<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p>The ‘ukulele, or ukulele, as it's spelled in American English ("uke" for short), is one of the first things that many people associate with Hawai‘i because of its presence in photos of hula girls and sailors relaxing on a paradisiacal beach. The uke was actually considered the national instrument of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi by Queen Lydia Liliʻuokalani in the late 1800s! The uke has played an integral role in presenting Hawai’i to the nation, and by extension the world, as well as defining a genre of music that took the U.S. by storm in the early twentieth century.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Advertisement for Dole pineapples " class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__13623 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/Dole.jpg?itok=3lRdiakT" style="width: 445px; height: 550px;" title="Advertisements, such as this one from Dole in 1952, emphasize the Hawaiian-ness of the uke alongside the tropical staple fruit pineapples. N. W. Ayer Advertising Agency Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History."></p><p><strong>Cabinetmakers to luthiers: re-envisioning an instrument</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Ukulele photograph" class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__13624 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/uke.JPG?itok=SdVQSAhg" style="width: 550px; height: 247px;" title="This Jose do Espirito Santo uke is slightly smaller than the average sized ‘ukulele and was built in the 1880s or 1890s. Catalogue Number: E381917-0, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History."></p><p>Though the ukulele is a Hawaiian instrument, it is actually a modification of Portuguese instruments called the <em>machete do braça</em>, <em>braguinha</em>, <em>rajāo</em>, and <em>cavaquinho</em>. The first uke luthiers in Hawaiʻi were men from Madeira, an island off the coast of Portugal, who came to Hawaiʻi aboard the <em>SS Ravenscrag</em> in 1879 to work on the sugar plantations. Miguel Nunes, a cabinet maker by trade, opened the first ukulele workshop in Honolulu in 1880 and was later joined by Augusto Dias and Jose do Espirito Santo, who both went on to open their own workshops as well.</p><p><strong>Is it jumping fleas, jumping men, or a traveling gift?</strong> <br>So you’ve heard the term ukulele but you might also be wondering where did the word "ukulele" come from, right? Well there are three possible explanations. This word would be considered a compound word with the two parts being: ‘<em>uku</em> and <em>lele</em>. ‘<em>Uku</em> with the ‘okina (the punctuation mark that looks like a backwards apostrophe) means flea.<em>Lele</em> means to jump. With this in mind, here are the three theories on where the word for this instrument came from:</p><ul><li>Jumping Fleas – No, you don't need to give your dog a flea bath now. Some claim that the fingers of ukulele players jump so quickly across the fret board that it looks like fleas jumping.</li><li>Jumping Men – After a 123-day journey aboard the SS <em>Ravenscrag</em>, a musician burst into song and dance. His jumpy dance reminded people of leaping fleas.</li><li>Gift from a Distance – Queen Lili‘uokalani used a more poetic version of the term uku and interpreted it as "gift." According to notable uke historian Jim Beloff, her meaning translates to "a gift that came from afar;" referencing the journey that the Portuguese and their instruments had to make to arrive on Hawaiian shores.</li></ul><p> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Portrait" class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__13625 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/Queen.jpg?itok=rvYnGizH" style="width: 400px; height: 400px;" title="Queen Lili‘uokalani was one of four siblings who were known as Na Lani ‘Eha, the Royal Four, who were well known for their musical acumen. Queen Lili‘uokalani also wrote the famous song "Aloha ‘Oe." National portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Gift of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum."></div><div><strong>Everybody's doing it!</strong></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Photograph of building with crowds" class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__13627 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/California_Building_sm.jpg?itok=jTVKV5NF" style="width: 550px; height: 409px;" title="The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal, which linked both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The expo brought in over 17 million attendees and featured 24 different countries. This image shows the Hawaiian Pavilion. Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Archives Center, National Museum of American History."></div><div> </div><div>Though the ukulele had been displayed and played at different expositions beginning in the late 1800s, it was not until the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco that the ukulele gained international prominence. The Hawaiian Pavilion featured George E. Awai and his Royal Hawaiian Quartet along with several other notable musicians who played Hawaiian songs that would eventually become hits such as Henry Kailimai's <em>On A Beach At Waikiki.</em></div><div> </div><div><strong>My dog has fleas</strong></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Cover of ukulele instruction book featuring a women with an instrument" class="media-image" height="550" style="width: 388px; height: 550px;" title="Many ads from the 1920s and 1930s claimed that the uke was a simple and easy instrument to learn. Self-instruction books like this one explain everything from basic instrument structure to finger placement to play certain notes as well as feature full-length songs in the back of the book. Sheet Music Collection, Division of Culture and the Arts, National Museum of American History." width="388" rel="lightbox" src="http://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/Playbook.jpg?itok=_4bWHbNv" /></div><div> </div><div>One of the simplest (and trickiest!) methods of tuning a uke is by strumming one’s thumb down all four strings and singing "My dog has fleas." Now, nobody knows (or claims to know) the origins of this little song, but it's a hard song to forget! This sounds simple enough, right? It actually takes quite a well-trained ear to be able to determine if the uke is in fact tuned correctly. Many professional musicians tend to use a chromatic tuner, but nothing beats spending time singing the easiest song to play!</div><div> </div><div><strong>Kitschy comedy to serious playing</strong></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Photography of musician with ukulele " class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__13629 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/USMC.jpg?itok=7PVgB1GI" style="width: 320px; height: 480px;" title="Master musician Jake Shimabukuro started his career by playing with his mom’s Kamaka Hawaiʻi uke after school. Image from Wikimedia Commons."></div><div><p>Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards and Herbert "Tiny Tim" Khaury both popularized the uke in the U.S. during each of their lifetimes through their appreciation for the instrument, but in popular culture the uke was still seen as a comedic prop and <em>the</em> souvenir to get friends and family after a trip to Hawaiʻi (which is still very much an active practice today).</p><p>Jake Shimabukuro, an internationally recognized uke virtuoso, has sought to add to the personality of the instrument by emphasizing that it has a broad range as well as can play well within almost any genre. He has worked towards emphasizing that ukes are truly versatile instruments and can provide as lively a performance as any other instrument by playing popular songs such as George Harrison’s <em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A08rPrv7QjE">While My Guitar Gently Weeps</a></em>, Queen's <em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB3RbO7updc">Bohemian Rhapsody</a></em>, and other crowd favorites along with his own compositions.</p><p><em>Brie Adams is the 2015 Spring Intern for the Office of Curatorial Affairs. A Native Hawaiian, she is currently pursuing her MA/PhD in Cultural Anthropology.</em></p><p><em><strong>Want more stories of American innovation and inventiveness? Join us to explore the theme of American innovation through <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog?term_node_tid_depth=108">blog posts</a>, <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/topics/innovation">exhibitions, collections, programs, and more</a>.</strong></em></p></div><p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-authors field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author(s): </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">intern Brie Adams</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-blog-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Categories: </h3><ul class="links"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/blog-tags/invention-innovation">Invention & Innovation</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/blog-tags/music">Music</a></li></ul></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Tags: </h3><ul class="links"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/tags/music-musical-instruments">Music & Musical Instruments</a></li><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-1"><a href="/tags/cultures-communities">Cultures & Communities</a></li></ul></div><div id="disqus_thread"><noscript><p><a href="http://amhistorymuseum.disqus.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Famericanhistory.si.edu%2Fblog%2F5-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-%25E2%2580%2598ukulele">View the discussion thread.</a></p></noscript></div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=xdVbes0HxhQ:7mm0T7WqV4w:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=xdVbes0HxhQ:7mm0T7WqV4w:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=xdVbes0HxhQ:7mm0T7WqV4w:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?i=xdVbes0HxhQ:7mm0T7WqV4w:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=xdVbes0HxhQ:7mm0T7WqV4w:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?i=xdVbes0HxhQ:7mm0T7WqV4w:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=xdVbes0HxhQ:7mm0T7WqV4w:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OSayCanYouSee/~4/xdVbes0HxhQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
