The Puerto Rican cuatro (Spanish: cuatro puertorriqueño) is the national instrument of Puerto Rico. It belongs to the lute family of string instruments, and is guitar-like in function, but with a shape closer to that of the violin. The word cuatro means "four", which was the total number of strings of the earliest Puerto Rican instrument known by the cuatro name.
The current cuatro has ten strings in five courses, tuned, in fourths, from low to high B3 B2♦E4 E3♦A3 A3♦D4 D4♦G4 G4 (note that the bottom two pairs are in octaves, while the top three pairs are tuned in unison), and a scale length of 500-520 millimetres.
The cuatro is the most familiar of the three instruments which make up the Puerto Rican jíbaro orchestra (the cuatro, the tiple and the bordonúa).
A cuatro player is called a cuatrista. This instrument has had its prominent performers like Edwin Colón Zayas, Yomo Toro, Iluminado Davila Medina and the maestro Maso Rivera.
History
Very little is known about the exact origin of the cuatro. However, most experts believe that the cuatro has existed on the island in one form or another for about 400 years. The Spanish instrument that it is most closely related to is the vihuela poblana (also known as the Medieval/Renaissance guitar), which had four courses, two strings each for eight strings in total as well as the Spanish Medieval/Renaissance four-course and the Spanish laúd, particularly in the Canary Islands.
There was a "cuatro antiguo" which had four single strings, then eight strings in four doubled courses, and then the modern cuatro with five double courses. Despite the name, however, the origins are not clear.
Types of Puerto Rican cuatros
There are three main types of cuatro: cuatro antiguo of four orders and four strings, the "Southern" cuatro of four orders and eight strings, and the cuatro "moderno" of five orders and ten strings.
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 like a guitar and had four pairs of steel strings. It was used to play salon genres like the mazurka, danza, waltz, polka, etc. The ten string cuatro "moderno": This cuatro evolved from the Baroque era ten string bandurria and laúd from Spain. It is made from a single block of wood and it has five pairs of steel strings. It is the most commonly used today and is used to play jíbaro music, salon genres, salsa, pop, rock, classical, jazz, and even American bluegrass and many more styles.
Cuatro shapes, sizes and variants
Sound Box designs
The antiguo design: This box resembles a medieval keyhole, also known as cuatro cuadrao, or cuatro araña. This shape has been found on some old dotars and citolas. Four-string, eight-string and ten-string cuatros were made using this design. This was the very first design and it might be 400 years old. Sometimes some ten-string cuatros are still made with this design. The aviolinado design: This box resembles a violin. It is the most common shape used today. Eight string and ten-string cuatros were made using this design starting in the 19th century. The dos puntos design: This box looked like some old mandolinas made by Martin in the United States during the 20th century. However, it was first used in the 19th century in Yauco, Puerto Rico. Eight string cuatros were made using this design. The tulipán design: This box looked like the antiguo design but with no straight lines and all curves and thus resembled a tulip. Eight-string and ten-string cuatros were made using this design during the 1900s near Yauco and Ponce. The higuera design: This is the rarest design. This box was shaped like an organic oval. This was because the soundboxes were made from domed gourds instead of wood. Four-string cuatros were made using this design in the 19th century in Puerto Rico by enslaved Africans on the island. Now they are made with ten metal strings and often have designs carved onto their backs. Besides these, many other lesser-known and one-of-a-kind designs also exist.