Kaleponi Moon

Welcome to Kaleponi Records, my musical home on the web. My name is Fran Guidry, and I play kika ki hoʻalu or Hawaiian slack key guitar.

Kaleponi is the Hawaiian word for California, where I live. Ki hoʻalu, or slack key, has a direct link to California history. The guitar was carried to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi by vaqueros from California. You can read more about the history of slack key guitar on the Dancing Cat Records web site.

Slack key guitar is named for the retuning that characterizes the style. Most of these new tunings feature loosened, or slackened, strings which give a deep rich sound.

My personal slack key history goes back to 1999 and my first visit to Hawaiʻi. When we turned on the TV in our Waikiki hotel room I was captivated by the playing of Keola Beamer. I knew in an instant that I had to learn to play this beautiful music. Over the years I've learned from great players and teachers like Ozzie Kotani, Keola himself, Patrick Landeza, Kevin Brown, Cyril Pahinui, Kawika Kahiapo, Raymond Kane, Dennis Kamakahi, and Ledward Kaapana.

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

I’ve been hearing and playing Hanalei Moon quite a bit over the last few years. The Bob Nelson classic is fun to sing, fun to jam to, and fun for hula as well. There are lovely versions in many different tempos and styles, you can find quite a few examples on YouTube.

I set out to create a video featuring our deck, our olive tree, the accent lights, and the moon. It took quite a few tries to bring it all together, it turns out that photographing the moon is a tricky task.

But with a bit of searching in Google I found the formula. It’s necessary to set the exposure for a bright sunlit scene, because the moon is a bright sunlit object. And plenty of magnification is required, because even though it can look huge to our eyes it’s really very far away. I took advantage of the Extra Tele mode in my Panasonic GH2, along with the 140mm zoom kit lens that came with it, to grab a shot that filled the frame.

I’m sure the moon is that much more beautiful when it’s hanging over Hanalei Bay, but even in Walnut Creek there’s a bit of magic in the moonlight.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2012 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.