Cuban Tres - The 3 string guitar from Cuba

                                                                                         

The first thing to understand about the Tres is that it is a rhythm instrument. Even though it looks like a Guitar, the actual playing of it is rhythmic with melodic lines. Chords are seldom "strummed", and in many styles the Tres strengthens the melody line a 3rd or a 6th above with rhythmic fills in between. Here is a site with much more information about the Cuban tres - El Tres Cubano.
Tuning 

There are two widely used tunings. Both are 2nd inversions of either a C or D chord. Traditionally, the tres was tuned to G,C,E or a C chord. Many treseros are now using a D tuning.Another inconsistency is the use of octave in the tuning, in Oriente (Eastern Cuba), most treseros tune both the G and E strings in octaves, whereas in Oeste (Western Cuba) the trend is to only have the G string doubled.
Basic Son Montuno Pattern for Cuban Tres Many people want to know how to play the "standard" patterns. There are many common patterns, but most treseros also embellish them to some degree. For example, if you are playing with a piano, you are much freer to add embelishments than if you are playing with just a bass and bongo.

About the author:
Jon Griffin has been playing music since he was 7 years old. He is also an avid cook and expert in beer, brewing and other beverages. He owns salsablanca.com and
jongriffin.com as well as other sites like learningaboutstuff.com

He went to Grove School of Music where he studied songwriting and composing and arranging (yes it was fun doing a big band chart every week!).

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