As the Spanish colonized the islands of the Caribbean they brought many things, including musical instruments. Unique to Puerto Rico, and the one for which greatest number of adaptations and compositions have been written, is the cuatro, a guitar-like instrument. Usually carved from solid blocks of laurel wood and known for resonances and pitches different from those produced by its Spanish counterpart, this instruments graceful baroque body has been revered for decades as the national instrument of Puerto Rico.
The cuatro was the instrument of the jibaro, rural farmers, and also the name of the music they played on cuatros and guitars and güiros. It also was used to sing aguinaldos, the Puerto Rican Christmas songs, from house to house.
As William Cumpiano, of the Puerto Rican Cuatro Project, so aptly put it, The cuatro holds a central place in Puerto Rico’s cultural iconography, like the bagpipe for the Scot or the harp for the Irish. For many Puerto Ricans, the cuatro represents Puerto Rico. It has inspired its secular and religious festivities, and has provided an anchor for its cultural identity.
Cuatro – Small – 25”
Cuatro – Large – 34”
