subject: History of the Ukulele [print this page] Author: Rabbit.panda Author: Rabbit.panda
There are a lot tales concerning the beginning of the ukulele in Hawaii however the most accepted is that it traditionally turned up in Honolulu on August 23, 1879 with Portugese immigrant Joao Fernandes. He obviously was so happy to have completed the 4 month, 15, 000 mile voyage from Portugal that he jumped on to the dock and started playing his cavaquinho(a four stringed instrument designed like a compact guitar) The Hawaiians were so fascinated with the speed of his fingers traveling over the fingerboard that they labeled it the ukulele, which translates to the jumping flea. The Hawaiians were brisk to adopt the instrument as their own and the next decade it had become the biggest seller musical instrument around Hawaii. It was very popular that even King David Kalakaua, the final reigning king of Hawaii, had to learn to use it. The Ruler had to learn to use and pattern his own ukuleles because of Augusto Dias, one of the foremost ukulele luthiers in Hawaii. The recognition of the ukulele has experienced many cycles. It developed its primary major impact to the US mainland during the 1915 at the Hawaiian Pavilion at the Panama- Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. The US residents fell in love with Hawaiian music and the ukulele. By the 1930s the ukulele period was over and it didnt experience a resurgence until finally the 1950s when it was popularized all over again by Arthur Godfrey on his TV show Arthur Godfrey and his Ukulele. By the early 1970s the ukulele had gone off the musical graphs and there was only one manufacturer developing ukuleles. However, the third ukulele renaissance is upon us. Worldwide fascination with this simply played, interesting little four- stringed instrument has been rising gradually over the last few years. It isn't very difficult to learn to learn the ukulele. As a result of its small size, youngsters normally can learn to play it and lots of universities make use of ukuleles in their music courses. So why dont you jump on the bandwagon and also go in with such stars as Jimmy Buffet, Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney along with Van Morrison, to identify some, and learn how to use the ukulele at this moment.About the Author:
