cuatro
Quick Summary
The cuatro is a Puerto Rican stringed instrument that resembles a small guitar. Its name, meaning "four" in Spanish, comes from its four courses of strings.1
In Puerto Rican traditional music, the cuatro plays the melody alongside the singer, while a guitar provides harmony and percussion instruments like the guiro and timbales create the rhythm. The cuatro is also found in various blends of African, European, and indigenous traditions in North and South America, often alongside guitars.2
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stringed instrumentThe production of sound…and often the Puerto Rican cuatro (a lute)—the bodies of most wooden instruments are constructed from multiple pieces of wood. The instruments are built up of many pieces of wood glued together; the shaping of curved pieces is accomplished by gouging and planing (as in the belly of the violin)…
Read More…and often the Puerto Rican cuatro (a lute)—the bodies of most wooden instruments are constructed from multiple pieces of wood. The instruments are built up of many pieces of wood glued together; the shaping of curved pieces is accomplished by gouging and planing (as in the belly of the violin)…
Read More- stringed instrumentLutes
…belly of the Puerto Rican cuatro is best constructed from wood from a female jagrumo tree that has been well seasoned and, if possible, taken from an old house.) Since the late 20th century, synthetic materials have largely replaced skin bellies.
Read More…belly of the Puerto Rican cuatro is best constructed from wood from a female jagrumo tree that has been well seasoned and, if possible, taken from an old house.) Since the late 20th century, synthetic materials have largely replaced skin bellies.
Read More - stringed instrumentEnsembles
…with 5 double courses (cuatro) plays the melody with the singer, and the scraper (guiro) and drums (timbales) produce the rhythmic part. Among the Imazighen (Berbers) of North Africa, groups of itinerant professional musicians typically play one or two gimbrī (lutes), a one-stringed fiddle (rendering a highly adorned melody),…
Read More…with 5 double courses (cuatro) plays the melody with the singer, and the scraper (guiro) and drums (timbales) produce the rhythmic part. Among the Imazighen (Berbers) of North Africa, groups of itinerant professional musicians typically play one or two gimbrī (lutes), a one-stringed fiddle (rendering a highly adorned melody),…
Read More - stringed instrumentArtistry in instrument making
…gimbrī, and the Puerto Rican cuatro. Existing side by side with this technique is another, in which the lute is made out of a kind of composite box in which any angular or curved portions are fashioned by heating and bending the wood (common examples include the violin and the…
Read More…gimbrī, and the Puerto Rican cuatro. Existing side by side with this technique is another, in which the lute is made out of a kind of composite box in which any angular or curved portions are fashioned by heating and bending the wood (common examples include the violin and the…
Read More