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| Moderated by: Tony Provencher, Richard Hefner |
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| Cavaquinho | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13th, 2007 08:56 am |
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1st Post |
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Sven Approved 
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Hi all, has anyone seen / played a cavaquinho? From what I can see on the net, they seem to be similar to the uke, but equipped with steel strings. That would imply a somewhat sturdier construction. I don't know if it would work with a re-entrant GCEA tuning, but if it did it would be really cool in the collection. Link: http://www.musikalia.it/en/english2.htm (I'll post this at Uketalk as well, so anyone else interested should check there as well for replies.) All the best / Sven Attachment: 014fr.jpeg (Downloaded 131 times) Last edited on Thu Sep 13th, 2007 08:57 am by Sven |
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13th, 2007 02:04 pm |
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2nd Post |
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Will Approved 
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Sven wrote: Hi all, has anyone seen / played a cavaquinho? From what I can see on the net, they seem to be similar to the uke, but equipped with steel strings. That would imply a somewhat sturdier construction. I don't know if it would work with a re-entrant GCEA tuning, but if it did it would be really cool in the collection. Link: The cavaquinho hails from Portugal and was brought to Brazil and other places around the world, such as Hawaii, by sailors more than a century ago. The body size is about that of a concert ukulele, but it is normally tuned with thin steel strings in a high open-G tuning, DGBD, without the re-entrant string. Guitar players often tune the high D string up to E to get 4-string octave guitar tuning. Many ukelele players restring a cavaquinho with nylon strings in gCEA. In Brazil, the cavaquinho is a very important rhythm instrument in samba music. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavaquinho This dealer carries cavaquinhos made by Giannini, a Brazilian company: http://www.guitarplaza.com/gigbacelca.html
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Sun Sep 16th, 2007 07:06 pm |
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3rd Post |
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Sven Approved
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Will, I want to start out with a general 'thank you'. Your posts are remarkably quick and always packed with info, and links. Many of us benefit from your contributions to this forum. And about the cavaquinho - you say uke players restring them with nylon strings? If I had one I would definitly tune it like a uke, but I would keep the steel strings. I think it would be a nice sidekick to my ukes, that couldn't handle the tension. I wonder how they're built, as top thickness and bracing go. Best regards / Sven
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17th, 2007 12:46 am |
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4th Post |
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Will Approved
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Sven wrote: Will, I want to start out with a general 'thank you'. Your posts are remarkably quick and always packed with info, and links. Many of us benefit from your contributions to this forum. Thank you, Sven. I am very pleased to see how international in scope the ezFolk forum has become - it's really unique amongst so many other musicians' forums. I think a while back, there was a forum thread about the Swedish nyckleharpa. The cavaquinho's steel strings are one full octave higher than a guitar's, so you could just tune the high string up one full step to E. You could slacken the strings to bring them down to low-G ukulele tuning, but then the strings may become too slack, and hard to keep in tune.
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17th, 2007 01:14 am |
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5th Post |
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Charlie Approved 
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Hi Sven, I bought one a couple of years ago and it was a beautiful little instrument, But It was not for my liking. I tried nylon strings on it and it had no volumne with those and went back to steel. I broke a few strings trying for gcea tuning, but had to stay with dgbe. But anyway I ended up selling it Charlie
____________________ Yesterdays Tomorrow is Today http://www.ezfolk.com/audio/charlesculbertson |
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17th, 2007 02:53 am |
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6th Post |
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Will Approved
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Charlie wrote: Hi Sven, I bought one a couple of years ago and it was a beautiful little instrument, But It was not for my liking. I tried nylon strings on it and it had no volumne with those and went back to steel. The low volume problem may be due to the type of bracing the cavaquinho has - it's optimized for the higher tension steel strings rather than nylon.
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17th, 2007 07:59 am |
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7th Post |
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Sven Approved
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Will, Charlie - you have helped me to overcome the urge to look for a cavaquinho. If the two of you put your minds to it, you might come up with the cure for UAS (or at least something to hide the symptoms). Interesting about the heavier bracing that affects the volume. Even in ukuleles, bracing seem to be one of the most crucial factors. I'm gathering information that can help me when I finally get around to start building a tenor. Bye for now / Sven
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17th, 2007 03:25 pm |
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8th Post |
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Mike McLaren Approved
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Hey Will, Have you looked into the resonator ukes? I used to sell 'em when I worked at the music store, but I remember they weren't too pricey. They were loud.
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17th, 2007 04:20 pm |
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9th Post |
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Will Approved
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Mike McLaren wrote: Hey Will, Mike: I've seen a few metal body resonator ukes at the Old Town School of Folk Music's store - they were in the $300 range.
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Fri Nov 16th, 2007 12:04 am |
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10th Post |
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debonnaire Approved
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I have a cavacinho. My wife bought it for me in Sao Paulo. I've tried playing some conventional samba or whatever on it. But if you use banjo tab, and a pick you can really play some smoking bluegrass riffs on those things. And they're loud enough to be heard above a guitar. Last edited on Fri Nov 16th, 2007 12:15 am by debonnaire |
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| Posted: Tue Apr 22nd, 2008 02:53 am |
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11th Post |
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Will Approved
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YouTube videos made by Giannini demonstrating their guitars and cavaquinos. These are the first videos I've seen where the cavaquinho is played as a lead instrument: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYLDut8v6yg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83TlkTtJrIc Last edited on Tue Apr 22nd, 2008 02:59 am by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Sun Apr 27th, 2008 02:07 pm |
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12th Post |
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Dino Approved 
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That's got a nice sound but strumming steel strings like a uke or a flamenco style has gotta be tough on the hands after awhile. I'd definitely use a pick for this instrument.
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| Posted: Tue Dec 30th, 2008 11:00 pm |
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13th Post |
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braguesa Approved
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Hi! I'm a portuguese cavaquinho player and you can listen to some audio clips at http://www.myspace.com/ocavaquinhodoamadeu
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| Posted: Tue Mar 3rd, 2009 11:14 am |
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14th Post |
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ichadwick Approved 
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I've been doing so research into the history of the ukulele and come across the cavaquinho as one of the possible original instruments identified with the uke (along with the machetes and rajao). You can buy one here (and probably other sites): http://www.tdsounds.co.uk/index.php?cName=drums-and-instruments-cavaquinho-cavaco and here's a cavaquinho player: http://choro-music.blogspot.com/2007/06/henrique-cazes-cavaquinho-virtuoso.html Anyone know how it is tuned?
____________________ Ian ------------------------------------------- Ukulele reviews: http://www.ianchadwick.com/essays/ukuleles.htm Harmonica reviews: http://www.ianchadwick.com/essays/harmonicas.htm |
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| Posted: Tue Mar 3rd, 2009 02:00 pm |
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15th Post |
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Will Approved
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ichadwick wrote: I've been doing so research into the history of the ukulele and come across the cavaquinho as one of the possible original instruments identified with the uke (along with the machetes and rajao). You can buy one here (and probably other sites): The cavaquinho's steel strings are usually tuned to an open-G chord (DGBd), one octave higher than a guitar. Guitar players often tune it to DGBe.
____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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| Posted: Wed Nov 11th, 2009 12:57 am |
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16th Post |
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Azoreanguitars Approved
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Hi, I'm portuguese and have researched the Ukulele and its Portuguese roots and all the Portuguese instruments. These roots are for sure, Ask any Portuguese and they will tell there is not doubt. Here is my friend Jose Lucio's web site in Portugal. This Man is a expert and has the larges personal collection on instruments Portuguese and related type that I know of. http://www.jose-lucio.com/Pagina2/Sons%20e%20tons.PDF I have both Uku and Cavaquinhos and I'm a new builder of both. there is no way you can put steel string on a noral uku and you will never get any real nice sound out of a cavaquinho with uku strings on it. I found out the hard way. Portuguese Cavaqnuiho sound boards are 2.5 mm on this instrument you could have a 8 string instrument and bracing does not change. The soundboard on the Cavaquinhos from Brazil is up to 3.0 mm. The bracing on both is real heavy. The Maderan Farm works were offered job in Hawaii and bring the braguinha to hawaii, it came mainland Portgal years before that, now the rajo came from the mainland of Portgual but seems like it not in use anymore. If you would like any Portuguese instruments go to folkreps.com or do a basic google lookup. I have the building info on the both Cavaquinho, brazillian and Portuguese, not braguinha.
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