Years ago, around a table at the Columbia Inn, slack-key master Gabby Pahinui once told me the secret to his legendary ki ho'alu form: "I play what I feel" is how he put it.

"You are correct on that," says Cyril Pahinui, one of Pops Pahinui's surviving sons, who will share the Pahinui style of strumming slack-key, in a series of classes beginning this month, at the Bishop Museum. Exposing the family manner in classes would never have happened in Pops' time, says the Pahinui clan's most visible musician, because if you wanted to learn, you had to watch, listen, learn ... then do.

Pahinui is now 59, the same age as his father when he died on Oct. 13, 1980. So he felt it was time to step up his teaching, to preserve and perpetuate his dad's artistry and legacy. Pops was a pioneer of the slackening of the guitar strings, performing ki ho'alu well before it became a vogue.

"In the past, it (family technique) was secret, and we did not teach very many people to play," he said. "If you wanted to learn, you had to be there playing 'nana ka maka, ho'ole ka pepeiao,' or 'watch and listen and learn as you go.' In my dad's days, you were not allowed to ask questions."

So what is the Pahinui style?

"What I think of as the Pahinui style is everyone playing together, kanikapila- style. Everyone learns at the same time; no beginners or advanced," said Pahinui, a Grammy-nominated whiz from a fabled Waimanalo family that helped put slack-key on the map, at least for the current generation of strummers. He also has contributed performances on three best-Hawaiian-album Grammy-winning CDs, but singular honors so far have eluded him.

Since living part time in Hilo and commuting to and from Honolulu, Pahinui has embarked on teaching ki-ho'alu skills. He has been inspired by wife Chelle, who teaches at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo campus, to conduct guitar classes.

"I am very happy to have her with me," he says.

He emulates the masters who mentored him. "As the instructor, I teach chord work and help the students make the chord changes as they go," he says. "This is an opportunity for them to 'play how they feel' and create within the framework of the melody. My dad, Atta (Barney "Atta" Isaacs) and Uncle Sonny (Sonny Chillingworth) did this with us, and I feel it is one of the best learning experiences. Not just memorize the song, but make it different each time and more 'from the heart.' "

That spontaneity also is part of the Pahinui style. He allows his students to "take one" (pa'ani, meaning playing a riff and a technique unique to the strummer), to give a piece a personal flavor.

"Some bands I hear today remind me of a train rushing down the track, and when someone takes a pa'ani, the other guys turn up and I wonder what is the point."

Novices unfamiliar with pa'ani are often shy, reluctant and "shame," said Pahinui, but those who take the journey can produce dynamic sounds — and "they need to find their way back home. Some of the best music is the sound between the notes — the silence — and you have to be able to hear that along with the guy doing things."

The Pahinui style also has some trademark tunings.

"I teach in the tunings that originated in my family, and particularly my key-of-C tuning," he said. "I almost never teach in G, which is what most other players use." He shares his dad's D, which Uncle Bruddah (his brother, Bla Pahinui), uses and the C he favors also was widely used by Uncle Atta, "who really taught me to use it and how it offered more opportunity for intricate chord work, one of the things that makes the Pahinui sound unique in slack-key."

Other Pahinui thoughts:

• More on why he's teaching: "There are only a few in our family who have taken an interest in carrying on the music, and I do spend extra time and effort with them. Today, we don't get the opportunity to play with the family and friends in the backyard every day; with TV, sports and computers, there is not much of that going on anymore, so where can kids learn the traditional style and techniques from the masters?"

• The world is his school: "I have students from 8 to 76; I teach all over the world as I travel. This Bishop Museum class is inspired by the brown Gabby album in the new display in the Great Hall. When I saw it there, representing Hawaiian music of today, I felt really humbled and started to cry. I wanted to be a part of this special place that honored my family and preserves our cultural heritage."

• He's old-fashioned: "Because I am still kind of old- school and feel uncomfortable with students just buying a DVD and going home to learn or teach each other, I have never allowed a (how-to) DVD of my teaching. I like my students to be there with me; it has to be a creative thing that can only happen if the teacher and the student are interacting together in the moment. And it is different each time; it is all about what comes up in the moment. My dad recorded 'Hi'ilawe' seven times, and every time it was different, inspired by the moment and the other players."

Read his Show Biz column Sundays in Island Life. Read his blog at http://showandtellhawaii.honadvblogs.com.