Brazilian Cavaquinho

Brazilian Cavaquinho aka Cavaco
The Brazilian Cavaquinho or Cavaco as it has become known, is not directly related to the Ukulele but does come from the same Portuguese root instrument the Cavaquinho.

The Brazilian Cavaquinho history is for the most part fairly simple. It came across as the Cavaquinho from Portugal with the colonists and being small it was easily carried to all of the settlements around the country. Because of the nature of the colonisation with only Portugal sending the the European element, who employed West Africans as slaves, (so heavily subjugating their culture), and not integrating with the local population at all, outside influences on the instrument were very few. The rise of Samba as a dominant musical theme throughout Brazil brought with it the almost percussive use of the Cavaquinho as a rhythm instrument and so popularised it in the culture of Brazil. Quite why the body size of the Brazilian Cavaquinho grew is not documented but the fashion for this size of Cavaquinho followed the Samba as the instrument to play.

As the name suggests it is produced and used mainly in Brazil, but the idea was exported to the Cape Verde Islands in the 1930's, then back in Portugal too, (and Musikalia in Italy makes some as part of its collection of world instruments). The manufacture has now gone over to the big Chinese instrument makers who make them for export, (mainly back to Brazil).

The Cavaco itself has a scale of around 350mm (14in) is usually steel strung, (some of the Chinese made ones are nylon strung), and is suppose to be tuned D~G~B~D. Though the scale length can vary from about 330mm to 370mm (13½ to 14½in - so in Ukulele terms between a Soprano and a small Concert Scale though they generally veer toward the smaller end of the scale). They are all considered the same with no larger or smaller scale variants. The instrument body however is noticeably larger that an equivalent Portuguese Cavaquinho or Ukulele, being much wider, a bit longer and usually deeper too. It usually has a thinner, more Mandolin like neck and comes with a zero fret, no truss rod and a fretboard that overlaps the body and runs down to the sound hole. For most of its existence and still in the majority made today, there is a very traditional look; Figure 8 shape, large central circular sound hole with a large rosette around it, saddled bridge glued to the soundboard, slot head headstock, spruce, cedar or occasionally pine soundboard with darker mahogany, rosewood or similar back and sides. This tradition is breaking down a bit now with things like moving the sound hole, cutaways and decorated soundboards, but its still not as free as some of the Guitar and Ukulele designs. There are also some solid body electric Cavacos being made and these definitely go more along the electric guitar line in terms of design.

The Cavaco is still very popular in Brazil, far more so than the Ukulele, and so is widely made there. It is much easier to find them on sale or find local luthiers who make them than it is a Ukulele. However because the Cavaco is much less famous outside of Brazil that the Ukulele, as soon as they are taken from Brazil they are usually assumed to be Ukuleles.

Though there are no alternative scales for the Cavaco there are three major variants, The Banjo Cavaco, the Cavaco Vibrante and the Cape Verde Cavaquinho.

Banjo Cavco
The Banjo Cavaco was developed like all Banjo related instruments as a way of making it louder in the era before electronic amplification. Banjo Cavacos are usually very traditional in their look but their tradition goes back to the Portuguese Banjo instruments so they are all bracketless and enclosed with a metal resonator extension grill that is set flush to the, (usually quite large), Banjo head.

Cavaco Vibrante
The Cavaco Vibrante was also developed as an attempt to increase the acoustic volume in much the same way as in Cone Resonator instruments, however it is a truly Brazilian invention and nothing directly to do with the Doperya Brothers inventions, (it may have been inspired by them?). Quite how it works I don't know? But apparently it doesn't work as well as a traditional US cone resonator which is the main reason the technology has never travelled outside of Brazil, and these days you often see them with a pickup as well. I have never seen a Cavaco made with a metal Resonator body, or even a wooden body with the usual US cone resonator?

Cape Verde Cavaquinho
The Cape Verde Cavaquinho, (or Cabo Verde Cavaquinho if you prefer the local pronunciation), is pretty much the same as the Brazilian Cavaquinho that arrived in the 1930's with incoming Brazilian labourers, (The Cape Verde Islands were uninhabited before the Portuguese found them so there was no native labour and Brazilian labourers were better educated than African labourers and already spoke Portuguese). The only real difference is the country of manufacture, (a bit like Madeira with the Braguinha), and usually a wider neck. There is no local mass production of Cape Verde Cavaquinhos so all of the real examples are hand made by local luthiers. Some mainland Portuguese firms like APC include them in their catalogue but these are made in Portugal and just called Cape Verde Cavaquinhos.