Joseph Kekuku
Joseph Kekuku (* 1874 in Lāʻie on Oʻahu , Kingdom of Hawaiʻi as Joseph Kekukuʻupenakanaʻiaupuniokamehameha Apuakehau ; † January 16, 1932 in Morristown , New Jersey ) was a Hawaiian musician. He is considered to be the inventor of the Hawaiian guitar , the strings of which are played with a metal rod. His real name translated means guardian of the nets that surround the kingdom of Kamehamehas .
Life
Growing up in Lāʻie, Kekuku went to the Kamekameha School. He started playing the guitar at the age of eleven . After playing the strings with various objects, he was very impressed by the wistful tone that the metal rod produced. At first he only performed in Hawaii, where his new type of guitar was quickly adopted. Around 1905 he began a tour through the USA with a vaudeville , which led to a real Hawaiian music boom. He even performed in Europe and taught how to use his instrument. Soon the steel guitar was more popular than any other instrument and was adopted into various other musical styles such as country music .
Joseph Kekuku died on January 16, 1932 at the age of 58. His grave is in Dover , New Jersey. He was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame posthumously in 1995 .
Web links
- Entry into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame
- Short biography at the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association
- Maria Armental: Dover to honor musical pioneer . In: Daily Record News, September 23, 2004.
- Mantle Hood: Musical Ornamentation as History: The Hawaiian Steel Guitar . In: Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 15, East Asian Musics. (1983), pp. 141-148.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Joseph Kekuku. In: findagrave.com. Retrieved November 17, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kekuku, Joseph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kekukuʻupenakanaʻiaupuniokamehameha Apuakehau, Joseph (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hawaiian musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1874 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lāʻie (Hawaii) |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 16, 1932 |
| Place of death | Morristown , New Jersey |