What is the Venezuelan Cuatro?
Originating from the plains shared between Venezuela and Colombia, the Venezuelan cuatro is a string musical instrument. It holds a special place in the heart of Venezuela as the national instrument. The Cuatro is prominently used in Joropo, a folk music style popular in the plains, but it also finds use in various other regions of Venezuela.
In addition to Venezuela, the instrument can also be found in some Caribbean islands, including Aruba and Trinidad & Tobago, where it is used to play Parang, the traditional Christmas music in Trinidad.
Why is this string instrument called Venezuelan Cuatro?
This stringed instrument, commonly referred to as the Venezuelan Cuatro due to its widespread use in Venezuela, is originally known simply as the Cuatro. It has been a staple of folk music in many countries for centuries, including Colombia where it is called the Cuatro Llanero. The Cuatro also plays a significant role in the traditional Christmas music of Trinidad, Aruba, and other Caribbean islands, where it is used for Parang (Parranda) festivities. The instrument is particularly popular in the region known as Los Llanos, which spans across Colombia and Venezuela, and is often used to play Joropo or Joropo Llanero music.
Venezuelan Cuatro or Colombian Cuatro?
The first thing to note is that the musical instrument that TuCuatro exposes to the world is known as a Venezuelan Cuatro, mostly because it is being used in almost all of the typical genres inside this country. Nevertheless, the instrument is one of the most important musical instruments in the plains of Colombia, and it is also part of their culture and roots.
Many people inside and outside Venezuela refer to it as the Venezuelan Cuatro. Nevertheless, the instrument is also called the Colombian Cuatro at times. In other Caribbean Countries, they refer to it simply as the Cuatro. Especially in those countries where the official language is not Spanish.
For this reason, we will be referring to it as the Cuatro. When the Cuatro was first created, it was a spin-off of a guitarron and Venezuela or Colombia did not even exist at the time.
At TuCuatro, we will try to simplify things with no label throughout the courses, and call it the Cuatro in most cases. It is important to note, though, that some of our teachers and professional musicians creating courses for TuCuatro, can still call it Venezuelan Cuatro, or Colombian Cuatro.
Notable Features of the Cuatro
The Cuatro is a four-string instrument originating in the northern areas of South American and the Caribbean. Many instruments have four strings, but this one has some very specific characteristics as far as how it looks and how it is played. The first characteristic we can pinpoint on the Cuatro is the pickguard or fingerboard which covers the top half of the instrument. Typically this is made with a different kind of wood and it gives the instrument a distinctive look to it.
Shape and Size of a Venezuelan Cuatro String Instrument
How about the size of the Cuatro? Well, it is not as small as a Ukulele and not as big as a guitar, but the sound of the instrument makes it seem as if it is a heavyweight as it has a very rich sound. The instrument can be played very comfortably either standing up with no strap or sitting down. We will take you through all of the different parts of the Cuatro, the music of origin and where it is currently played.
How to learn to play the Cuatro?
This musical instrument has captivated a lot of people globally. If you’re interested in learning how to play it, TuCuatro has made available a variety of free courses and lessons so we can help spread the knowledge on how to play a Cuatro to many other countries, besides Venezuela, Colombia and the Caribbean Islands.
All of the courses are published at our website, and you can start going through the material right now, as all of the courses are of free access, thanks to the kindness of many professional musicians and cuatro players that have made available hundreds of lessons and material to help with the spreading of the cuatro knowledge.
Kindly visit our Venezuelan Cuatro Courses and pick the ones that most fit your playing style or your interest:
