Hawaii has some great guitar traditions, from slack key to steel and beyond. Ian O’Sullivan would like to start another one.
O’Sullivan, who earned a master’s degree from the prestigious Yale School of Music, is working on an album of "Hawaiian Classical Guitar Music" that will feature commissioned works from local composers, works by other Hawaii composers and some of his own compositions.
"Slack key is more of an oral tradition," O’Sullivan said in a phone call. "You learn by watching. With Hawaiian classical music, I’m thinking more from the composer’s perspective."
O’Sullivan, who is part Hawaiian, cited two of his teachers at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Byron Yasui and Bailey Matsuda, as being "extremely well versed in classical music, and they really have immersed themselves in the harmony and the structure (of music).
"One of the things that really stands out for the music they write is that it sort of goes one step further with technical facility, not necessarily in speed, but in maybe going to different keys that normally wouldn’t be gone to."
A classical piece might tend to modulate through many different keys, O’Sullivan said, whereas a slack-key work, by definition, tends to be limited by the tuning of the guitar. Still, the CD will reflect a Hawaiian sensibility, which is in keeping with how classical guitar music has evolved.
"Basically the classical guitar is a Spanish instrument, but as it went to these different places like … Brazil, you would get these other composers who would end up writing for the instrument, or Paraguay, with Agustin Pio Barrios, would find the Spanish guitar and combine it with their folk music, or combine it with their idea of harmony. That was sort of my venture to try to find music that would epitomize that, that would show that the guitar had also traveled to Hawaii."
One piece he is planning for the CD is "Ke Kahawai" ("The River"), by Yasui, which refers to Nuuanu Stream.
"It ends on a seven-note chord, which is sort of tricky because there are only six strings on a guitar," O’Sullivan said. The effect is created by playing the chord in such a way that the notes, while struck one at a time, blur together, allowing a last high note to be struck on a string that already was played. "For a guitarist, that’s like, ‘Whoa, how’d you do that?’" O’Sullivan said.
Other works include a selection by Michael Foumai called "In Paradisum," inspired by a section of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass; a "Lullaby" by Matsuda that has elements of jazz and slack key; a work by Jeff Peterson that features fancy fingerwork; and his own composition, "Mokuleia," which recalls a time when the area was surrounded by sugar cane fields.
O’Sullivan is seeking to raise $5,500 to pay for the project through Kickstarter.com, an online grass-roots funding platform for creative endeavors.
To donate go to goo.gl/IMjJt. Those who donate $15 or more will receive a personalized "thank you" and a digital download of the album, with larger donations netting bigger rewards.
Those who contribute $1,000 or more will receive an original work composed by O’Sullivan. Email him at IanOSullivanGuitar.com.
