Well kept secrets of the Portuguese people (1) – Cavaquinho
I like to consider myself a curious, willing to learn type of person. During my childhood, I used to spend my time and money buying and reading books while other kids my age still played in parks or whatever. I was not surprised when relocation changed my daily habits, maybe a bit my personality and perception of the world, but I did not expect it to make me question my general knowledge and some facts that I took for granted.
Did you know the Hawaiian ukulele is an adaption of a Portuguese small guitar-like instrument?
The “Machete” stands for the national instrument of the islander. (W. H. Koebel, Madeira: Old and New, London: Francis Griffiths, 1909, p. 179)
Since the 15th century, the Madeira archipelago became a strategic crossroads in the Atlantic Sea being admired for good wines, beautiful landscapes and a healthy environment. During the English occupation of the archipelago, the high-class nobility organized numerous soirees writing their memoirs about the instruments used for entertainment: machete, viola, cavaquinho etc. From all of them, a machete madeirense or the Branguinha is the most portable instrument, preferred by most of the Madeira locals. They considered that keeping the hands busy while playing, leaves the mind to wonder and times passes by faster. The instrument has four metal strings, in contrast to its slightly larger cousin, the machete de raj?o, which has five metal strings.
Ok, ok, but why is this so interesting?
It was one American senator named Dix, who spent a winter season in Madeira in the 1840s, and reported that in the right hands a machete could produce very pretty music: “It is an invention of the island,” he wrote, “and one of which the island has no great cause to be proud. It is not probable that the machete will ever emigrate from Madeira.”
Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Sen. John Dix, a visionary.
So, the machete traveled with emigrants and it was introduced to Hawaii in 1879 by Augusto Dias, Manuel Nunes, and Jo?o Fernandes. These three cabinetmakers from the island of Madeira started producing the ukulele in Honolulu and King Kalakaua fell in love with the instrument and incorporated it into the Hawaiian culture. In 1916, an apprentice of Manuel Nunes, started his own production of ukuleles that still continues until today. In Hawaiian, ‘ukulele literally means the flea—‘uku—that jumps—lele—in honor of that other European import, Ctenocephalides Felis, the cat flea.
Starting with the 20s and 30s, ukulele started to become more and more popular globally. One of the greatest Portuguese players of cavaquinho (instrument considered to be based on the machete or branguinha) nowadays is Júlio Pereira and you can hear one of his songs in the video below.