Two string instruments that form the basis for Portuguese and Latin American music, the fado guitar and cavaquinho especially are also featured in styles across the world. They form a beautiful and compelling pair for the ORIGINS VOL. 8 traditional strings plugin. The cheerful strums of the cavaquinho make for the perfect bed upon which lie the soulful melodies of the fado guitar.

Traditionally performed in the dark city squares of Coimbra and Lisbon, fado is always accompanied by the metallic plucks and graceful slides of this special and timeless lute guitar. Also known as the Portuguese guitar, it has twelve steel strings set in pairs. With roots in old medieval music, it was played by troubadours and wandering musicians alike, spreading to the theater and taverns alike and now used not only in Portugal but across South America.

Cavaquinho is the mother of a whole family of smaller-sized strumming instruments. It brought to the world the ukulele, and still serves as the primary bringer of joy and rhythm in songs across Latin America, especially in Brazil and Venezuela and very important in samba and choro music. It was introduced to Brazil by the Portuguese, and from there reached across the world, becoming a treasure in island cultures from Cape Verde to Hawaii.