Cuatro (musical instrument)

Male singing with the four for money in the vicinity of Hotel Humboldt, Caracas, Venezuela

The cuatro is a four-stringed instrument of colonial origin from the guitar family that is used in all the folkloric rhythms of Venezuela such as the Joropo, the bagpipes and the calypso of El Callao. It is totally different from the Puerto Rican cuatro, which has five double strings, that is, a double fifth.

Structure of four

• Head or head: It is at the end of the handle and carries the claws responsible for giving tension to the ropes.
• Diapas: It is as it is known to the surface of the handle where the frets are located, and where the performer treads the ropes in order to produce some or other chords.
• Harmonic box: Hollow wooden body that forms a main part of the string instruments. They form a background, sideways or sideways, and a lid.
• Clavija: Small piece of wood or metal that is used to tighten the strings of a musical instrument.
• Bunny: Piece of wood or bone in which the ropes are supported just leave the claws. It serves to give the ropes the right vibrant length.
• Traste: It is what the subdivisions of the fingerboard are called between bar and bar. Curiously, the word traste in origin designates only the bars, without taking into account the intermediate space (see traste)
• Barras:(originally trastes) are the divisions perpendicular to the strings that are found on the fours fingerboard, usually of metal and separate the frets. They are metal parts that are manufactured with a chromium alloy, nickel and steel, or wood or trim. They are fitted or placed on the fingerboard, transversally to the handle. Its function is that, by stepping on the ropes with the left hand, they are supported in the bars and vibrate from a well-defined point and that sounds clear. If there were no bars, it would happen that the interpreter would have to be calculating the exact position of each finger on each string so that the chord would sound fine, in addition to that the fingers, being soft, turn off the sound and remove it bright.
• Tapa: Piece that closes at the top of the four.
• Boca: is the opening or hole of the four to reflect or increase the sound.
• Pills: Hilo made of nylon that, by vibration, produces the sounds in certain musical instruments.
• Bridge: tablet that keeps the strings of the four and other string instruments up

Four Puerto Rican

El Cuatro Puertorriqueño, en el Sector de los Trabajadores de Puerto de Tierra, San Juan, Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rican cuatro, although it may seem contradictory, consists of five orders, that is, five double strings. The instrument retains its name because, originally, it had four orders of double strings. The Puerto Rican cuatro is somewhat related to the Spanish vihuela. Its tuning matches that of the five-string bass (si-mi-la-re-sol).

Throughout its history, this instrument has had outstanding performers such as Ladislao Martínez Otero (known as El Maestro Ladí), Edwin Colón Zayas, Yomo Toro, Ernie Miranda, Pedro Guzmán and the virtuoso teachers Maso Rivera and Nieves Quintero.

Four Venezuelan

Four Venezuelans.

The Venezuelan cuatro, also known as the cuatro llanero or cuatro tradicional, is used in the execution of Venezuelan rhythms among which stand out the most: the orchid, the joropo, the Venezuelan merengue, the gaita de furro, the central parranda, the waltz, the calypso of callao, and the Christmas bonus. The cuatro is an inseparable part of the typical llanera music ensembles, together with the Venezuelan harp (or bandola, depending on the case) and the maracas. It was also used as an accompaniment to milking songs, which gave rise to the Venezuelan tune. It usually has an accompaniment function, although it can also occupy a solo position, as a concert instrument, in some cases (generally, outside the scope of the aforementioned llanera music).

It is usually played by strumming the strings with the right hand and making chords with the left hand. Standard tuning does not allow for many departures from this scheme, so it is sometimes necessary to change the tuning to reach new melodic possibilities, as in the case of solo cuatro.

Some performers noted for their virtuosity and development on the instrument are Jacinto Perez (El Rey del Cuatro), César del Ávila, who came to give concerts in Russia and other European countries, also famous for his ability to play the maracas that he tied to his feet. He is the creator of El Pavo Real (popularized by José Luis Rodríguez in the 70s). They are followed by Fredy Reyna, Enio Escauriza, Sir Augusto Ramírez, Hernán Gamboa, Cheo Hurtado, Jacinto Pérez, Proto López, Miguel Siso, Carlos Capacho, Nelsón González and Jorge Glem. We also find singers who have made the and for the cuatro a point of reference -and an almost inseparable part at times- in their artistic careers, among them we can mention Simón Díaz, Alí Primera, Gualberto Ibarreto, Cecilia Todd and more recently El Pollo Brito. Without leaving out some emblematic groups such as Los Anauco, Serenata Guayanesa, the Quinteto Contrapunto, Ensamble Gurrufío, El Cuarteto and recently C4 Trío and Grupo la Zaranda.

In 2013, the cuatro was declared Cultural Heritage of Venezuela as it was considered "as an element of integration of expressions, cultural and musical manifestations that identify the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and that represent our cultural identity due to its wide diffusion and acceptance in the community”.