Richard asked Macario to say a few words about the slack key guitar class they both took recently, which was taught by slack key master Cyril Pahinui.

The class, held at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, was popular — so many signed up that they had to split the group into two different classes.

Macario says it was Richard’s “fault” he was there. “Richard told me about this class coming up, and I signed up at the very last minute. It was fun taking the class with a friend. We were having so much fun, we wouldn’t play we would just listen. You get caught up when he starts to play, and we’d just put our guitars down and listen to him playing.”

“Richard was into it,” he says. “Both of us were. He and I were just like two little kids at a candy store. It was great.”

Macario was a professional musician in his “former life” — a couple decades ago, before changing careers and becoming a photographer. But he played drums, not guitar, and says he always wanted to learn slack key.

“It’s more than just playing the music,” he says. “There’s a feeling to the music. Cyril kept saying, ‘Don’t play how I play. Play how you feel.’ Because when you’re playing, and you’re in that groove, then something happens. Because you can move people.”

Cyril’s father was the late great Gabby Pahinui, the legend in Hawaiian slack key, and he learned to play guitar from his father since he was a young boy.

Macario says Cyril taught his father’s tuning — the way he tuned his guitar. In older days, this information was private and never shared. So why does Cyril teach it now?

Cyril told the class he likes to pass it on. “He said if he doesn’t teach anybody, and nobody carries it on after him, then he’s going to lose it.”

Macario says he’d definitely take a class from Cyril again. “There’s so much coming at you. I think it made the beginners a little scared. But it’s good for them. It’s good for them to see we can all do this. All you have to do is work at it. If you practice everything he taught you in this class, then when he comes back to teach the next one you’ll be ready for that class.”

“The music is just in him,” he says. “And in class, he’s coming at ya. It’s a lifetime, two lifetimes of music coming at you, and you’d better pick up what you can because you’ve only got six classes to do it.”

He says he’s still trying to find his way around his guitar. “But everything Cyril taught us just makes sense,” he says. “If you practice what Cyril taught in that class, you can pretty much play any Hawaiian song. And not only did Cyril teach the class, he made people go up and jam with him. How many chances do you get to play with Cyril Pahinui?”

He says the class was a nice surprise. “Before, his dad just overshadowed everything because he was so great. But Cyril is on his own and carrying on the tradition even without his dad.

“And Cyril himself is ‘the man’ now,” he says. “He’s the icon now. He is a great slack key player in his own right.”