The traditional A-D-F#-B-tuning was standard then, To adapt to piano accompaniment, the authors recommend on the one hand, the re-tuning to C or, as appropriate to the accompaniment of wind instruments, even after Eb. For a better visibility of the text from the pictures, drag a copy on your desk. For four decades Manuel Nunes (1843-1922) dominated construction of the new instrument. Koa Acacia ("Hawaiian Mahogany") was used for their production because it was plentiful. They were easy to play and portable and the Hawaiians really loved them. The design was a hit and they sold quickly. It was a small instrument like the Braguinha but used gut strings and was to be tuned in fourths instead of fifths intervals. These three men devised an entirely new instrument to sell to the Hawaiians. On board of the "Ravenscrag" were three Portuguese woodworkers capable of building musical instruments: Manuel Nunes, José do Espírito Santo, and Augusto Dias. Once the instrument had gained popularity in the royal court, it became popular with his subjects and demand skyrocketed. However, since people like story telling they seem to prefer "the jumping flea" story. It also is possible all of these explanations are results of misspelling or misunderstanding. Following another theory, the Hawaiians already called their own three-stringed instruments ukulele and then only used the same word for the new instrument. In the native language of the Hawaiians Uku might have meant gift, present, or reward. There are several other explanations about the origin of the word ukulele. And then the term could have been transferred to the instrument. According to another story reports that the Hawaiian King David Kalakaua (1836-1891) has called the English officer Edward Purvis "Uku Lele" (jumping flea) for his agility. Therefore one can say "the mothers" of all ukuleles are small instruments of Portuguese origin, such like Braguinha, Cavaquinho, Rajão, some also called Machete. History tells of a Portuguese immigrant named Joao Fernandes on the afternoon of August, 23rd in 1879 after a four-month voyage arrived in Hawaii and jumped from the ship to give a demonstration of his skill in playing the Cavaquinho, used in the Madeira Islands, his home. The Hawaiian word ukulele means allegedly "jumping flea" according to a popular legend: due to the first impression when the Hawaiians saw scurrying fingers on the fingerboard while playing that little stringed instrument. No other instrument is so well connected with the romantic South Seas like the ukulele. We’re always here to accompany you with your musical journey."Hawaiian Nights" is the title of a painting by English artist John Kelly (1878-1962), showing a man playing ukulele while his seated listener reclines during sunset on the palm beach. Playing musical instruments gives you that kind of happy feeling.Īt Bondi Ukuleles, we’re all for providing such experience and we always have this in mind the moment the ukulele ships out and does not even end when you receive your instrument. I want you to have the same passion I had with playing music and it is quite rewarding and satisfying every time you learn something new to noodle around with. Life has never been the same since then and I can’t imagine one without music. Having a father who is a piano tuner, our home is always packed with different music instruments.īecause of this, I became a big fan of music and got into playing father’s restored old pianos, then comes the guitar and it didn’t take a while that the ukulele piqued my interest. That etched a lot into my childhood memories. We’d always go to visit people’s houses for dinner and somebody would always be playing the piano or another instrument. I grew up in a musical family and at the age of 5, we moved to Sydney so my father could join the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Hi, I’m Joel the founder of Bondi Ukuleles.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |