IN TABLATURE (PLUS LYRICS AND RHYTHMS IN STANDARD NOTATION)

NO AUDIO SAMPLES BUT SOME SONGS CAN BE HEARD ON YOUTUBE (list below)

Hawaiian steel guitarist Sol Ho’opi’i (1902 – 1953) is considered one of the all-time virtuosos of the instrument. Along with Frank Ferera, Sam Ku West and “King” Bennie Nawahi, he was one of the most famous of the original first wave of Hawaiian steel guitarists who made recordings. 

The music collected in this digital folio was originally published in 1939 and 1940 by Roland Ball’s Publishing Company of Hollywood, California. Sol, Dick McIntire and other California-based Hawaiian musicians were associated with Ball’s music teaching studio. The tablature and notation are very well done showing the chords, notes and intended rhythms (marked as single notes in standard notation over the tab) as well as the lyrics.

Sol’s C# minor tuning is derived from the Open E major tuning (low to High) E, B, E, G#, B, E. By raising the second string to C#, he gained access to more complex chords, such as sixth and minor sevenths that were popular in the music of the time. This tuning is an easy tweak from Open E or Open D tunings. If you use Open D, simply drop the back-up chords down by one whole step and play the same positions in the tablature.    

< Click on sample tab at left

C#M  TUNING

Strings    6    5    4    3     2     1 

    E    B    E    G#   C#   E

SONGS (with current audio sources where available):

1. PUA KEALOHA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXeE4TlG5Ew

2. PAKALANA

3. KA MELE O KUU PUU WAI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwi78bHWLfQ

4. IT’S HARD TO SAY GOODBYE

5. AI KA KOU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1iEwzmZjYM

6. HEA MAI

7. DON’T STOP LOVING ME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVObg4Jpz20

8. HULA PAHA KAKOU

9. TWILIGHT BLUES https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDkm9ppLlQ4

10. KUU MOHALA

11. PUA KONA

12. SYNCOPATIN’ RHYTHM very similar to this version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvOHhnbaHl0)

13. SONG OF THE NIGHT BIRD

14. BE READY

NOTE THAT VOLK MEDIA BOOKS HAS NOT ENCRYPTED THE FILE NOR REQUIRED A PASSWORD. WE ARE TRUSTING YOU ( THE PURCHASER) TO KEEP IT FOR YOUR PERSONAL USE AND NOT SHARE THIS PDF VIA EMAIL OR ON THE INTERNET.