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Cuatro

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Description
The modern cuatro is a five double-string guitar-like instrument used to play música jíbara, Puerto Rican country music. In this unusual example, the dried, woody fruit of the higüero tree, a material more commonly used in the fabrication of maracas or güiros, comprises the main body of the instrument. The archaic cuatro had only four strings (sometimes doubled), like the example here. In the early 20th century, Puerto Rican musicians on the northern part of the island revamped the cuatro and added up to six more metal strings to allow for heightened virtuosity.
Description (Spanish)
El cuatro moderno es un instrumento parecido a la guitarra, con cinco cuerdas dobles, que se usa para tocar música jíbara, es decir, música campesina de Puerto Rico. En este ejemplo poco usual, el cuerpo principal del instrumento está hecho con el fruto seco del higüero, material que por lo general se emplea en la fabricación de maracas o güiros. El cuatro arcaico estaba dotado de solo cuatro cuerdas (a veces dobles), como en este caso. A principios del siglo XX, los músicos del norte de Puerto Rico modernizaron el cuatro y le agregaron hasta seis cuerdas más que permiten destacar el virtuosismo el intérprete.
Credit Line
Gift of Teodoro Vidal
20th century
ID Number
1997.0097.1082
accession number
1997.0097
catalog number
1997.0097.1082
Object Name
cuatro
Physical Description
wood (overall material)
metal (overall material)
bone (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 64.2 cm x 24.8 cm x 12.3 cm; 25 1/4 in x 9 3/4 in x 4 13/16 in
Place Made
Puerto Rico
See more items in
Home and Community Life: Ethnic
Music & Musical Instruments
Cultures & Communities
Vidal
Exhibition
¡Presente!
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
Title
Cuatro
National Museum of American History
Record ID
nmah_602451
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a4-4999-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

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