What is the History of the Ukulele in Hawaii?
When the Portuguese arrived around 1879 to work in the sugar cane fields, they brought the braguinha. The Hawaiians were impressed at the speed of Joao Fernandes fingers as he played this instrument. One story has it that the Hawaiians called the instrument ‘ukulele’, which means jumping flea in English, the vision that they saw as his fingers jumped across the instrument. Others say that it was the way that Edward Purvis, an English Army officer, jumped when he played the braguinha. There are many other stories about how the instrument got its name. The ukulele quickly became popular among the Hawaiian people and became a central part to their music. In the 1920’s and 1930’s the instrument was popular with the Waikiki beachboys. To this day day, when most people think of the Ukulele, they think of Hawaiian Music. For a complete history on the Ukulele, visit Brudda Bu’s A Little Uke History. If you want to listen to some great Ukulele music, pick up any CD by the following artists: • K
