slack-key

• slack key

From a translation of the Hawaiian kī hōʻalu (“loosen the [tuning] key”).

slack-key (not comparable)

1. (music) (of a string instrument or a manner of playing one) Performed with loosened strings, such that all of the strings play in the same key (most often G major).
   • 2007, Tim Brookes, Guitar: An American Life, page 56:

     Spanish-style guitars played in the standard position, though probably in altered tunings slack-key fashion.

Slack-key is almost always used in reference to Hawaiian music, where it is an important technique. In this context it may be referred to as a music genre, slack-key guitar. Transliterations of the original Hawaiian are also common: Kiluea tuning or ki ho'alu guitar.

• Kackleys