Where Did Ukuleles Really Come From?
When most people think of the ukulele, they assume it originated in Hawaii. Contrary to popular belief, the ukulele was actually invented on an island called Madeira, which is about 350 miles off the coast of North Africa. Madeira has a similar climate to Hawaii and is also a volcanic archipelago. It is heavily forested, hence the name Madeira (which means “wood” in portugese), but it is more commonly known for its wine.
Over two centuries ago, Europeans enjoyed Madeira as a vacation spot, and one of the biggest forms of entertainment was music. Local musicians played the Spanish guitar and a small, guitar-like, four-string instrument called the machête. Unfortunately, around the 1800’s, Madeira went through several natural disasters. This forced over 25000 Madeirans to immigrate to Hawaii.
When they arrived safely, they celebrated with songs played on the machête. In 1879, a popular Hawaiian newspaper reported a small band of musicians from Madeira who had been entertaining tons of people with street concerts. The article described machêtes as strange instruments that looked like a cross between a guitar and a banjo. After this, it got renamed as the ukulele and rapidly grew in popularity, eventually becoming Hawaii's national instrument.
The king of Hawaii at the time happened to be an accomplished musician and decided to take up the ukulele. In the 1900’s, when tourism picked up, visitors from the mainland were fascinated by the music, and Hawaiian musicians started crossing the pacific to play all along the west coast.
In the present day, the ukulele has become a symbol of love of the Hawaiian land while they tried to maintain their independence. The instrument has become known in many other countries including Japan, the U.K., and the United States. It has been steadily well-liked in the U.S. ever since the Great Depression and now can be found anywhere you go. It commonly makes appearances on TV, youtube, movies, and there are several websites solely devoted to teaching people how to play the ukulele.
By Violet Kottke