Instruments
If you ask most any Puerto Rican to name all the traditional stringed instruments of the Island, the most probable response would be, “you mean, there’s more than one?”
Every Puerto Rican knows well the national instrument, the Cuatro. But, indeed, are there are more?
Truly, there are—and there were—more. Puerto Rican Cuatro Project is in the forefront of a widely-based effort to discover and promote a wonderful bouquet of native stringed instruments that once flowered all around the Island, but which did not survive into the modern era.
Now, after almost a century of neglect, Puerto Ricans are starting to recognize and appreciate these rare gems anew. But this didn’t happen by magic—rather it was a result of the efforts of a small band of artisans, musicians and researchers dedicated to rediscover, reveal and promote this “lost history.”
Here we present the product of our efforts: the flowers of this Puerto Rican bouquet.
Puerto Rico not only has a cuatro. Indeed, it has an entire bouquet of traditional stringed instruments.
The Cuatro
The Cuatro first appeared as a rustic four-stringed instrument—hence it’s name— and as the centuries passed, Puerto Ricans progressively added more strings to it, culminating ultimately in the modern ten-stringed instrument.
The Tiples
The Tiple is the most ancient member of the family of Puerto Rican native stringed instruments. Tiples were used predominantly in the Island’s most isolated communities, usually to accompany sacred songs.
The Bordonúas
Recent evidence suggests that the curious, large folk guitar that survives into modern times with the name bordonúa—is not the 19th century bordonua—but rather descends from another Puerto Rican stringed instrument.
The Vihuela-Bordonúa
This ancient Puerto Rican melody instrument came to be called Bordonúa in the twentieth-century—although the Cuatro Project proposes that it is not the old Puerto Rican Bordonúa described in the 19th century—but instead, its parent is probably the forgotten Puerto Rican Vihuela.
Other Puerto Rican Strings
Learn about additional instruments like The Cuban-Puerto Rican tres, The Jíbaro guitars The Taíno Jabao O Babao , The “Cuatrés”.
Instruments Of Latin America
Explore Puerto Rico’s most distinguished folk-instrument makers.
The Small Bordonúa
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Seis chorreao
If you ask most any Puerto Rican to name all the traditional stringed instruments of the Island, the most probable response would be, “you mean, there’s more than one?”