Cuatro (instrument)

Any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute families

+ Venezuelan Cuatros
The cuatro is a family of Latin American string instruments played in Colombia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and other Latin American countries. It is derived from the Spanish guitar. Although some have viola like shapes, most cuatros resemble a small to mid sized classical guitar. In Puerto Rico and Venezuela, the cuatro is an ensemble instrument for secular and religious music, and is played at parties and traditional gatherings. Cuatro means four in Spanish; the instrument's 15th century predecessors were the Spanish vihuela and the Portuguese cavaquinho, the latter having four strings like the cuatro. Modern cuatros come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and number of strings. Cuatros can either have single strings, like a guitar, or double or triple coursed strings like a mandolin, and vary in size from a large mandolin or small guitar, to the size of a full size guitar. Depending on their particular stringing, cuatros are part of the guitar or mandolin subfamilies of the lute family.

The Cuban cuatro (cuatro Cubano, or tres cuatro) is similar to a Cuban tres, but with 4 courses of doubled strings, instead of the usual 3 courses. It is usually tuned

Certain variants are considered the national instrument of some countries (e. g., Venezuela). The cuatro is widely used in ensembles in Jamaica, Mexico, and Suriname to accompany singing and dancing. In Trinidad and Tobago it accompanies Parang singers. In Saint Lucia the cuatro is used as an accompanying instrument in traditional Sewenal music at Christmas time.