Committed to providing patient-centered medical care, pediatrician Lloyd Takao, MD, has been treating babies,children, and teenagers in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1979. Outside of his medical practice, Lloyd Takao, MD, enjoys skiing, snorkeling, and playing the ukulele.
Although it is considered by many to be the most iconic Hawaiian instrument, the ukulele originated on an island far away from the Hawaiian chain. The first uke-like instruments were played on Madeira, a Portuguese island that was once a popular destination for European tourists. When the tourism industry and other markets collapsed on the island in the mid-1800s, many Madeirans emigrated to Hawaii to work on sugar plantations, and they brought their musical traditions with them.
By the 1880s, one of the emigrants from Madeira, Manuel Nunes, had begun making and selling what the Madeirans called a machete, a four-stringed instrument that very closely resembled the modern ukulele. While the first mention of an instrument called a ukulele came about a decade later, historians are unsure who exactly coined the term or built the first one.
It is believed that the first true ukuleles were a hybrid of the machete and the rajao, another small Portuguese stringed instrument. From its earliest days, the ukulele has had the overall shape and configuration of the machete, but its tuning is the same as the first four strings of the rajao. The ukulele’s design changed very little as the instrument grew in popularity throughout Hawaii and the United States mainland. Today, the ukulele is played worldwide.
Although it is considered by many to be the most iconic Hawaiian instrument, the ukulele originated on an island far away from the Hawaiian chain. The first uke-like instruments were played on Madeira, a Portuguese island that was once a popular destination for European tourists. When the tourism industry and other markets collapsed on the island in the mid-1800s, many Madeirans emigrated to Hawaii to work on sugar plantations, and they brought their musical traditions with them.
By the 1880s, one of the emigrants from Madeira, Manuel Nunes, had begun making and selling what the Madeirans called a machete, a four-stringed instrument that very closely resembled the modern ukulele. While the first mention of an instrument called a ukulele came about a decade later, historians are unsure who exactly coined the term or built the first one.
It is believed that the first true ukuleles were a hybrid of the machete and the rajao, another small Portuguese stringed instrument. From its earliest days, the ukulele has had the overall shape and configuration of the machete, but its tuning is the same as the first four strings of the rajao. The ukulele’s design changed very little as the instrument grew in popularity throughout Hawaii and the United States mainland. Today, the ukulele is played worldwide.