Cuatro Venezolano

Tunings
A cuatro of Venezuela has four lone strings, tuned from low to high A,D, F#, B. This is similar to the traditional 500 tuning of the 'ukulele, but the D and F# are an octave higher. Consequently, a equivalent fingering may be utilized to shape a chords, but it produces the different inversion of both chord.

A cuatro of Puerto Rico has ten strings around 5 courses, tuned from either great to high B, E, The, D & G, by having B & E inside octaves & The, D and G within unisons.

History
A predecessor of the Venezuelan cuatro is the 4-string spanish guitar which disappeared in the 16th century after a short period of billowing popularity. In the 1950s, Fredy Reyna documented a evolution of a renaissance guitar into the Venezuelan cuatro, & reinvented the cuatro when a solo instrument, equally capable of giving traditional Venezuelan music too as Renaissance pieces. A popularity of the instrument within Venezuela & elsewhere (esp. around Hawaii) may be due to the simplicity of the instrument, getting just iv strings, likewise when its compact size.

Playing
A cuatro is particularly designed for strumming: a fingerboard finishes flush by owning the top of a instrument, & the upper half of the healthy board is wholly covered by a scratch shell processed from either hardwood.

A cuatro is likewise widely utilized within Trinidad and Tobago to accompany musical bands at christmas time singing about a birth of christ. This nature and severity of music is known as Parang from the word paranda meaning to make happy. Parang music mixed by owning the calypso flavor has found itself deeply rooted in the culture of the population of this Caribbean country. A language utilize in the songs is mostly Spanish however Patois and English is used as well. This richly builds on a rythmic sounds of this versatile instrument. Some famous cuatro players
Hernán Gamboa – Founding member of Serenata Guayanesa. Left in the 1980s to pursue a solo career. Cheo Hurtado of Ensamble Gurrufío (http://ensamblegurrufio.com.ve/) Leonardo Lozano – Uses a surrogate stringing/tuning from either the school of Fredy Reyna. Raúl Landaeta – Member of the group Rucan-Age. Recorded a solo Video that includes a few interesting arrangements of guitar pieces (the easily-known "Venezuelan Waltz #3" by Lauro & a "Canción Caroreña" by Rodrigo Riera). Rafael Brito