The Surprising History of the Ukulele

Today, the ukulele—a small, four-stringed instrument resembling a miniature guitar—is as closely associated with Hawaii as hula dancing, flower leis and macadamia nuts. But the instrument’s history begins thousands of miles away from the Hawaiian Islands.

“For something that’s so popular, it’s one of the most misunderstood instruments that’s ever been,” says Matthew W. Hill, Gretsch curator at the Georgia Southern University Museum.

In part that’s because the ukulele’s story began more than 7,000 miles from Hawaii, on a small Portuguese island in the Atlantic.

Hill, who has spent years studying the history of the ukulele and plays one himself, believes the instrument probably came to Hawaii with laborers from the Madeira Islands of Portugal who’d been hired by plantation owners to work in sugarcane fields.

The islands, situated in the Atlantic Ocean about 300 miles off the west coast of Africa, were colonized in the 15th century by Portuguese settlers, who brought their traditional instruments with them. Over time, those instruments evolved into distinct forms unique to Madeira. Among them was the machete, a four-stringed instrument widely considered the closest ancestor of the Hawaiian ukulele.

A September 1879 article in the Hawaiian Gazette, Hill says, reported that the “Madeira islanders who recently arrived here have been delighting the people with nightly street concerts,” and described their “strange instruments, which are a kind of cross between a guitar and a banjo but which produce very sweet music.”

Word of this musical marvel soon reached Hawaii’s royal family, including King David Kalakaua, the islands’ “Merrie Monarch.” A musician himself, Kalakaua took up the ukulele, encouraged other Hawaiian musicians to play it and showcased the instrument at royal gatherings. At a time when foreign powers were exerting influence in Hawaii and across the Pacific, Kalakaua’s embrace of the ukulele was part of his broader effort to promote Hawaiian culture and strengthen a sense of national identity.

Portuguese immigrants skilled in woodworking soon began making the instruments from local Hawaiian woods. Meanwhile, Hawaiians renamed the instrument "ukulele." The Hawaiian words uku and lele can be translated as “flea” and “jump,” giving rise to the meaning “jumping flea.” Theories abound as to why they chose that name, but nobody knows for sure.

As ties between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland grew, so did American interest in Hawaiian culture. At the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, a Hawaiian musical group gave what Hill says is the first documented ukulele performance on the U.S. mainland. Five years later, Hawaii was annexed by the United States. Five years later, Hawaii was annexed by the United States. It became a self-governing territory in 1900 and the 50th state in 1959.

The ukulele continued to win over American audiences. In 1912, Hawaiian musicians were featured in the Broadway play “The Bird of Paradise." From there, Hill says, Hawaiian songs and ukuleles spread to college glee clubs on the East Coast.

By the 1920s, the ukulele had crossed over from Hawaiian music to all kinds of popular tunes and become a common sight in concert halls and on vaudeville stages. “The uke was ubiquitous in vaud at least through the twenties,” vaudeville historian Trav S.D. wrote in his 2005 book, No Applause—Just Throw Money, “and any number of peppy warblers with a modicum of musicality accompanied themselves on said micro-instrument.”

The songwriters of Tin Pan Alley churned out tunes like “Ukulele Sweetheart,” “Ukulele Blues” and “Oh How She Could Play a Ukulele.” Cliff Edwards, a singer and ukulele player known as "Ukulele Ike," became one of the most successful entertainers of the era, as well an early musical film star. His 1929 recording of “Singin’ in the Rain” became a hit.

Ukuleles appear in at least two of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s stories, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” (1920) and “May Day” (1922).

The ukulele’s popularity dropped off with the Great Depression, Hill says, perhaps because it no longer suited the somber national mood. But the instrument's popularity was revived after World War II, when soldiers and sailors who had been stationed in Hawaii brought ukes back home with them.

In the 1950s, the ukulele was embraced by Arthur Godfrey, who simultaneously hosted two popular weekly TV shows and a daily national radio program. Godfrey delighted in playing his ukulele and singing its praises on the air. In 1950, he even hosted a short-lived television program called “Arthur Godfrey and His Ukulele,” in which he offered 15-minute ukulele lessons to viewers. According to the Ukulele Hall of Fame, where Godfrey is an inductee, “sales of all types of ukulele soared and Godfrey’s endorsement helped sell millions of the newly introduced plastic ukulele models.”

Among Godfrey’s many listeners was an aspiring young entertainer named Herbert Khaury. “It was because Mr. Godfrey played the ukulele that I began to play myself,” he recalled. By the 1960s, Khaury was going by the name Tiny Tim and performing all over the country and on TV with a ukulele he carried in a shopping bag. His ukulele rendition of “Tip-Toe Thru' The Tulips With Me,” sung in his trademark falsetto, would become a surprise hit in 1968.

Even Beatle musician George Harrison became entranced by the ukulele. He was known for buying large numbers of ukes and giving them out to friends. “Sometimes if you’d go ’round to George’s house, after you’d had dinner the ukuleles would come out,” Paul McCartney recalled at a 2002 tribute concert.

More than a century after it first caught on in Hawaii, new generations are still discovering the uke's appeal. The ukulele saw its most recent revival during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hill says, when many Americans were stuck at home and looking for new hobbies.

“It really is the people’s instrument,” Hills says. “It’s accessible, and people don’t feel intimidated trying to play it.”