Ask people anywhere in the world about Hawaiian music and they will likely mention the "yu-ka-lay-lee." Some may know that the acoustic steel guitar got its start here. Others may mention slack-key guitar.
But the ukeke? What’s that?
The ukeke is the only indigenous string instrument in Hawaiian music. The ukulele, steel guitar and the techniques of slack key all have non-Hawaiian roots. The ukulele evolved out of a Portuguese instrument, and the steel guitar and slack key were developed on the imported six-string guitar. Hawaiians were playing the ukeke when Capt. Cook arrived in 1778, and a famous chanter and hula master played it at King David Kalakaua’s coronation ceremony in 1883.
But that was then, this is now, and the ukeke is one of the least known of Hawaiian instruments.
Mahi La Pierre, self-taught ukeke maker and one of the few people who can play the instrument, hopes to change that.
"The only way that this instrument is going to survive in our culture is if we make it, use it, (and) search out all we can," said La Pierre, 48, speaking in the carport of his East Honolulu residence.
Ukeke of various sizes were displayed on a table. Several traditional wooden spears were on another table, two small Hawaiian bodyboards were propped against a wall, and holua (Hawaiian sleds) hung from another.
"Part of my passion is hands-on education, adults and children, letting them feel it, taste it, hear it, see it and engage all the senses," he said. "How do we bring this back into our daily lives, elements of the culture that we can use today as Hawaiians and part Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians? It’s about perpetuating the culture. It doesn’t matter your koko, your blood. It’s what is your desire? If your desire is that and we help each other out, we can do amazing things."
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KANIKAPILA AT BISHOP MUSEUM
Learn more about Hawaii’s string instrument tradition and the role of ukeke, steel guitar, slack-key guitar and ukulele in creating the music loved around the world at the Rockin’ Talkin’ Kanikapila from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday on the Great Lawn at Bishop Museum.
The free event, hosted by Alan Akaka & the Islanders, will start with a panel discussion. That will be followed by a jam session under the stars. Guests are welcome to come with an instrument of any kind and join in; bring the “He Mele Aloha: Hawaiian Songbook” to play along.
Bring lawn chairs, mats or blankets for seating. Refreshments will be sold; no coolers allowed.
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La Pierre is of English, Irish, Scottish, Chinese, Filipino and Hawaiian descent. He discovered Hawaiian culture when he got involved with canoe paddling at Damien High School.
"I think it was the most Hawaiian thing I did. I met people. I had friends with similar interests, good people, and I wanted to learn more."
He was teaching at the Hawaii Nature Center in the 1990s when it occurred to him that center programs would be more effective if kids could experience the heft of a traditional stone poi pounder or do some digging with traditional oo (digging sticks). He began researching Hawaiian implements.
"That started a whirlwind of so many things," said La Pierre, who now works at Papahana Kuaola, a Kaneohe group that promotes Hawaii’s cultural and natural history, sustainability and environmental restoration.
"I joined a fighting arts group. I started making weapons, farming tools, and out of general curiosity, I wanted to expand it to instruments and sculpture and fiber arts to get a taste of what our ancestors did or do and why. It’s always why, why, why? Why did they make the ukeke like that? Why do we have paipo boards and surfboards that are shaped like this?
"That’s not only a professional thing — I use it at work a lot — but it’s a personal journey. It’s something I’ve done since I was a kid — sketch things, try to figure things out."
FIGURING OUT the ukeke caught his interest.
Hawaiians made ukeke from hardwoods such as kauila and ulei. The ukeke at Bishop Museum have only a small amount of bowing or curvature. La Pierre has been experimenting with other types of wood and has ukeke with various degrees of bowing.
"Part of it is experimentation," he said. "Part of it is using the wood I had and then whatever the curvature (of the wood) was. For me the one with the biggest bow was something I copied. I cut the wood like that on purpose to mimic one of the ones in the books. Some are very flat because it’s easier to cut that way, and then I put a little fret spacer on them to lift the strings. They all work well.
"I think that using what you have, that particular resource — whether it might have a spiritual connection or that wood is from a certain place, you want to put your mana, your hoomana, into that instrument. So the selection of wood — not only its shape, (but) where it comes from, and the symbolism that comes with different pieces of wood — is important."
The ukeke at Bishop Museum range from 15 to 24 inches and are between 1 and 1 1/2 inches wide. One end has a "fishtail" the strings are wound around; the other has longitudinal slits that hold the strings in place.
Most of the ukeke on display at the museum had three strings. The strings were traditionally made of twisted coconut fiber, but horsehair, gut, ukulele strings or fishing line can be used.
The strings are plucked or picked with a small coconut midrib, a piece of kapa cloth twisted to a point, or the player’s fingernail. It is held up to the mouth with one hand and plucked or picked using the other. The player’s mouth acts as a resonating chamber, and the tongue is moved as it would be for speech or chanting. The shape of the mouth and lips change accordingly while the strings are being plucked.
Some cultures have a tradition of men courting a young woman by standing outside her window and singing to her. The ukeke served that role in traditional Hawaiian culture. A young man with an ukeke could serenade the object of his affection with an appropriate mele (song), played just loud enough for her to hear.
The Christian missionaries didn’t approve of such nocturnal goings-on — or for the instrument associated with it.
"The ukeke was called ‘the devil’s instrument’ because it caused you to walk in the moonlight," wrote noted Hawaiian chanter, composer and author Nona Beamer in 1979.
By then the ukeke was almost as rare as native speakers of Hawaiian outside of Niihau. The instrument already was a curiosity when featured in cultural revival shows in the 1930s and ’40s. Mary Kawena Pukui made recordings for Bishop Museum and taught Ka‘upena Wong the full range of ukeke techniques. Wong, 85, is considered the "keeper of the flame" for all things ukeke.
Palani Vaughan included the ukeke in his four-album "Ia ‘Oe E ka La" series honoring Kalakaua in the 1970s and early 1980s. For years after that, it seems the soft sound of the ukeke did not fit the format of contemporary Hawaiian music, but Keola and Moanalani Beamer use it in their performances.
La Pierre mentions "Uncle" Cal Ho as another contemporary ukeke player. Even so, it’s a very short list.
BISHOP MUSEUM is a good place to learn more about ukeke, which is included in a display of Hawaii string instruments in the national touring exhibition, "Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked the World," which runs through Sept. 1.
La Pierre said the response to a recent lecture he gave at Bishop Museum has "re-energized" him to continue his research. (The ukeke will be discussed at another musical event Monday at the institution; see box for details.)
"Four or five people want to do a workshop, and three want to buy one," La Pierre said. "I want to look at the ukeke that aren’t actually out (on display). I want to be able to look at the bottom, the top, the curvature, look at what they call the fishtail projection on the top. I would love to get more information from the families of people who made ukeke before. Maybe they have one from before and don’t know what they are. Maybe they’ll be willing to share."
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Contact Mahi La Pierre via email at mahilapierre@gmail.com.
