Guitarrón chileno

Playing guitarrón chileno

The guitarrón chileno (literally: "large Chilean guitar") is a plucked string instrument with 24 or 25 strings from Chile. Its origin dates back to the 16th century. It is used to accompany el Canto del Poeta (the Poet Singing), an old chilena folk genre that cultivates décima and improvisation, known as payada. The themes embraced can be distinguished from Canto a lo Divino (solemn, religious, more prepared themes) and Canto a lo Humano (humorous, amorous, social criticism themes). This instrument is also used to perform in other musical forms like cuecas, tonadas, valses and polkas.^[1]

Design

As with most relatives of the guitar, the guitarrón chileno is constructed of wood and the same major sections may be distinguished in its construction:

• Head/Headstock: Heavy and very long, it is sized to give support to the 20-21 primary strings with their respective tuning machines. The slotted setup is similar to that classical guitars, but there are three slots for tuners, as opposed to the usual two. The headstock is sometimes decorated with carvings.

• Neck/Fingerboard: This is wider than the standard guitar, and frequently is fitted with only 8 frets, although some modern models are fully fretted with 18 or 19 frets like a modern classical guitar. Originally the frets were movable cords of gut, similar to the frets employed on Renaissance lutes, but modern instruments use a metal frets like those used on guitars.

• Body: In its more traditional construction the body is a bit shorter overall, and narrower at the bouts than the guitar, but also somewhat deeper.^[2] Many models have a simple sound hole, although some specimens show highly decorative rosettes. The bridge has showy extensions called "daggers" that extend along the top. On each upper bout are two "auxiliary" tuning machines, for tuning the four outlying strings (two on each side of the neck). These outlying strings are known as "diablitos" or "Devils".

A close-up of the string arrangement.

• Strings: The string arrangement may be seen where strings pass over the sound hole of the guitarrón in the illustration. The strings are of metal (generally steel) both plain and wound. These strings are grouped courses of various numbers of strings. Five courses pass over the fingerboard, and each of these courses has either five, four (rarely), or three strings in it. One of the most distinctive features of the guitarrón chileno is the devils: four short, high-pitched strings, arranged two on each side of the neck, which run from tuners on the upper bouts to auxillaty pins on the sides of the bridge near the daggers.

Tuning

Strings within a course are tuned either in unison or in octaves; tuning between courses is in fourths, except between the second and third courses where the interval is a major third. With the instrument held in playing position, the stringing is: devil, devil, 5-string course, 5-string course, 5-string course, 3-string course, 3-string course, devil, devil, and the tuning is:

F#5 • A4 • (D4) D4 D3 D3 D2 • G4 G4 G4 G3 G3 • (C4) C4 C4 C3 C2 • E4 E4 E4 • A4 A4 A4 • G4 • B4

Either the fifth course or the third course may sometimes have only four strings, depending on the individual instrument design.

References

• Chaparro, Moisés (2005). El Guitarrón Chileno. AGENPOCH. 
• Bustamante, Juan; Astorga, Francisco (1996). Renacer del Guitarrón Chileno. AGENPOCH. 
• Lenz, Rodolfo (1894). Sobre la poesía popular impresa de Santiago de Chile. Memorias Científicas i Literarias. 
• Lizana, Desiderio (1912). Cómo se canta la poesía popular. Revista de folklore chileno, tomo IV. 

External links

• Guitarronero playing "la común" (intonation)
• http://www.guitarronchileno.cl/guitarron_chileno/