What is "cavaquinho"

n. A small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings.

The cavaquinho (pronounced 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.