Güira
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| Percussion instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Metal idiophone |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 112.23 (Scraped idiophone, vessel) |
| Playing range | |
| Speed of scrape produces some variation | |
| Related instruments | |
| Güiro, guayo, reco-reco, quijada, guacharaca, washboard | |
The güira (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɡwiɾa]) is a metal scraper from the Dominican Republic used as a percussion instrument in cumbia and merengue, to a lesser extent, other genres such as bachata. It is made of a metal sheet (commonly steel, sometimes from a five-gallon oil can) and played with a stiff brush, thus being similar to the Cuban guayo (also a metal scraper) and the güiro (a gourd scraper). Güira, guayo and güiro all have a function akin to that of the maracas or the trap-kit's hi-hat, namely providing a complementary beat.
Performers on the güira are referred to as güireros and in merengue típico ensembles they often co-lead percussion sections along with tambora-playing tamboreros, due to the significance of their African-derived interlocking rhythms in providing a basic musical foundation for the dance.
The güira is most often found in merengue tipico where it serves as one of multiple percussion instruments, most usually interlocking with the rhythm of the tambora, a fairly small horizontally mounted rustic drum normally played with one stick and one bare hand. Mastering its usual 'correct' playing techniques has been dubbed very challenging. Güireros may use a variety of playing techniques to play various rhythms, however nearly all playing is done with one hand only holding the instrument from its large rounded (to reduce hand fatigue) handle, while it is scraped with the other (dominant) hand holding the brush, which may be made for this purpose, but in practice is typically a metal-tined afro pick hair styling comb, although some players may use a cane- or plastic-toothed scraper.
Normally a güira consists of an open-ended tube with many sound-producing nodules protruding its outer (usual) playing surface. The body of the güira is generally some type of thin sheet steel. One commercial variant commonly called a torpedo is fully enclosed with tapered ends and is supplied with mineral or glass beads or metal shot inside to double as a shaker. Given its unwieldy shape and the additional weight of tapered ends and shaker fill, using a güira as a shaker may be impractical. Regardless of how it is used, its traditional main function is to propel the tempo, not only to add its uniquely swishy metallic timbre's sabor ("flavor").
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