Didgeridoo and Ukulele

Today, I’m going to talk to you about two very interesting music instruments, the Didgeridoo
and the Ukulele. Probably you are like me… I didn’t know anything about the didgeridoo until
this work. But, after some search I realize that this instrument is Australia’s most well-known
symbol and the world most ancient wind instrument, with over 40 thousand years.

The native tribes, living in the northern part of Australia used first this instrument made of
wood to communicate with a spiritual world. The colonizers named it Didgeridoo because of
its strange sound. But in reality, the original name was Yidaki.

The history of the ukulele begins on an island, but not in Hawaii, it all began in Madeira.

In 1850, Madeira wasn’t such a great place to be. Poverty, famine, and a series of natural
disasters that led to the collapse of the wine industry made the island a better place for
emigration. But in Hawaii, after decades of European colonization and introduced diseases, the
native population was in decline, so there weren’t enough employees to work in the
plantations and factories. So with promises of a better life in Hawaii, thousands of Madeirans
went to the Promised Land.

Among the more than 25,000 Madeirans who came to Hawaii there were three woodworkers
from Funchal: Manuel Nunes, Augusto Dias, José Espírito Santo that were delighting the
people with nightly street concerts using a strange guitar, a ukulele. This instrument became
so famous, that a year later Nunes had opened this own shop of guitars and had started his
music lessons.