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?”

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.