Puerto Rican Cuatro Antiguo - Smithsonian Music
The cuatro is a traditional Puerto Rican string instrument. Until the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, the cuatro had four gut strings (hence the name) and a characteristic inverted key-hole shape. This instrument collected in Ponce in 1899 following the Spanish-American War is a rare and well-preserved example.
Puerto Rican cuatro - Wikipedia
The four string cuatro antiguo: This is the original Puerto Rican cuatro. It was made from a single block of wood and used four gut strings. This instrument may have evolved from the vihuela poblana. It was used to mostly play jíbaro music. The eight-string "Southern" cuatro: This cuatro evolved from the old four-string cuatro. It was made ...
The cuatros | El Proyecto del Cuatro /The Cuatro Project
The early tradition of the cuatro begins with the four-single-string cuatro, the oldest form of the instrument. The instrument's four strings--usually made of dried strips of small-animal guts (or strips of rawhide) were usually tuned, A E a d . from low to high, separated by intervals of 5-4-4.
The cuatro´s story | El Proyecto del Cuatro /The Cuatro Project
The "early" cuatro or cuatro antiguo once had a peculiar, keyhole-shaped soundbox and was strung with four single strings made from animal guts--hence it's name cuatro-- or "four." Its tuning and stringing-- originally derived from a primitive modal form of tuning dating back to 15th century Spain-- remained unchanged on the Island for centuries.
Welcome | El Proyecto del Cuatro /The Cuatro Project
Known as the Jimi Hendrix of the small, ten stringed Puerto Rican cuatro, the "funky Jibaro" (hillbilly) was an icon of Puerto Rican culture and a Fania All-Star bringing the national instrument of the island into the commercial "salsa" world with his many recordings and compositions.
Cuatro - National Museum of American History
Smithsonian curator Paul Beckwith acquired this cuatro in 1898-99 in Ponce, Puerto Rico, shortly after the Spanish-American War. This instrument is an example of the “old style” (“antiguo”) cuatro with four strings and a keyhole shape.
Cuatro (instrument) - Wikipedia
The cuatro is a family of Latin American string instruments played in Colombia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other Latin American countries. It is derived from the Spanish guitar . Although some have viola -like shapes, most cuatros resemble a small to mid-sized classical guitar .
Ataca Yomo!”: A close-up look at Yomo Toro’s cuatro
An old style keyhole shaped cuatro with four strings collected by the Smithsonian in the late 1890s. ( CL.201482a ) Yomo Toro learned to play this type of cuatro from his father, a truck driver for the South Porto Rico Sugar Company Central Guánica and part-time musician.
A Short History of the Cuatro – Soundscapes
The cuatro—also the word for “four” in Spanish—was originally a four-stringed instrument roughly fashioned in the mountains and hills of Puerto Rico by the Taíno natives, European misfits, and runaway slaves who escaped to the interior beginning in the 16th century to get away from the Spanish colonists at the coasts.
The Cuatro - National Museum of the American Latino
The cuatro is Puerto Rico’s best-known stringed instrument. It is used mostly to play música jíbara, the island’s country music. This guitar-like instrument is unique to Puerto Rico, although it has musical cousins across Latin America.