Keola Beamer started playing ukulele as a child, as most kids in Hawaii do. But the Hawaiian slack-key guitar, or ki ho’alu, hooked him when he was 9 years old. It’s a method that dates from the late 1800s in which guitar strings are “slackened” to a variety of different tunings, though it also includes techniques like hammering and pulling on strings. “I like the openness of the sound. You sort of begin to yearn for a more complex tonality, so that’s what happened to me,” he said. “It kind of has a deeper resonance.” Mr. Beamer has played his music all over the Pacific: China, Japan and New Zealand, he said. He also contributed to the music for the movie “The Descendants,” set in Hawaii. He and his wife, Moanalani, a master hula dancer, will play songs handed down from his family, as well as pieces that Mr. Beamer has composed, this Saturday, March 15 at 8 p.m. at the Dance Palace Community and Cultural Center. Tickets are $34, or $32 for seniors and $17 for youth. Tickets available at the door and in advance at dancepalace.org.