Cuatro
date: label: Date made
content: 20th century
notes: label: Description
content: The modern <i>cuatro</i> is a five double-string guitar-like instrument used to play <i>música jíbara</i>, Puerto Rican country music. In this unusual example, the dried, woody fruit of the <i>higüero</i> tree, a material more commonly used in the fabrication of maracas or <i>güiros</i>, comprises the main body of the instrument. The archaic <i>cuatro</i> had only four strings (sometimes doubled), like the example here. In the early 20th century, Puerto Rican musicians on the northern part of the island revamped the <i>cuatro</i> and added up to six more metal strings to allow for heightened virtuosity.
label: Description (Spanish)
content: El cuatro moderno es un instrumento parecido a la guitarra, con cinco cuerdas dobles, que se usa para tocar música jíbara, es decir, música campesina de Puerto Rico. En este ejemplo poco usual, el cuerpo principal del instrumento está hecho con el fruto seco del higüero, material que por lo general se emplea en la fabricación de maracas o güiros. El cuatro arcaico estaba dotado de solo cuatro cuerdas (a veces dobles), como en este caso. A principios del siglo XX, los músicos del norte de Puerto Rico modernizaron el cuatro y le agregaron hasta seis cuerdas más que permiten destacar el virtuosismo el intérprete.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: Puerto Rico
title: label: Title
content: <i>Cuatro</i>
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Ethnic
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content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Vidal
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Teodoro Vidal
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1997.0097.1082
label: accession number
content: 1997.0097
label: catalog number
content: 1997.0097.1082
objectType: label: Object Name
content: cuatro
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: bone (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 64.2 cm x 24.8 cm x 12.3 cm; 25 1/4 in x 9 3/4 in x 4 13/16 in