New! Online video lessons
Aloha and Welcome!
Keola Beamer is one of Hawai'i's premier singer/songwriters, arrangers, composers and Master Of The Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. His well of talent springs from five generations of Hawai's most illustrious and beloved musical families. The Beamers trace their roots to the 15th century; among their ancestors are Queen Ahiakumai Ki'eki'e and Ho'olulu, a child of the favored wife of Kamehameha I.
Keola established himself early as a leader of the wave of contemporary Hawaiian music when he wrote the classic Honolulu City Lights - which is still one of the absolute all-time best selling recordings in the history of Hawaiian Music.
You will find information here on all of Keola's releases, his instructional materials, touring and appearance schedules, humor, biography, family history and much more.
What's New
trying to find the lightness of being ...
We had a wonderful celebration of life for my mom at The Kamehameha Schools on Oahu on June 14th. In attendance were approximately 800 of our nearest and dearest friends. Thank goodness I didn't have to make pancakes! Mom was watching from somewhere up there and I'm pretty sure she had a good time. We were sad, because we missed mom, but it was great to get together with old friends and remember the many contributions and aloha that Nona Beamer shared with the world. Mahalo Kaho'onei Panoke and extended 'ohana for a great job.
After Mom's celebration, we left for Los Angeles to attend an art exhibit, by the renown Japanese artist, Shinjo Ito. His body of work is truly inspiring. Shinjo Ito was ordained as a monk and became a Buddhist master (Acharya) of Shingon esoteric Buddhism, later founding Shinnyo-en, a Buddhist order based on the Nirvana Sutra. Considered the "final teaching" of the Buddha, these teachings emphasizes that all people have the seed of enlightenment within them and by acting with compassion and concern for others, human beings can cultivate that seed and discover their true selves. This is the kind of stuff that I am thinking about as I try to recover my joy for life and we "imua kakou" (all go forward) as the Beamer family.
Lastly, we concluded a terrific Aloha Music Camp, and a great week in Kona. There were so many outstanding moments at Camp, I can't decide what was the best. Maybe playing music in concert with bassoonist Marsha Sweitzer and then jamming with the taro patch devotees and graduates of Punahou School? Hmm ... is that eclectic enough?
Moana and I are managing OK, but sadness still visits us every day. I guess thats just the way it is. We are gearing up, tuning up and rehearsing to perform in Canada at the Canmore Music Festival in Alberta towards the end of the month. I'm paddling my one-man canoe in the afternoons and spending quality time with family, friends and na honu (our green sea turtles).
Lastly, my pet crab "Pohaku Pete" finally showed up again after quite a long absence. Whew ... I was getting worried about him. Maui is so very beautiful this time of year. Every day is truly a blessing.
with aloha,
keola
My Beautiful Mother
Winona Kapuailohiamanonokalani Desha Beamer died peacefully in her sleep on the morning of April 10th at our home by the sea, in Lahaina, Hawaii.
My mom loved butterflies, all kinds of them. In her bedroom there were butterflies everywhere. Orange ones, red ones, green ones. They fluttered in the gentle trade-winds that blew in from the ocean. From her bed, mom would watch her butterflies rising and falling in the sunlight that filtered in through the window.
On her walls were pictures of the people that mom loved in her life. Her family. Her friends. Her little dog. The pictures I understood, but I always wondered about the butterflies. Why did they mean so much to her? I received the answer to this question on the morning of her passage.
Moana and I were asleep in a small hotel room in San Francisco when my mom journeyed across the Pacific to say goodbye to her son. The thing was, she was not the 84 year old woman that I had cared for and loved in her final years. She was not the frail kupuna with thin arms and greying hair. In truth, I almost didn't recognize her. Before me stood a beautiful young woman, her slender body, posed with grace of a true hula dancer. Her dark hair was luxurious and healthy. Looking at her, I couldn't help but think that that this is what mom must have looked like in her college years, before my brother and I were born. I had the feeling that here was a capable woman, a woman to be reckoned with. Vibrant, intelligent. My beautiful mom smiled at me with a warmth I will remember for the rest of my days. That gentle smile radiated a deep love flowing from her being. Like her butterflies, she had trancended the brittle cocoon of age. My beautiful mother was joyous and free.
I have never known sorrow like this in my life. It somehow reminds me of when I used to ride the big waves as a young man. You sit out there on the surfboard, drifting and content, looking at the clouds, talking to your buddies. Then the tremendous walls of water roll in from far across the horizon. Grief is kind of like that. It comes in dark, towering waves. One moment you are laughing and remembering the good times, the next moment you feel like your heart is being torn out, the sadness and loss within you - incalculable.
The outpouring of love and support from family and friends has been amazing. We are so, so grateful. From all of the Beamer 'ohana, please know that we appreciate every email, letter and phone message that we have received. Offers of aloha and support have touched our hearts and brought our family closer together to support each other in this time of need.
To my dear mom, I thank you for all you have given us and for the dignity and grace of your passage. I know that journey must have taken a great deal of courage, Mom. Once again, I am so proud of you.
And about the butterflies ... I understand now.
Your Loving Son,
Keola Beamer
Online Lessons Overview
You've heard the music - did you ever think about creating it yourself? The Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar is a wonderful platform for expression. And guess what? It's easy to learn to play! It's a rewarding and relaxing hobby that could give you years of meaningful interaction with a whole world of rich, beautiful, and somehow still mysterious music. It can take you places that you never imagined.
Teaching the Slack Key Guitar has been one of the greatest joys of my life and through the years I've helped many aspiring musicians.
It's an exciting time in distance learning technology and thanks to some wonderful innovations on the 'net, we can share the resources and knowledge of our culture like never before. I've given considerable thought to using the net as a teaching tool which has resulted in the some wonderful innovations. My web-lessons are new teaching methods, enabling you to work faster & smarter. These powerful techniques really work. This wonderful style of music will come alive from beneath your own hands, as you create it from the story of your own life.
Keola has both beginning and intermediate level lessons available, and has post a free lesson to demonstrate how the lessons work.
Kaukamalama Online Video Lesson Series
For the past several years, Keola and the Beamer 'ohana have immersed hundreds of students in the art of Hawaiian slack key guitar, hula, chant, language and culture at the Aloha Music Camp. Now you can experience the same aloha from the comfort of your own home with this online video series.
When you purchase a subscription to any of these lessons, the audio and video will play on your computer screen. Some lessons are audio/video only and some include tablature, music, lyrics and other materials provided as downloadable .pdf documents. Video lessons are streamed, not downloadable. You will be able to access them for three months from the date you are sent a user id and password.
Ka Hikina O Ka Hau (CD) New Release!
For over thirty years, Keola Beamer's artistry has helped breathe new life into slack key guitar music while remaining true to the soul of its deeply Hawaiian roots. Born February 18, 1951, in Honolulu, Keola grew up in one of Hawai'i's most famous music families. The Beamers can trace their involvement in Hawaiian music and hula at least as far as the 15th Century.
Keola's sixth Dancing Cat album, Ka Hikina O Ka Hau (The Coming Of The Snow), is not a traditional slack key recording. "It poses a simple question," he says. "Can the palette, coloration and tonality of Ki ho'alu add an indefinable something to the interpretation of songs written by truly great composers?" The answer is a wonderful surprise.
Our Beloved Land (CD)
Famed Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai joins with Keola in a new album, Our Beloved Land. Nakai, the world's leading performer of the traditional flute with over 3.5 million albums sold, journeyed to Hawai‘i where he spent time working with Keola to weave the haunting melodies of his traditional flute into Keola's songs and arrangements. The result is a new music, blending elements of two indigenous American cultures that expresses the cultures of both artists.
Island Born (CD)
Son of the legendary Nona Beamer, descended from an illustrious line of Hawaiian musicians and dancers, Keolamaikalani Breckenridge Desha Beamer was born February 18, 1951 on the island of O'ahu. He spent his childhood alternating between the urban energy of Honolulu, Hawai'i's largest, most dynamic city, and the slower, more culturally rooted serenity of the Beamer family's ancestral home at Waimea on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Similarly, Keola's beautiful music has always expressed an inspired blending of the urban and the rural, the modern and the ancient. He crafts his art from equal parts tradition and innovation.
Honolulu City Lights (CD)
Magic in the recording studio just kind of happens. You can't predict it or plan for it ... all you can really do is hope for it. We all know that one aspect of the beauty of music is its special ability to touch the human heart, but we sometimes forget that music has the remarkable ability to transcend time. Here is a recording that has magically touched the hearts of people all over the world and continues to do so to this day.- Keola Beamer