He Mele Aloha: A Hawaiian Songbook
Based on “kani ka pila songs”, He Mele Aloha is valuable to ’ukulele players because it shows the chords and lyrics of each song. This is one of the best books you can buy if you do lots of Hawaiian music jams or just want to learn some songs. There are a lot of songs to chose from – around 260. In the front of the book there is a chord section, and the transposition chart is very handy. The layout of each song page is great. On the top of the page all the chords used in the song are shown. Above each line of lyrics, the chord changes are shown in blue (a bit hard to see in the dark sometimes). There is also a translation which will inform you about what you are singing as well as some info about the song (composer, date, etc…).
Night after night of weekly jams have tested this book thoroughly. The spiral bound version is sturdy as heck. I can’t say about the new bound version because I haven’t seen it in use yet. The spiral bound book stays open to the page you‘re using – you don’t have to fight and break the spine. The pages are thick so a bit of water won’t shrivel them all up. There is plenty of room for notes and extra chord diagrams in the margins.
Though this book is missing some great kani ka pila songs (I assume that this is because of copyright issues), there is plenty to offer to anyone who has an interest in learning some great Hawaiian songs.
5 stars
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I just bought this book–got it yesterday, Brad–based on your review. I’m looking forward to using it. I will add to your nice review that I have the newer, non-spiral bound edition, which is paperback, generously sized, and has a traditional gum binding. It does not stay open nearly as well as a spiral bound book (e.g The Daily Uke). Although it might limp up a bit with time, given the thickness of the book, it’s doubtful it’ll ever be flaccid enough to stay open, even with the tiny wire book holders on my Hercules music stand. I could bring it to Kinko’s and have it unbound and drilled with rings, but this would likely cost more than the book itself. I will sit on it, crack the spine, pray it stays together, and if it falls apart, use it as individual sheets. If a new buyer gets an opportunity to buy this book spiral bound from the get-go, buy it that way.
Thanks for this, and all your tips, Brad.