Cavaquinho
The cavaquinho (pronounced [kɐvɐˈkiɲu] in Portuguese) is a small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings. A cavaquinho player is called a cavaquista.
The most common tuning is D-G-B-D (from lower to higher pitches); other tunings include D-A-B-E (Portuguese ancient tuning, made popular by Júlio Pereira) and G-G-B-D and A-A-C#-E. Guitarists often use D-G-B-E tuning to emulate the highest four strings of the guitar (also the same tuning as the baritone ukulele). The G-C-E-A tuning is sometimes used to emulate the soprano/tenor ukulele, an instrument developed from the braguinha and rajão, brought to Hawaii by Portuguese immigrants, from Madeira Island, in the late 19th century.
Origins
The origins of this Portuguese instrument are not easily found. Gonçalo Sampaio, who explains the survival of Minho region’s archaic and Hellenistic modes by possible Greek influences on the ancient Gallaeci of the region, stresses the link between this instrument and historical Hellenistic tetrachords. The author holds that the cavaquinho and the guitar may have been brought to Braga by the Biscayans.
Podcasts:
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by Guardian
Coffee Can
by: GuardianEach night the dream began
We were sitting here, waiting on our coffee cans
Eyes fixed upon the skies
I was thinking of you, and if I qualified
Then when the trumpet blew
The reality hit, this wasn't pay-per-view
My can lifted up and out
'Til the siren wailed, and a megaphone shouted
Pull that bucket over
Let me see your registration
You'll be questioned at the station
By a good cop, bad cop
If they find you guilty
They'll impound your can in hades
Where the grounded lads and ladies
Had it good 'til the last drop
And I watched the others fly
On their coffee cans, as they waived goodbye
Freed from the earthly grind
They had escaped the roast, I'd been identified
Dream police, nowhere to be found
I was left choking on the muddy grounds
I calmed down and reached for my pez
But the head on the dispenser was Juan Valdez
Pull that bucket over
Let me see your registration
You'll be questioned at the station
By a good cop, bad cop
If they find you guilty
They'll impound your can in hades
Where the grounded lads and ladies
Had it good 'til the last drop
Tossing in my sleep again
The metaphor was wearing thin
Until my nightmare stretched
It even more
Lord, You placed the bitter cup
Against Your lips, and drank it up
To bring me where You are
I can't believe I've wandered off this far
Woke up and smeeled the coffee
I don't like what caffeine does to me
God's got a pull, I've felt first hand
I've gotta stop believing my coffee can
Pull that bucket over
Let me see your registration
You'll be questioned at the station
By a good cop, bad cop
If they find you guilty
They'll impound your can in hades
Where the grounded lads and ladies
Had it good 'til the last drop
Bad dream, but I understand