When Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop
(in C6th tuning)

Tabbed by David J. Stewart

This is one of my favorite songs by Jerry Byrd, from his "Pagan Paradise" album. I listened to the song very carefully and tried to tab it out the best I can. I'm sure it's not exactly what Jerry Played, but I did my best. I particularly chose this song to tab out because it shows the importance of TIMING. You'll never excel as a steel guitar player until you get your timing down pat. I'm always working at it.

Here's me playing Hilo Hattie on my AIRLINE lap steel with some BOSS Fender reverb

Here's another recording using my 1953 Rickenbacker (dry, no effects)

They're so so, nothing superb; but at least you get the idea of what the song should sound like. I threw in a few ideas of my own. I hope you enjoy them.

If you can learn to play this song, then you can learn to play just about anything. Some rhythm tracks are provided at various speeds. Start slow and work up your speed. I recorded with THIS TRACK, which has a solo guitar in the middle. The following tabs are for Jerry Byrd's version, which I followed for the first part only. Then I added some of my own stuff. Let's get started!

E__7_8_8_________8_8_______7_8_6_______________7_8_9_10_7_________
C________9___________9__________7~________________________7_______
A__________8___________9__________7_6_5_5_6_7_______________8~7___
G______________5__________________________________________________
E_________________________________________________________________
C#________________________________________________________________
 
 
E________~10_8___4_5___________3________5_6_7_8~7_8~7_____________
C______7_____________________4___5~4~5________________9________~9_
A__6_7_____________________3____________________________8_9~8_9___
G____________________5_4_3________________________________________
E_________________________________________________________________
C#________________________________________________________________
 
 
E__7_8_6_____________7_8_9_10___________________10_8__4_5_________
C________7_6_5_6_7____________11-10_______________________5_______
A__________________________________10_________10__________________
G____________________________________10-9_8_9_______________5_4_3_
E_________________________________________________________________
C#________________________________________________________________
 
 
E______3________|__________5_4_3_________________________________|
C____4___5~4~5__|__Fill____5_4_3_5__4_3________5-4-3-2___0_______|
A__3____________|__chords________5__4_3__0-1___5-4-3-2___________|
G_______________|__used__________________________________0_______|
E_______________|__behind________________0-1___4-3-2-1___0_______|
C#______________|__vocals________________0-1_____________________|
 
 
E__8_8_____________________5_____5_6_7_8___6_____________9_10~____
C______9~___________6____6_____6_____________7________________11~_
A_______________5_6____6_______________________7_6_5_6_7~_________
G________5__5_5___________________________________________________
E_________________________________________________________________
C#________________________________________________________________
 
 
E____________10_8___4_5____5_3_____3_______5_6_7_8________________
C______________________________5_4___5~4~5________________________
A__10~_____10_____________________________________________________
G_____10__9____________5_5________________________________________
E_________________________________________________________________
C#________________________________________________________________
 
 
E_________________________________________________________________
C__Fill_____14-16-19_____16_17_17_17__17_18_18_18__18_19_19_19____
A__chords___14-15-19_____16_17_17_17__17_18_18_18__18_19_19_19____
G__behind_________________________________________________________
E__vibes_________________16_17_17_17__15_16_16_16__14_15_15_15____
C#________________________________________________________________
 
 
E____The last part of the song ___________________________________
C____is very close to the beginning.______________________________
A_________________________________________________________________
G_________________________________________________________________
E_________________________________________________________________
C#________________________________________________________________
 
 
E___________~4-5__~5_____________________________________________
C__Ending___~4-5__~4_____*17_____________________________________
A_________________~3____*17______________________________________
G___________~3-4_______*17_______________________________________
E________________________________________________________________
C#___________*Finger harmonics (bar is on 5th fret)______________
 
 
 
E__7_8_9_10__7~____________10_8____4_5___5__3_____3______________
C_____________~7_________10_____________5_____5_4___5____________
A_______________~8_____10________________________________________
G__________________8_9_________________5____________5____________
E___________________________________________________5____________
C#_____Alternate way to play_____________________________________
 
 
E________________________________________________________________
C________________________________________________________________
A________________________________________________________________
G________________________________________________________________
E________________________________________________________________
C#_______________________________________________________________
 
I tried to break the tabs where I felt Jerry Byrd was breaking his phrases in the music.
 If there is a "trick to playing great steel guitar (and I think there are a few), 
it is learning to play seamlessly. By that I mean a continual stream of notes. When 
Jerry Byrd is playing, you don't hear it, but he is putting together short phrases 
of music and it all sounds like one long performance. I learned that years ago from Jeff 
Newman. I like Jerry Byrd's seamless style of playing the steel guitar. So the trick is 
to take all the different things you have learned and put them together. 
 
I am speaking primarily about scales here and playing in and out of the scales. Anyone 
can just play a melody, but learn to go back and learn to weave through your chords and 
a whole new world opens up to you. Here's one example of what I mean, taken from my 
recording of the Hukilau Song. You'll hear it right after the clip starts playing. 
Here's the tabs for what I'm playing that I want you to see and learn.
 
E_________________________________________________________________
C_________________________________6__7__8_________________________
A_____________________5__6__7__8________8_________________________
G_________3__4__5__6____________________8_________________________
E___4__5________________________________8_________________________
C_________________________________________________________________
 
If you'll learn to look for opportunities in your music to make use of chord runs like 
that, it'll greatly enhance your songs. There's a really nice run in this song by 
Jerry Byrd, When Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop. Here's the same tabs that I gave you 
earlier for it. This is a beautifully thought out work of music by Jerry...
 
E__8_8_____________________5_____5_6_7_8___6_____________9_10~____
C______9~___________6____6_____6_____________7________________11~_
A_______________5_6____6_______________________7_6_5_6_7~_________
G________5__5_5___________________________________________________
E_________________________________________________________________
C#________________________________________________________________
 
Here's another great run by Jerry Byrd in "Song of the Islands"...
 
E________5__~8____________~6__5__3_____________________3__5__~8___
C______5_________12__~12____________2__4___5_______4_5____________
A___________~8___12__~12____________2____________5________________
G__5_5___________11__~12_______________3___5___5__________________
E____________________~12___________________5______________________
C#________________________________________________________________
 
The following (continued) is genius and what I wanted you to see and learn...
 
E___8______________5____________________________5~7~12~11~10______
C______9__8__7__6_____6__5__4_________________5___________________
A______________________________5~4~3_____4~5______________________
G_____________________________________4___________________________
E_________________________________________________________________
C#________________________________________________________________
 
 
E___9__10__11__12~~10_______________________5_____________________
C___9__10__11__12~~10__12~10~9~10___4___5___5__6~7~8~9~12_________
A______________________12~10~9~10_______5______6~7~8~9~12___5__4__
G___________________________________3___5_________________________
E_______________________________________5_________________________
C#________________________________________________________________

Here are a few different Band-in-a-Box Rhythm Track versions for
When Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop. They sound pretty nice. You're welcome do use them as you wish, even record your own album. Enjoy!


Same Song, More Information

Here's my humble attempt to play When Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop (MP3). HERE'S THE TABS AND NUMEROUS RHYTHM TRACKS FOR "WHEN HILO HATTIE DOES THE HILO HOP." It's crude for having spent one day on the song. I wouldn't put this on an album, but I made it just for the tabs and this article. I tried to record it the next day again with my 1953 S-6 Bakelite Rickenbacker and here's what I got. I'm using the exact same BB rhythm track I've provided to you above. Here it is again. I used one of BB's real instruments, an electric guitar, for the solo. I like how the Ukelele descends in chord progression for the intro. I tried to follow the original song on Jerry's album as much as possible. Here's the BB file if you have Band-in-a-Box on your computer, so you can mess with it if you'd like. The file won't open without a recent version of BB and the latest styles disks (as of 2010).

I recorded directly into a BOSS BR-600 recording unit, playing the song on my AIRLINE S-6 steel guitar (Sears and Roebuck used to sell them decades ago. I paid $75 for it 15 years ago in the Trading Times). I'm using only a BOSS 63 Reverb pedal for effects. I also used a volume pedal in an attempt to sound a little like Jerry Byrd. Jerry used a volume pedal on his recordings, which you MUST have if you want to recreate some of his beautiful sounds. Just a standard volume pedal is fine. Use of the volume pedal is an art and requires good technique in itself.

Here's the tabs for some other interesting things I play in the song, which I made up. This is a great scale exercise. I learned this simply from messing around with scales. This is so important to learning to be a great musician...

E________________________________________________________________________
C________________________________________________________________________
A__3_______3____________________6__7_6_7__6__5_4_5__4____________________
G______2_3_____5_4_5__6__7_6_7_________________________5_4_5__6__7_6_7___
E____3___________________________________________________________________
C#_______________________________________________________________________

Good luck and take someone to the islands today with your music!


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