Skip to content
"Kōkeʻe" - Kani Ka Pila Classics: ʻŌlelo Breakdown episode artwork

Jun 7, 2025 48 min

"Kōkeʻe" - Kani Ka Pila Classics: ʻŌlelo Breakdown

from The Live Ukulele Podcast

Pronouncing the Hawaiian language correctly is one of the many important ways foreigners should respect the people, place, and culture of Hawaiʻi. In this episode, I walk through the basic pronunciation of Reverend Dennis Kamakahi's classic song, "Kōkeʻe." Follow along with the words here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XsKAZqHEMVpDwDKFnSXGCxOFxJEwqwIb/view This Kani Ka Pila Classics series on The Live ʻUkulele Podcast aims to provide malihini a better understanding of the lyrics to popular ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi kani ka pila songs. Since these songs are enthusiastically sung and strummed more often than others, they're also unknowingly mispronounced by more people. By ensuring you're saying the words correctly, you preserve the meaning of a song, demonstrate your effort to honor the language, and bring a greater depth to your presentation of Hawaiian music that can be both felt and heard. Because I am poʻe haole (caucasian) in Hawaiʻi who plays Hawaiian songs and has the privilege of playing ʻukulele for - and with - Hawaiians, I am extremely anal about using the correct pronunciation. These episodes are a small way that I can give back to the Hawaiian music scene by educating fellow malihini. I have studied Hawaiian at UH Maui with Leinoa Kong and Kīʻope Raymond, and later with Lanakila Mangauil, Kaliko Beamer-Trapp, and others. While I am not a fluent speaker, I am certainly versed enough to assist other English-first speakers in avoiding the main pitfalls of sung Hawaiian. Resources: -Hakalama practice: https://oleloonline.com/0404p-hakalama-practice/ -Ka Alala with Malu States: https://www.kaalala.com/ -Malu on pronouncing "Hawaiʻi": https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ky8xgn7appQ Support the show Join my newsletter! It's free and I won't spam you. Get updates on new lessons and access to exclusive resources: https://liveukulele.com/signup/ Support the podcast: Become a supporting member: https://liveukulele.com/register/supporting-member/?coupon=SUPPORT5 Buy video lessons or a book: https://liveukulele.com/store/ Use my Sweetwater affiliate link next time you need to buy some gear! https://sweetwater.sjv.io/9WbER0. Gear I use to create this podcast: https://liveukulele.com/about/my-gear/#recording CREDITS - Hosted, produced, edited, and mixed by Brad Bordessa - Theme music by Brad Bordessa: "Fallout," "Eat You," and "Sister's Got a Gun" available on https://bradbordessa.bandcamp.com/

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Pronouncing the Hawaiian language correctly is one of the many important ways foreigners should respect the people, place, and culture of Hawaiʻi. In this episode, I walk through the basic pronunciation of Reverend Dennis Kamakahi's classic song, "Kōkeʻe." Follow along with the words here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XsKAZqHEMVpDwDKFnSXGCxOFxJEwqwIb/view This Kani Ka Pila Classics series on The Live ʻUkulele Podcast aims to provide malihini a better understanding of the lyrics to popular...

Ready to play

"Kōkeʻe" - Kani Ka Pila Classics: ʻŌlelo Breakdown

0:00 48:54

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of The Live Ukulele Podcast?

This episode is 48 minutes long.

When was this The Live Ukulele Podcast episode published?

This episode was published on June 7, 2025.

Can I download this The Live Ukulele Podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.