The ukulele is a four-stringed instrument shaped like a guitar. When Portuguese immigrants arrived in Hawaii at the end of the nineteenth century, they brought with them their machetes which developed into the ukulele.
The 1957 publication of American Speech (American Dialect Society) explains the origin of the word ukulele: “The machete was heard one day by the vice-chamberlain of King Kalakaua’s court, who..asked to be taught to play it… This vice-chamberlain was a British army officer named Edward Purvis; but the Hawaiians..called him ukulele because his lively playing and antics and his small build suggested a leaping flea. The new instrument became a great success, and someone started calling them ukuleles”.
Of all the musical instruments, the ukulele possesses a special charm which never fails to put a smile on people’s faces. Maybe it’s the ukuleles cute size in combination with its sweet sound, or the fact that when you hear a ukulele, it brings to mind images of golden beaches, hula dancers and sunshine. Despite these positive associations, however, the ukulele’s popularity has certainly come in waves since its introduction into Hawaiian culture.
Popular in Hawaii and mainland US in the late nineteenth century, and made famous in the UK by comedian George Formby with his unique strumming patterns and upbeat syncopated rhythms, things slowed down on the ukulele scene during the mid twentieth century. Being a petite four-stringed instrument can be hard, and many view the ukulele simply as a toy. In a TV interview with the late Amy Winehouse, she was handed a ukulele to play one of her songs, but demanded to be given (ukulele fans cover your ears) a “proper instrument”. This is the sort of image problem that the ukulele suffers from. Things changed though when Hawaiin native Jake Shimabukuro uploaded his amazing rendition of Goerge Harrison’s classic “When my guitar gently weeps” onto YouTube in 2006. Suddenly people were falling in love with this little instrument all over again recognizing that the ukulele is actually pretty versatile. Since then, the ukulele has gone from strength to strength. It might be little, but this mighty little instrument has stood the test of time and continues to put a smile on the face of even the most cynical of musicians.
