Notes

A Proud Tradition of Hawaiian Music
Much like the cultural diversity of the Islands, the Hawaiian music scene offers its own melting pot of genres, which includes everything from rock ’n’ roll and rap to Hawaiian and pop to jazz and a Hawaiian form of reggae known as Jawaiian. But this hasn’t always been the case. When Alana Song Hawaii emerged as a popular genre early in the 20th century, the music was largely known as hapa haole, half foreign.

The royal Kalākaua family played a pivotal role in this evolutionary time for Hawaiian music. While traditional musicians performed at palace events, King Kalākaua, Queen Lili‘uokalani, and their siblings, Likelike and Leleiohoku, were all also accomplished composers. Kalākaua would compose Hawai‘i Ponoi, today the State anthem, while Lili‘uokalani would pen hundreds of melodies, including the quintessentially Hawaiian Aloha ‘Oe. Both were composed in the hapa haole style.

There was much that was different in this new musical genre. To start, the instrumental components were totally new, drums and rattles replaced, by adaptations, instruments brought to the islands in the mid-to-late 19th century, including the ‘ukulele and the steel guitar.

Singers, too, offered their own innovations, adding unique tonalities like falsetto singing to the repertoire. Like many of the Hawaiians who would play them, these new instruments and vocalizations were hybrid variations of the hapa haole style, with Hawaiian-themed songs becoming national hits, thanks to stars like Al Jolson and Sophie Tucker.
Homepage: https://theorg.com/org/council-for-native-hawaiian-advancement/org-chart/alana-song