Ukeleles have become the state instrument of Hawaii.

Ukeleles have become one of the state instruments of Hawaii. Image by pixelsuite / CC BY 2.0

Hawaii lawmakers have recently passed a bill highlighting the ukulele and the pahu – a type of Hawaiian drum – as the state’s official musical instruments. Previously, a similar bill was dropped after critics suggested the ukulele wasn’t ‘Hawaiian’ enough. This time around, lawmakers allowed local students to vote on the matter as part of a project to increase civic engagement in kids. The ukulele became the favourite ‘modern’ Hawaiian instrument by a wide margin, while the pahu took the top category in ‘Traditional’ Hawaiian instruments, beating out the ipu heke (a gourd drum) by just a few thousand votes. Read more: kitv.com