If you think about ukulele you think of Hawaii and it may have been began in the place and have adapted with the culture. But it was the European; especially the Portuguese that made the stringed instrument and constructed it a backbone at Hawaii.

It is in the 19th century history that you can find how ukuleles started. It was when the Portuguese immigrants arrived in Hawaii to work in sugar cane fields. Their European culture was combined with Hawaii, specifically their music. Their typical musical stringed-instruments, rajao and the braguinha were combined into one to make the ukulele.

The Portuguese immigrants who most likely made the first ukuleles were Manuel Nunes, Jose do Espirito Santo, and Augusto Dias, all of whom were carpenters focusing on cabinet making. These individuals performed nightly concerts with their new instrument, which were popular by all the people who heard them in the street. King David Kalakaua of Hawaii heard about these instruments in 1886 and they came to be known as taro patch fiddles. The king was a devoted player of the fiddle, yet he could not ignore that his chamberlain, Edward Purvis, had a much better grasp of the complexities of the instrument. The chamberlain's nickname was ukulele, which means jumping flea, due to his jumpy mannerisms and antics, and by consequence of his reputation as a taro patch fiddle player, the instrument was colloquially re-named the ukulele.

There are other issues on how the name ukulele first emerged. However it is positive that ukulele means jumping fleas, others state that ukulele was named not because of Edward Purvis. It was reportedly traced from the Portuguese who originally played the instruments.

Right after the positive reception the ukulele gained, one of its creators, Manual Nunes, made a decision to start his own ukulele production company, recognized as M. Nunes and Sons. In the mid-20th century, ukuleles preserved their popularity, with many other companies starting to produce them. Nevertheless, the '70s saw a decline in demand and a huge shutdown in ukulele workshops.

Yet ukulele made its come back again along with lanikai ukulele. The top musical innovators like Israel Kamakawiwo'ole as well as music teacher Michael Carolin made ukulele a part of the music industry again. Music artists nowadays even play ukulele in their songs such as Jason Mraz and Taylor Swift. It’s not only the great music which makes ukulele an amazing instrument but its nice history that gives a wonderful mixture of two cultures which makes it more interesting.

It seems that a vast number of people are capturing the bug- the jumping bug that is! In the current era, the ukulele has once again recaptured people's hearts and ideas.