Although there are varying stories of how the Kika Kila came to be, most historians have credited the creation of its sound to a Hawaiian man named Joseph Kekuku. In 1885, as he was walking around the railroad tracks, he picked up a spike from the ground and accidentally slid it across the strings of his guitar. This one action is generally accepted to be the birth of the Kika Kila. Many after him found this sound worthy of study and refinement and followed in his footsteps---names such as David Burrows, Tau Moe and the great Sol Ho'opi'i. Today, names such as Henry Allen and Bob Brozm an (along with Fernando Perez) are making sure this treasure is perpetuated and kept alive.

As a physical way of playing a stringed instrument, the use of a solid and smooth object slid across the strings, the Kika Kila is not unique. We can find this way of playing in cultures as old as the Hindu. It was during the Vedic times (B.C.) that we find an instrument called "Veena" whose description fits that of a stringed instrument played on the lap with the help of a polished rock or glass in one hand and a plectrum in the other. Similar instruments and ways of playing are found also in Africa and other ancient cultures. However, as a style of playing a stringed instrument we can look at Kika Kila with its soft, sweet and melodious sounds as definitely unique and original.

Playing Kika Kila involves nothing more than raising the strings on a standard guitar in order to use a slide or bar without hitting the fretboard with the aid of fingerpicks on the right hand. Open tunings are used that can vary from the Taro Patch tuning (DGDGBD) to others such as C#minor (EC#G#EBE), C sixth (CGACEG), etc… Many tricks are available for the Kika Kila player that are not possible in any other guitar.

The Pedal Steel Guitar...

The Pedal Steel is a close relative of the Hawaiian Kika Kila. It was invented by mainlanders who wanted an alternative way of creating chords on the Hawaiian steel guitar. On the Kika Kila, chords are achieved by tilting a bar (or slide) in different directions on the strings of the guitar. The mainlanders created pedals to change the tension in the strings that in turn changed their pitch to achieve different chords. This is generally the sound you hear so pervasive in county music.