Tiple
Encyclopedia
Tiple is the Spanish word for treble or soprano
, is often applied to specific instruments, generally to refer to a small chordophone
of the guitar
family. A tiple player is called a tiplista.
The Colombia
n tiple is an instrument of the guitar family, similar in appearance although slightly smaller than an acoustic guitar
. Tiples usually have 12 strings grouped in four tripled courses, although some tiples have only ten strings. The four courses of metal strings are tuned to the same pitches as the four upper strings of the guitar: DGBE. The outer two strings of each of the three lowest triple courses is tuned an octave higher than the middle string in the course.
This tiple is associated with Colombia
, and is considered the national instrument. Tiple virtuoso David Pelham has this to say about the Colombian Tiple: "The tiple is a Colombian adaptation of the Renaissance
Spanish vihuela
brought to the New World in the 16th century by the Spanish conquistadors. At the end of the 19th century, it evolved to its present shape. Its twelve strings are arranged in four groups of three: the first group consists of three steel strings tuned to E, the second, third and fourth groups have a copper string in the middle of two steel strings. The central ones are tuned one octave lower than the surrounding strings of the group. This arrangement produces the set of harmonics that gives the instrument its unique voice."
The tiple is the smallest of the three string instruments of Puerto Rico
that make up the orquesta jibara (i.e., the Cuatro
, the Tiple and the Bordonua
). According to investigations made by Jose Reyes Zamora, the tiple in Puerto Rico dates back to the 18th century. It is believed to have evolved from the Spanish guitarrillo. There was never a standard for the tiple and as a result there are many variations throughout the island of Puerto Rico. Most tiples have four or five strings and most tiple requintos have three strings. Some tiples have as many as 6 strings and as few as a single string, though these types are rare.
The main types of tiple in Puerto Rico are:
The tiple that is now most often played in Puerto Rico is the Tiple Doliente. It has recently acquired a more or less fixed body shape narrowing at the top and having 5 strings (see the accompanying photo). It is usually made like the cuatro, so either constructed like a guitar, or from one piece of wood hollowed out. The bottom half of the body is rounded like a guitar, however the top half is square, or triangular. All other features (like neck and bridge) resemble the construction of a normal Spanish guitar. The peghead has tuning machines either from the side or from the back.
The Tiple doliente is tuned with 5 metal strings: e a d' g' c.
the tiple has fewer strings than the guitarra, and is strummed. This tiny guitar has four strings and is found in Minorca
. Other types of small guitars in Spain are the guitarra
, guitarro
, guitarrico, requinto
, braguinha
, and rajâo
. Actually the requinto (a 3/4 sized guitar) was developed in Latin America.
or braguinha
and the rajâo
. The braguinha
and the rajâo
taken to Hawai'i by Portuguese immigrants from Madeira are the forerunners of the ukulele
.
Migrating from North Africa in the 16th century to the Canary Islands
and then on to Murcia
, the timple
has become the traditional instrument of the Canaries. In Palma
and in the north of the island of Tenerife
some players omit the fifth string, tuning the timple like a ukulele
, though nowadays this is often seen as non-standard by players in other regions where five strings are preferred. The popular timple tuning is GCEAD.
. There were two versions one with 5 single strings and one with 5 double strings for ten strings in all. The famous Cuban author Miguel Teurbe Tolón y de la Guardia published a book about it in the United States entitled El Tiple Cubano y El Tiple Libre.
Dominicano tiples have five double strings. The soundbox looks like a bandurria
. It is sometimes referred to as The Tiple de Santo Domingo (Capital of the Dominican Republic).
. It resembles a small guitar.
. There are two versions one with 4 single strings and one with 4 double strings.
with 4 pairs of double strings.
. It has 6 single strings and looks like a small guitar.
, looks like a smaller version of the Colombian Tiple. It has 4 pairs of triple strings and is also known as the Guitarro, Guitarro Segundo, and the Segunda Guitarra. There is another tiple played in Venezuela but is a member of the Venezuelan Cuatro family of instruments, also called a Tiple and known as the
Cinco y Medio or Cinco. It is very much like the Cuatro but it has 5 strings instead of four.
Tiple strings and tuning: A ukulele-style tuning can be used (this is the original) or the tiple can be tuned like a guitar.
and its modern cousin the trembulo fusao are similar to the tiple and may well have evolved from a common ancestor.
is a tiple variant invented in 2003 by American jazz musician Jack Schaeffer, in an effort to create a string instrument on which jazz chordal forms are intuitive and accessible. The instrument is intended to serve in the rhythm section of a jazz ensemble.
. it is player with a combination of plucking, strumming, and playing with a slide similar to a lap steel guitar
. The instrument is one of many zither
variants marketed within the United States during the early 20th century, of which only the autoharp
ever achieved lasting popularity. The instrument carries the "Hawaiian tiple" name solely for marketing purposes, as interest in Hawaiian music and culture was high in mainland America during the period when the instrument was marketed.
Puerto Rican tiple:
Spanish tiple:
Timple Canario:
Tiple Cubano:
Tiple Dominicano, Tiple Argentino, Banjo Tiple, Tiple Uruguayo, and the Tiple Venezolano:
Marxochime Hawaiian Tiple:
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, is often applied to specific instruments, generally to refer to a small chordophone
Chordophone
A chordophone is any musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification....
of the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
family. A tiple player is called a tiplista.
Colombian tiple
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n tiple is an instrument of the guitar family, similar in appearance although slightly smaller than an acoustic guitar
Classical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
. Tiples usually have 12 strings grouped in four tripled courses, although some tiples have only ten strings. The four courses of metal strings are tuned to the same pitches as the four upper strings of the guitar: DGBE. The outer two strings of each of the three lowest triple courses is tuned an octave higher than the middle string in the course.
This tiple is associated with Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, and is considered the national instrument. Tiple virtuoso David Pelham has this to say about the Colombian Tiple: "The tiple is a Colombian adaptation of the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Spanish vihuela
Vihuela
Vihuela is a name given to two different guitar-like string instruments: one from 15th and 16th century Spain, usually with 12 paired strings, and the other, the Mexican vihuela, from 19th century Mexico with five strings and typically played in Mariachi bands.-History:The vihuela, as it was known...
brought to the New World in the 16th century by the Spanish conquistadors. At the end of the 19th century, it evolved to its present shape. Its twelve strings are arranged in four groups of three: the first group consists of three steel strings tuned to E, the second, third and fourth groups have a copper string in the middle of two steel strings. The central ones are tuned one octave lower than the surrounding strings of the group. This arrangement produces the set of harmonics that gives the instrument its unique voice."
Puerto Rican tiples
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
that make up the orquesta jibara (i.e., the Cuatro
Cuatro (Puerto Rico)
The cuatro is the national instrument of Puerto Rico. It belongs to the lute family of string instruments.The cuatro of Puerto Rico has ten strings in five courses, tuned from low to high B-e-a-d'-g', 54321, with B and E in octaves and A, D and G in unisons. A cuatro player is called a...
, the Tiple and the Bordonua
Bordonua
The Bordonua is a large, deep body bass guitar which is native to Puerto Rico. They are made using several different shapes and sizes....
). According to investigations made by Jose Reyes Zamora, the tiple in Puerto Rico dates back to the 18th century. It is believed to have evolved from the Spanish guitarrillo. There was never a standard for the tiple and as a result there are many variations throughout the island of Puerto Rico. Most tiples have four or five strings and most tiple requintos have three strings. Some tiples have as many as 6 strings and as few as a single string, though these types are rare.
The main types of tiple in Puerto Rico are:
- Tiple requinto de la montaña - a tiny version of the Tiple doliente with only three strings. It is usually smaller than 12 inches.
- Tiple requinto costanero - a smaller version of the tiplón with only three strings. It is usually about 15 inches in length.
- Tiple doliente - this tiple has 5 single strings and is the most common used today. It is usually about 15 inches in length.
- Tiplón or tiple con macho - a larger version of the tiple with a fifth string peg like an American banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, located on its neck. It is usually about 21 inches in length. - Tiple grande de Ponce - the largest version (about 21 inches in length) with 5 strings. It is considered to be the link between Tiples and Bordonuas. It is sometimes also called "Bordonua Chiquita" (or small BordonuaBordonuaThe Bordonua is a large, deep body bass guitar which is native to Puerto Rico. They are made using several different shapes and sizes....
).
The tiple that is now most often played in Puerto Rico is the Tiple Doliente. It has recently acquired a more or less fixed body shape narrowing at the top and having 5 strings (see the accompanying photo). It is usually made like the cuatro, so either constructed like a guitar, or from one piece of wood hollowed out. The bottom half of the body is rounded like a guitar, however the top half is square, or triangular. All other features (like neck and bridge) resemble the construction of a normal Spanish guitar. The peghead has tuning machines either from the side or from the back.
The Tiple doliente is tuned with 5 metal strings: e a d' g' c.
Spanish tiple
In SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
the tiple has fewer strings than the guitarra, and is strummed. This tiny guitar has four strings and is found in Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
. Other types of small guitars in Spain are the guitarra
Guitarra
Guitarra may refer to:*Guitarra , a 1973 Argentine film*Gittern, a string instrument...
, guitarro
Guitarro (instrument)
The Guitarro is a small, baroque, five-stringed guitar from Aragon, slightly larger than the requinto or cavaquinho. The instrument is also found in other regions of Spain, such as Andalusia, La Mancha, and Murcia....
, guitarrico, requinto
Requinto
The term requinto is used in both Spanish and Portuguese to mean a smaller, higher-pitched version of another instrument. Thus, there are requinto guitars, drums, and several wind instruments.-Wind instruments:...
, braguinha
Braguinha
Braguinha can be:* one of the names of the cavaquinho, a string instrument of the guitar family;* the nickname of Carlos Alberto Ferreira Braga, a Brazilian songwriter....
, and rajâo
Rajao
The Rajao is a stringed instrument from Madeira, Portugal.It has 5 or 6 strings in 5 courses and is tuned D4, G4, C4, E4, A4. The strings are made of steel....
. Actually the requinto (a 3/4 sized guitar) was developed in Latin America.
Portuguese tiple
Related Portuguese instruments are the cavaquinhoCavaquinho
The cavaquinho is a small string instrument of the European guitar family with four wire or gut strings. It is also called machimbo, machim, machete , manchete or marchete, braguinha or braguinho, or cavaco.The most common tuning is D-G-B-D ; other tunings include D-A-B-E...
or braguinha
Braguinha
Braguinha can be:* one of the names of the cavaquinho, a string instrument of the guitar family;* the nickname of Carlos Alberto Ferreira Braga, a Brazilian songwriter....
and the rajâo
Rajao
The Rajao is a stringed instrument from Madeira, Portugal.It has 5 or 6 strings in 5 courses and is tuned D4, G4, C4, E4, A4. The strings are made of steel....
. The braguinha
Braguinha
Braguinha can be:* one of the names of the cavaquinho, a string instrument of the guitar family;* the nickname of Carlos Alberto Ferreira Braga, a Brazilian songwriter....
and the rajâo
Rajao
The Rajao is a stringed instrument from Madeira, Portugal.It has 5 or 6 strings in 5 courses and is tuned D4, G4, C4, E4, A4. The strings are made of steel....
taken to Hawai'i by Portuguese immigrants from Madeira are the forerunners of the ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
.
Canary Island timple
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
and then on to Murcia
Murcia
-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
, the timple
Timple
The timple is a traditional Spanish plucked string instrument of the Canary Islands.In La Palma island and in the north of the island of Tenerife, many timple players omit the fifth string, in order to play the timple as a four-string ukulele, though this is considered less traditional by players...
has become the traditional instrument of the Canaries. In Palma
La Palma
La Palma is the most north-westerly of the Canary Islands. La Palma has an area of 706 km2 making it the fifth largest of the seven main Canary Islands...
and in the north of the island of Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
some players omit the fifth string, tuning the timple like a ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
, though nowadays this is often seen as non-standard by players in other regions where five strings are preferred. The popular timple tuning is GCEAD.
The Tiple Cubano
The cubano is the tiple of CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. There were two versions one with 5 single strings and one with 5 double strings for ten strings in all. The famous Cuban author Miguel Teurbe Tolón y de la Guardia published a book about it in the United States entitled El Tiple Cubano y El Tiple Libre.
Tiple Dominicano
Dominican RepublicDominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
Dominicano tiples have five double strings. The soundbox looks like a bandurria
Bandurria
The bandurria is a plectrum chordophone from Spain, similar to the cittern and the mandolin, primarily used in Spanish folk music.Prior to the 18th century, the bandurria had with a round back, similar or related to the mandore. It had become a flat-backed instrument by the 18th century, with five...
. It is sometimes referred to as The Tiple de Santo Domingo (Capital of the Dominican Republic).
Tiple Argentino
The six string Argentino tiple is found in the land of ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. It resembles a small guitar.
Tiple Peruano
Peruano tiple is from PeruPeru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. There are two versions one with 4 single strings and one with 4 double strings.
Banjo Tiple
As with the Peruano, the Banjo tiple is also from Peru. As its name says it is a tiny BanjoBanjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
with 4 pairs of double strings.
Tiple Uruguayo
The Uruguayo, also known as the Guitarra Requinto, is from UruguayUruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. It has 6 single strings and looks like a small guitar.
Tiple Venezolano
This Tiple from VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, looks like a smaller version of the Colombian Tiple. It has 4 pairs of triple strings and is also known as the Guitarro, Guitarro Segundo, and the Segunda Guitarra. There is another tiple played in Venezuela but is a member of the Venezuelan Cuatro family of instruments, also called a Tiple and known as the
Cinco y Medio or Cinco. It is very much like the Cuatro but it has 5 strings instead of four.
Tiplito
The Tiplito (literally meaning 'small Tiple') is a Tiple with 7 strings in 4 courses of 3 double nylon strings and one single wound nylon string for the lowest pitch. It has a scale length of about 355mm (14 inches). Traditionally played throughout South America and the Caribbean, it is now also popular in Europe. The tuning is often mandolin-like (G dD aa ee), but sometimes guitar-like tunings are used (D gG bb ee)Non-traditional tiples
Several instruments have been developed outside of the direct Latin tradition, which either bear the name tiple, or are variants upon the Latin tiple.Martin tiple
The tiple was redesigned in 1919 by the American guitar company C.F. Martin & Co. for the William J. Smith Co. in New York. This tiple -- generally pronounced "tipple" -- has ten steel strings in four courses, tuned similarly to a D-tuned ukulele: AadDdf#F#f#BB. Many similar instruments were developed by other companies around the same time.Tiple strings and tuning: A ukulele-style tuning can be used (this is the original) or the tiple can be tuned like a guitar.
Electric Tiples
Electric Tiples that have been designed usually follow the Colombian or Martin tuning and string arrangement.Trembulo
The trembuloTrembulo
The trembulo is an instrument similar to a tiple, but smaller. It is thought to have been first developed by Portuguese luthiers around 1600. It seems likely to have developed from the 4-course renaissance guitar....
and its modern cousin the trembulo fusao are similar to the tiple and may well have evolved from a common ancestor.
Strumbola
The StrumbolaStrumbola
A strumbola is a multi-stringed lute-tiple instrument using four courses of strings with two or three strings per courses, tuned in octaves. The Strumbola's open-tuning forms a diminished chord, giving a tight close-chord harmony up the neck, creating a Jazz-Harp like sound, with all the melodic...
is a tiple variant invented in 2003 by American jazz musician Jack Schaeffer, in an effort to create a string instrument on which jazz chordal forms are intuitive and accessible. The instrument is intended to serve in the rhythm section of a jazz ensemble.
Marxochime "Hawaiian" tiple
The Marxochime Hawaiian tiple bears no resemblance to the traditional tiples, instead resembling a zitherZither
The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
. it is player with a combination of plucking, strumming, and playing with a slide similar to a lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
. The instrument is one of many zither
Zither
The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
variants marketed within the United States during the early 20th century, of which only the autoharp
Autoharp
The autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers, which, when depressed, mute all of the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a chorded zither. -History:There is debate over the...
ever achieved lasting popularity. The instrument carries the "Hawaiian tiple" name solely for marketing purposes, as interest in Hawaiian music and culture was high in mainland America during the period when the instrument was marketed.
Resources and Sources
Colombian tiple:- Puerta's tremendous tiple touch
- Colombian luthier Alberto Paredes
- Paredes, A., Mottola, R.M. “Construction of the Colombian Tiple”, American Lutherie #90, 2007, p. 40.
- Guild of American Luthiers plan #51 - Colombian Tiple by Alberto Paredes
Puerto Rican tiple:
- The Puerto Rican Tiple
- The Tiples of Puerto Rico
- ATLAS of Plucked Instruments
- El Tiple Puertorriqueño (In Spanish)
Spanish tiple:
Timple Canario:
- El Timple (In Spanish)
- http://www.guitarraline.com/escuela%20de%20timple/timpleparatodos.htm Learn TIMPLE (Spanish)
Tiple Cubano:
Tiple Dominicano, Tiple Argentino, Banjo Tiple, Tiple Uruguayo, and the Tiple Venezolano:
Marxochime Hawaiian Tiple: