Cuatro

the Cuatro
At it's most basic, Cuatro is Spanish for Four and in terms of Chordophones it is the name of a number of Lute derived instruments originating in the Spanish speaking Americas. Though their root instruments would have come over from Spain there is no actual Spanish instrument called a Cuatro There are, however a number of different Chordophones that usually include the name of the country that particular one is originally from.

Cuatro Venezolano (Venezuelan Cuatro)
The Venezuelan Cuatro is the Cuatro most associated with the Ukulele though is is at best a fairly distant cousin in terms of its linage. It probably started out as some kind of Guitarrico or Guitar and is now a kind of hybrid between the two as it is bigger than a Guitarrico but smaller than a standard Guitar and only has four single string courses. The reason I say this is the one most associated with the Ukulele is because it is, (co-incidentally), exactly the same size as a Baritone Ukulele and has gut, or more likely these days, nylon strings.

Its tuning has some commonality with the Ukulele too, but not the Baritone. The standard tuning for the Venezuelan Cuatro is A~D~F#~B like a D tuned Ukulele except it the Cuatros case it is re-entrant by having a low B rather than a high A. This configuration does not lend itself to solo playing but the chords are the same as a Ukuleles.

Venezuelan Cuatros always have a golpeador with the fret board of the neck level with it so it is not uncommon the see the golpeador extend up to become the lower end of the fret board. The neck usually has 14 frets to the body and never extends onto the body. There is a fashion in Argentina to make them with a slightly smaller body and 16 frets; maybe this should be called the Argentine Cuatro?

The Cuatro itself traditionally comes from the northern end of South America. Mainly Venezuela, but also the eastern side of Peru, Columbia, Bolivia and to some extent Surinam, not really Brazil though, (the old Spain / Portugal divide), but is spreading to the rest of Spanish speaking South America, and the rest of the world, (there are even some Chinese factories making them for world wide export).