks, Andy! Made me think of our pal, Bobby Ingano. A more relaxed, fluid Hawaiian player, you'll seldom hear.
_________________
Remington Steelmaster S8 w/ custom Steeltronics pickup. Vox MV-50 amplifier + an 1940's Oahu cab w/ 8" American Vintage speaker. J. Mascis Fender Squire Jazzmaster, Hofner Club bass, Ibanez AVN4-VMS Artwood Vintage Series Concert Size Acoustic Guitar. 1920s/30s Supertone Hawaiian-themed parlor guitar. Silvertone parlor guitar. |
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 23 Nov 2018 8:17 am
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| Tom Snook wrote: |
| All I can say is "Tapa Room Tapes" |
and the Billy Hew Len lessons series! |
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Steve Atwood
From:
Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 23 Nov 2018 9:54 am
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| First video I've ever had to dislike. |
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Sebastian Müller
From:
Berlin / Germany
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Posted 23 Nov 2018 10:07 am
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I think he missed out one of the most important Hawaiian ingredients, the P'tah.
That is was actually imitates the falsetto/yodeling of singers. I also heard it the other way around, singers try to imitate steel guitarists by using this technique ; )
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https://hawaiian-steel-guitar.com |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 23 Nov 2018 12:02 pm
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No one lesson or learning source covers everything well. Jules and Billy are virtuosos. Fernando's content is aimed at beginners and I think for what he's trying to do, it's helpful information if not the whole story.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 23 Nov 2018 4:42 pm
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Also, bear in mind Fernando is (per his website) a student of Bob Brozman. Didn't he at one point say that true Hawaiian steel guitar basically ended when they invented the electric steel guitar? Or something like that, going from memory. So you can expect that he (and his students) will align with the earlier stuff, Benny Nawahi, Sol, etc. Some of the stuff (the circular motions) sounded a bit unfamiliar to me, but that's probably because I'm much more steeped in the later traditions, Jules, Barney and Billy for example. If anything I think it's great that there are people dedicated to preserving the styles and tunings of the older strains of Hawaiian music, even if, personally, I'm much more likely to hew closely to the mid-century C13/B11 type stuff (what can I say, Alfred Apaka was the bait and Jules Ah See was the hook!).
The Tapa Room Tapes are my desert island recording without question, and I'm exceptionally grateful to this forum for being the conduit of my introduction to them, but for people interested in replicating how Hawaiian music sounded in the 20s and 30s, it isn't as specifically useful...
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 24 Nov 2018 3:39 am
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| Nic Neufeld wrote: |
Also, bear in mind Fernando is (per his website) a student of Bob Brozman. Didn't he at one point say that true Hawaiian steel guitar basically ended when they invented the electric steel guitar? Or something like that, going from memory. So you can expect that he (and his students) will align with the earlier stuff, Benny Nawahi, Sol, etc. Some of the stuff (the circular motions) sounded a bit unfamiliar to me, but that's probably because I'm much more steeped in the later traditions, Jules, Barney and Billy for example.
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I recall Brozman making some sort of statement like that.
I am of the opposite opinion - I love all the early acoustic Hawaiian steel, but to me the electric steel opened up new worlds of playing and I much prefer the styles of the electric players of various eras.
It is interesting that he ignores the p'tah, though - even the old acoustic players used that a lot. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 24 Nov 2018 4:11 am
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I too prefer later electric players - especially those with a swing feel to their playing. Brozman took the techniques of the early Hawaiians to new heights yet he always sounded nervous and busy to me even when playing the sweeter tunes. I refuse to listen to him at all now.
Jerry Byrd coined the term P'Tah. What did the Hawaiians call it? The crux of it is that the block happens in the middle of the string change - something that has to be taught for many people.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Mike A Holland
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 24 Nov 2018 7:06 am
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| I think Fernando is doing a good job here. When I started playing not that long ago I searched everywhere to find what Fernando is showing in this video. There is really not that much information out there or it is difficult to locate. YouTube has helped no end in keeping these quite obscure musical genres open to the world. All credit to Fernando for sharing this information. I always look forward to and appreciate good players sharing their little nuggets of wisdom! |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 24 Nov 2018 1:06 pm
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Can anyone post a recorded example of this Ptah sound, or direct me to Jerry Byrd's references? Thanks.
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Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Scott Thomas
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Posted 24 Nov 2018 2:05 pm
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David, as I understand it as described by Jerry, it comes from the unbroken sound as you use the rounded nose of the bar to push across one string to the next ones above it. If you slide the bar up immediately at the point of contact, it makes a sort of pa-TAH sound, mimicking the vocal break of a singer.
I have found this example to give you an idea. It's cued up at the 3:00 so it starts right away:
https://youtu.be/fAQL4UeI4Ig?t=180
From Jerry:
THE 'P'TAH' SOUND. To keep continuity of sound when changing from one string to another, I like to achieve what I think of as a thread woven in and out of a tapestry, keeping the sound unbroken. I call it the p'tah sound. To move from one string to n adjacent string, let's say for example from the second string on the 5th fret to the first string on the 7th fret, pluck the note at the fifth fret and begin moving your bar up the string toward the seventh fret. Keeping the bar raised so that only the rounded tip is in contact with the strings, about half way along the movement (near the 6th fret), move the bar tip over to the first string. Pluck it and continue the glide up to the target, the 7th fret. You will have plucked the second note a little early, but your p'tah will sound like an unbroken thread of music. The technique is a bit different, though, when moving between strings that are not adjacent. For example, try moving between the same two frets (the 5th and 7th) but coming from the fourth string to the first string. When the two strings were adjacent you used the tip of the bar. When they are not adjacent you begin by placing the bar flat across the strings. You pluck the first note, on the fourth string, move the bar forward and raise it so that by the time you reach the sixth fret you have only the tip on the first string. Pluck at the sixth fret and continue the glide to the target, the 7th fret.
"For a fluid sound, where possible it's best to keep playing on the same strings by moving the bar up and down the frets, rather than to favor one or two frets and jump from string to string. This is true except where you feel the 'p'tah' effect is desirable. |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 24 Nov 2018 4:25 pm
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The very first lesson I had with Alan Akaka, he had me starting on the p'tah. He took lessons from Jerry B, so the lineage is definitely there. But my (limited) understanding is how you will play a note on one string, move on the same string (without muting, at least immediately) and then striking the note on the next string (possibly muting the first string right before hitting that next note). I had trouble initially because I was used to doing something more like, hitting the note on the first string, hitting the second string and sliding up into the note. He innocently accused me of sounding a bit "country"; while I am not a particular fan of the genre, I come from Kansas City and may have picked up an accent inadvertently!
The main thing though is the connecting of notes. Imagine you're a monophonic MiniMoog with the portamento/glide knob way up, basically. Obviously there's a place for staccato notes but by and large, take your time getting to the next note, and coming back down from it...
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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David Matzenik
From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 24 Nov 2018 5:01 pm
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Scott, are you talking about where Jerry walks up the 6th fret? About 3:04?
_________________
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Scott Thomas
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Posted 24 Nov 2018 6:48 pm
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Right. I will keep looking for a better example, but being familiar with his music, you hear that legato sound. I believe my example shows part of the technique... the tipping and pushing of the bar at the moment of picking keeping the continual flow of sound.
The way I understand it, if in my example Jerry had needed to move that last note up a couple of frets, the bar would stay in contact with the string, move about half way up toward the approach note, then just short of the note, push into that next string and move up to the note so that the sound is continuous and unbroken.
Here is some of that action in the passage starting here a @ 1:26:
https://youtu.be/QVG2_R7oJYY?t=86 |
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 25 Nov 2018 4:52 am
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| Andy Volk wrote: |
I too prefer later electric players -
.... when playing the sweeter tunes.
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That's where the electric really came into its own - the slow, sweet tunes. The sustain and tone of the electric made those slow soulful numbers come alive! |
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Sebastian Müller
From:
Berlin / Germany
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Posted 25 Nov 2018 1:11 pm
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I don't care if a performance is acoustic or electric, Sol Hoopii played amazing sweet slow songs on a Tricone and also the Jerry Byrd with Marty Robbins videos show that Jerry sounds just like himself playing a Dobro.
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https://hawaiian-steel-guitar.com |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 25 Nov 2018 1:33 pm
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I should rephrase to say I like it all - acoustic, electric - all eras as long as I'm listening to a player who plays well and a song a like.
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Scott Thomas
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Posted 25 Nov 2018 1:48 pm
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Absolutely. From the early hot players like King Bennie Nawahi and Sol, to Sam Ku and Bob Pauole who could wring beautiful languid and liquid tones out of a tricone, to the way early adopters of the electric like Dick McIntire and Andy Iona exploited the possibilities of greater sustain to create something new, I love the whole history of the instrument.
The Brozman video is still available from Homespun and is as good an introduction to the early style as there is out there. |
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 25 Nov 2018 2:13 pm
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C3yytWIIp4
Not sure if the above video has been widely seen.
It's 14 minutes, where Brozman spends 6 or 8 minutes on the development of Hawaiian playing in the early 20th century, demonstrating various styles and talking about the introduction of vibrato and triplets.
It includes video clips of Byrd and Ho'opi'i. |
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