A Step Out of Tradition: "An Instrument's Claim to World Fame"

It's been a while since I came here to talk about anything. Today there cane a stroke of inspiration as I woke up and I decided to do a new thing for me. It's a review about a certain topic that goes unnoticed but it's important.


If you know the traditional music of your country, chances are you think why the main instrument in it isn't famous. It doesn't apply to the instruments that are already famous. For example, the piano was already famous when it was born. As it is an evolution in the line of keyboard instruments. It was also quite expensive but I don't think there's another instrument you might think about when famous tools for music come to mind. Especially when you about the number of compositions that exist at classical level and how it has make its way into almost any kind of music in the world.


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Some instruments have a hard time breaking out of the mold of their intended purpose. Orchestra instruments are such a case. However, around here since many younger musicians are being drawn into traditional music, there's a lot of flutes, violins and other instruments going into the fold to make other types of music. There are better cases. For example, you might not know that the ukulele comes from the Portuguese cavaquinho. It has a similar shape, but the latter has metal strings. It isn't as popular as its offspring, but it hasn't had a lot to do outside of traditional music. It is a popular instrument in Brazil where it is used for samba and choro. But it's stuck there. Unlike the ukulele that you can find all over the world and listen to people making amazing covers of almost any kind of music.

The queen of this breakthrough into fame is no other than the Spanish Guitar. After Antonio de Torres codified the ideas about how to bring this instrument into the modern age, well, it has had a long way to go. Coming out of Spanish tradition to country music and into the whole world. It is a instrument that is used in almost any kind of traditional music around the world (with few exceptions to places where music is mostly played with percussion instruments). It has gotten a place into world music as the most famous plucked-strings instrument.


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If you think about it, almost all instruments with strings are compared to it. Because it is the go-to reference. See a mandolin, Venezuelan Cuatro, Cuban tres, Greek Bouzouki or else, but don't know their names? Well, they are weird guitars.

The whole success of this transition into world fame, goes to the musicians. Some crazy people have had to do something in order to out metal strings into a Spanish Guitar. That guitar must have broken and it was reshaped into the Acoustic guitar. And then, a lot of crazy people have come around and shaped and reshaped it. All with amazing results and giving it more places to go and slight changes into its sound. But the musicians are the ones that experiment. They get the instruments onto new grounds and the magic begins.

A lot of things were done to get guitars out of the traditional music. And it isn't like it stopped being played in that niche. More like it started having more and more niches. And that it's truly amazing.


Things like this are happening for Venezuelan Cuatro. During this century, thanks to the work of popularizers of the traditional instrument in Venezuela, there a lot of new musicians going out of Tradition and experimenting with compositions and bringing the instrument into new niches and doing great with it.

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There's the hope that the Venezuelan Cuatro breaks free from the hold of traditional music and becomes world famous. Some examples of this are the concerts that have been composed for it. Yes, a concert for Venezuelan Cuatro and orchestra. The fusions made by groups and musicians that are keen about getting the instrument into new stages.

Look at this example from the group C4 Trio, s big reference for any Cuatro player in the country and abroad. I want you to take a moment and go into this playlist. You can pick any song and try to understand all the things that are happening. Chances are that if you know traditional Venezuelan music, the sound will be familiar. Nevertheless, there's a plethora of new things happening. Harmonies that weren't usually used, patterns coming from other music. Put simply, a whole new experience for your ears.


The key in this process is experimentation. Once I heard a Venezuelan musician say that our Cuatro will be universal once it stops being the plaything of traditionalists. It's true that change seems to find it hard in Venezuela, but the first steps were already taken by our countrymen. Maybe some new fusions and play styles will come from other people around the world. That will only make it a better experience. But I'll be glad to say that I lived during the age of Venezuelan Cuatro's claim to world fame.

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Absolutely! Everything with strings and a box is a strange guitar! Or a small guitar etc. Guitar is the most universal instrument.. No doubt.
About the ukulele.. Its incredible how it spread around in the last years.. Amazing. And true about the cavaquinho... As the cuatro.. Or the cuban tres.. They kind of seem stuck in their traditional music.

But let me tell you.. Venezuelan cuatro is spreading around now. Here in Buenos Aires I met 3 already! Well.. One was a blend with ukulele strings.

Me myself i'm thinking of jumping to a uku-cuatro!

Cheers my friend, and congratulations for your art.

!luv

Sure thing. There are some instruments out of their niches but without another niche. The Cuban Tres is something present in Bolero and any subgenre of Salsa.

It's good to know the Venezuelan Cuatro is spreading around. And in Argentina it should be very common by now since a lot of Argentinian luthiers make them.

Cheers my friend and thanks for your words!

Okay. A lot instruments I didn't know existed and I'm getting to find out. Thank you so much. I have so much googling to do 😂. I'm loving this community. Under just a few minutes, I know more about music than i did yesterday.

That's the idea around here. Well, it's more about sharing content related to music. Glad it helped you learn a bit more.

Bro, you make me love the guitar more.
How amazing these stories are.
Thanks so much.

Here in Nigeria our instruments are mostly modern, all the indigenous instruments have been watered down by civilisation.

I hope we dont let them all die out.

Hey, thanks for your comment!

I hope they don't disappear. It is in the best interest of humanity to keep those traditions alive. However, certain degree of modernisation could be helpful to prevent the instrument fading into history.