I feel like I've just walked into a Star Trek convention-and I'm the only person who doesn't know who Captain Kirk is.

Thirty or so ukulele enthusiasts are getting down to business-tuning their baby guitars, chatting with seatmates or strumming away-when I amble into the Outrigger Waikiki lobby for a special Saturday-morning beginners' ukulele lesson. The assembled group is all over the demographic map: young and old, men and women, tattooed and in TanJay, mostly local folks but with an obvious smattering of pasty-white visitors. Everyone looks like they know what they're doing. And that worries me.

I'm here on a bit of a cultural lark. I've never played a ukulele and, truth be told, never really "got" the whole Hawaiian music thing. (I blame this on my parents, who dragged me to see Don Ho, Mr. "Tiny Bubbles" himself, when I was an impressionable 12-year-old visiting Waikiki for the first time. Scarily, Ho is still at it.)

But today I need to keep my sunburned and surfing-sore body off the beach, and this ukulele lesson-led by an Oahu-born musician I've never heard of, Daniel Ho-is free. Plus, Waikiki's all a-twitter with controversy surrounding the first ever Grammy for best Hawaiian album. It seems the award went to a slack-key-guitar CD (no problem here; slack key is pure Hawaiian) produced by a non-native (a travesty, say some).

The first thing I learn is that I don't even know how to pronounce the name of this morning's feature instrument. I hear participants referring to their baby guitars as oo-koo-lay-lays. Call me Canadian, but I always say you-ka-lay-lee. I switch my pronunciation in hopes of fitting in.

While waiting to get a loaner ukulele from the organizers, I glance at the stacks of CDs for sale. I'm astonished to see that every last one of them has Daniel Ho on the cover. Seems my ukulele teacher is a Hawaiian-music superstar with 18 CDs to his credit, six best-selling albums, and numerous music awards. He plays ukulele and slack-key guitar, and accompanies Peabo Bryson on keyboard. Who knew?

The guy beside me certainly did. "Daniel Ho is the man," says local Jon Cross when I ask why he's here. "When I heard he was giving an ukulele lesson, I grabbed my CDs and my kids and brought them down for signing." I assume it's just the CDs, not the children, he wants autographed.

Around me, people talk Hawaiian music-who they've heard where, new recordings, and such. They might as well be speaking Klingon, because I don't recognize a single name. When I admit to the people behind me that I'm a visitor and ukulele novice, the floodgates of advice open. Margaret recommends I check out the ukulele lessons at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. Paul suggests I tour the Koaloha ukulele factory. Someone invites me to ukulele jams that happen three afternoons a week on the beach during snowbird season. Loreece assures me, "You can hang out and do ukulele 24/7 on this island." I find the thought horrifying.

Ten minutes late-"It wouldn't be Hawaii if we started on time"-Daniel Ho steps to the front of the room and plugs in his ukulele. (Ukuleles can be amplified? I have much to learn.) He's dressed in a dusty-blue T-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. Ho talks about how happy he is to be in Hawaii (he is now based in Los Angeles) and how much he loves his new custom six-string ukulele. (Ukes traditionally have four strings, but the extra ones give players more range.) I find him earnest and humble.

And then he plays. Oh my, how he plays. I had no idea such sweet and soulful melodies could come from the same instrument that produced ticky-tacky tunes like "My Little Grass Shack". Admiring Ho's intricate, quick-moving fingerwork, I now understand how the ukulele-derived from the braguinha, a stringed instrument brought to the islands in the 19th century by Portuguese immigrants-got its name. Ukulele means "jumping flea" in Hawaiian.

Now it's my turn. For 90 minutes, I watch and strum and try not to look pathetic, which I am. When the session finishes, I gratefully return my ukulele and pick up Ho's Simple as a Sunrise CD (it recently won best adult-contemporary album at the Hawaii Music Awards). I don't bother to get it signed as the lineup is too long.

I now know that ukulele-playing is best left to the professionals. And so begins my quest for performers who will entertain and educate me in the ways of Hawaiian music-making-preferably in a bar, with a large mai tai in my hand.

I begin my search at Tiki's Grill & Bar (2570 Kalakaua Avenue), a retro South Pacific-style restaurant that features live contemporary Hawaiian music nightly. With its lava-rock walls, tikis, torches, and lanai overlooking Waikiki Beach, you might expect Tiki's to be a tourist-centric place serving mediocre food. Wrong on both accounts. The locals flock here, and the food is innovative and tasty.

I happily nibble on coconut shrimp and Kalua-pig quesadillas while listening to the little-bit-country sounds of Ellsworth Simeona, a local boy who's achieved veteran status gigging at various Honolulu nightspots. From my waiter, Marcus, I learn that Hawaiians invented the steel guitar and slack-key guitar music, where some strings are slacked from the standard tuning and the melody, bass, and chords are played together. Thankfully, Marcus doesn't suggest lessons.

Folks who swayed to Simeona's set earlier in the evening are up dancing when Shawn Ishimoto and Ikaika Rawlins play their mix of contemporary Hawaiian and Motown tunes. I drink one too many coconut rum-laced Greg Brady's Wipeouts and wake up the next morning feeling, well, wiped out.

I discover a more civilized (but less fun) vibe at Chai's Island Bistro in Aloha Tower Marketplace. This pricey restaurant brings in some of Hawaii's most popular entertainers, including the Brothers Cazimero and Jerry Santos. Although I enjoy the mix of traditional and contemporary Hawaiian music, the crowd is subdued and the music overamplified.

My quest for Hawaiian music continues on Maui at the Celebration of the Arts, a worth-the-trip festival that brings together musicians, artisans, and kupuna (elders) in a celebration of Hawaiian culture. The drop-dead-gorgeous Ritz-Carlton Kapalua hosts the event and welcomes everyone-guests of the Ritz, visitors staying elsewhere, and local residents-to a weekend of free hands-on activities and presentations. The big finale is a luau and show featuring traditional Hawaiian falsetto singer Ryan K. Fernandez, guitarist Lono, and Ka No'eau Dance Academy, an award-winning hula school. I'm particularly taken with golden-haired ex-lifeguard Lono, who wears rock-star sunglasses while playing in the real old style. Perhaps his name should start with a B, as in Bono.

I discover one more musical gem at the Ritz when I attend the Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Concert Series. Held every Tuesday evening, the concerts are hosted by George Kahumoku Jr., an affable and multitalented musician, author, and teacher who welcomes guest artists to join him on-stage for some fine music-making and storytelling. On the night I attend, Kahumoku introduces his guest, the ducktailed Ledward Kaapana, as "probably the most inventive slack-key guitarist of my lifetime".

Watching and laughing with these two masters, I feel like I'm sitting in someone's back yard, listening to the music that Hawaiians might play for their families and friends late at night, after a couple of beers. It's what I expect a real Hawaiian musical experience to be: sometimes tender, often humorous, always evocative of the life and traditions of these beautiful islands.

But of all the music I hear in Hawaii, the sweetest does not come from a person or even a musical instrument. It appears early one morning at a sunrise ceremony on the beach at Kapalua.

About 100 of us have gathered on the sand at 5:30 a.m. to perform a Hawaiian oli (chant) and submerge ourselves in the ocean as an act of personal renewal. When I dive underwater, I hear alien sounds-notes and chirps and hums that I can't place. Then it dawns on me: I'm hearing the vocalizations of humpback whales swimming just outside the bay. I dive down again and again to hear the songs, part of the strange new musical world I've discovered on this most excellent voyage.

ACCESS: Check Harmony Airways (www.harmonyairways.com/) for fares on flights to Honolulu and Maui. The 35th annual Ukulele Festival (www.roysakuma.net/) is set for July 31 in Waikiki. This free event includes an 800-member ukulele orchestra. The 23rd Annual Hawaii Slack Key Guitar Festival-Waikiki Style (www.hawaiianslackkeyguitar festivals.com/) takes place August 21. The summer lineup for the Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Concert Series is posted at www .slackkey.com/.

The 2006 Celebration of the Arts (www.celebrationofthearts.org/) goes Easter weekend on Maui. The host hotel, Ritz-Carlton Kapalua (www.ritzcarlton.com/resorts/kapalua/), offers authentic cultural activities year-round. The Outrigger Waikiki on Oahu offers workshops on Hawaiian culture under News and Events at outriggerwaikiki.com/. For general Hawaiian travel information-and a digital jukebox of Hawaiian music you can download-visit www.gohawaii.com/.