Here’s a New Style for Your Harmonica (Hawaiian!)
I’ve been getting requests for a long time about how to play Hawaiian music on harmonica. 
Here are some performances and tabs I hope you will enjoy. Aloha!
Hawaii Aloha
In the islands of Hawaii, this is probably the most-often played song - you’ll hear it at schools, parties, churches, funerals, state senate sessions… It’s ubiquitous.
Composed in the 1800’s by Lorenzo Lyons, at Imiola church in Waimea, you can check me out playing it at the place it was composed here:
Here are the tabs for what I’m playing in the video. Please note, it requires the -3” bend which is quite tricky, so this version is not suitable for beginners.
TABS
4 4 -4 5 5 -5 5 5 5 4 4 -3” 3
-3 4 -4 -2 -3” -3 4 -4 5
4 4 -4 5 5 -5 5 5 4 4 -3” 3
-3 4 -4 -2 3 3 5 -4 4
4 4 -3 -3” -3” -3”
-3 4 4 -3 -3” 3 4 -4 5
5 -5 6 4 5 -4
4 4 -4 5 5 -5 5 5 4 4 -3” 3
-3 4 -4 -2 3 3 5 -4 4
You can play it up high without any bends like I do here.
Of course playing these high notes can be very challenging for beginners as well, but at least it doesn’t require any bending.
TABS
7 7 -8 8 8 -9 8 8 8 7 7 -56 56
-7 7 -8 6 -6 -7 7 -8 8
77 -8 8 8 -9 8 8 8 7 7 -56 56
-7 7 -8 6 6 8 -8 7
7 7 -7 -6 -6 -6 -7
7 7 -7 7 -6 6 7 -8 8
8 -9 9
7 7 8 -8
7 -8 8 8 -9 8 8 7 7 -56 56
-7 7 -8 6 6 8 -8 7
Island Style
Another song you will hear everywhere when you come to the islands is Island Style by John Cruz. Something about the lyrics and feel of this song really captures Hawaiian culture beautifully.
Here’s a fun harmonica rendition of me playing it with my friend Jarett:
And here’s a great way for beginners to approach it:
TABS
-7 -6 6 5 6 6 6 6 5 -4
6 -6 -7 -7 -7 -7 -7 -6 6
-6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -7 -6 6 (-5)
-7 -6 6 5 6 6 6 6 45 -34 (trill)
6 -6 -7 -7 -7 -7 -7 -6 6
-6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -7 -6 6 (-5)
White Sandy Beach
One of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s most famous songs, this is a great one for beginners too!
TABS:
Chorus:
6 5 5 5 6 5
6 5 5 5 -4 5
-4 5 4 -4 5 4
-4 4 -4 5
Iz varies the melody of the chorus throughout the song. The last two lines are always the same, but sometimes he sings the first two lines like this:
-6 6 6 5 -6 6
-6 -6 6 6 5 -6 6
Refrain:
-4 -4 5 5 -4
-5 -5 -4 4 -4
-4 -4 5 5 -4
-5 -5 -5 6 6 -6 6 -6 -6 6
Cool Down
Our hometown hero Iam Tongi, the first Pacific Islander to win American Idol, brought this local favorite to national attention: Cool Down by Kolohe Kai.
I’m playing it here on a Lee Oskar G Melody Maker tuning.
TABS:
-4 -4 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 3 -3
-4 -4 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 3 -3
-4 4 3
Melody Makers are labeled in their 2nd position key. So this is the same range as a Standard C harmonica.
For this song, it’s nice to be able to play blow 3 instead of the difficult -3” whole-step bend.
But also, the blow chord is an Am (instead of C on standard tuning.) Since the Cool Down chords are G-Am, you can play the chord progression on the harmonica, as I demonstrate at the end of this video.
G-Am chord progression represented in roman numerals is I-ii, and is a very popular progression in reggae music, which is why the Melody Maker often works well in reggae.
I Ke Alo o Iesu
A Hawaiian gospel song first made famous by Eddie Kamae and the Sons of Hawaii, it was further popularized when Israel Kamakawiwo’ole recorded his rendition in 1995.
I thought you might enjoy my rendition of it in 2nd position on a C harmonica, key of G.
