For some strange reason I decided to bid on some early Hawaiian steel method books on E-Bay and wound up owning them. It's been very interesting to dip into some of the earliest steel tab ever and see how they approached their music circa 1919. The best of the lot is "The Superior Collection of Steel Guitar Solos using the Peterson system" by Kekoki Awai. (here's his picture, by the way: http://www.ukulele.org/reference/player05.html All the tunes are in plain ol' vanilla low bass A-major tuning ... E,C#,A,E,A,E, ... and most of the playing is on the first & third strings supported by arpeggios on the bass strings. I've never had much interest in A-tuning (or it's modern G version) but ya know, some of these sweet and simple old Hawaiian waltzes & hula arrangements still have some life in 'em when played with feeling. In this age of sophisticated tunings and guitars with multiple pedals & knee levers, it's interesting look back to where it all started and find valid music. [This message was edited by Andy Volk on 27 August 2001 at 12:41 PM.]
