Tiple: Colombian musical instrument

The Colombian tiple is a small plucked string musical instrument that belongs to the family of guitar typical of Colombia. Here it is often played as an accompanying musical instrument to the guitar or as a primary instrument. This musical instrument can also be referred to as the ‘Tiplecolombiano’. 

source: collectorsweekly.com

The word tiple denotes an acute sound treble according to RAE. And it defines tiple as guitars of very acute sound, in other words is contradictory as the modern day tiple cannot be categorized as a musical instrument of acute sound. The word tiple is also said to be the Spanish word for treble.

The musical instrument is used in Colombia and a little is known about the beginnings of the musical instrument. The first account of the musical instrument exist in an article published in by José Caicedo Rojas in 1849; in it he narrates a story that takes place in Chitaraque near San Gil, Satander; about the soldiers that left the military after they became disappointed during a night party. He also describes the tiple in the story and how the musical instrument was used to sing coplas.

In his references to the tiple Caicedo explains: "In New Granada we have the tiple and the bandola they are the fake version of the Spanish vihuela”. In 1923 well known musician Guillermo Uriben Holguin opines Caicedo’s writing during a conference during which he censures the musical instrument as an in inferior version of the Spanish guitar by saying that the tiple is a primitive version of the guitar, a guitar without the notes A and E.

Then in 1951 Bogotanian musician Jorge Anez opines in his book Canciones y recuerdos an observation made by professor Robert pizano that he points out that Neograna din painter Gregorio Vasquez Ceballos drew some versions of the tiple in the hands of angels inside the dome of the church of Saint Ignace.

Jose Ignacio Perdomo Escobar a Colombian historian priest quotes a Jesuit idiom that reveals that by the year 1680, the Colombian tiples were already being sold at shops in the municipality of Topaga in the Boyaca Department that idiom was; “guitars and tiples sold to multiply the happiness of the good people of the society”. This is backed up by information found in the archives at the Cathedral of Bogota.

In 1954 a Columbian historian, Guillermo Harnandez de Alba gives in a totally different story in an article published in El Espectador of Bogota. At the Canary Islands they have a typical small instrument known as timple, the instrument is played as an associated musical instrument. Could it not be that our tiple is nothing but the evolution of a Canarian temple?

Miguel Angel Martin, Composer and researcher, writes in his book Del Folclorllanero from 1978; “I believe that the tiple was brought to us from the Canary Islands and I also believe that the first tiples were produced at the settlements of Tamara, Morcote, Tame and Pauto in the Casanare”.

In 1970 Harry C. Davidson publishes an extensive monograph about the musical instrument without his book Diccionario Folclorico de Columbia. In it Davidson analyzes the concepts that were expressed by Anez about the paintings in saint Ignace church and he concludes that there aren’t enough sources to accept his theories and then he went on to say that this instrument entered historic heritage of Colombia at the starting part of the 19^th century.

All this theories may show that it’s very likely that throughout the 19^th century the musical instrument had already become part of the culture of Colombia. There is no perfect conclusion on where in Colombia the musical instrument first originated since the documentation is not clear. However there is no doubt that the musical instrument is connected to the Spanish guitar and the musical instrument from the Canary Islands.

Today’s Colombian musical instrument is the result of a lengthy change of guitars brought by the conquistadors to the New World. In history it is difficult to say just what this musical instrument is since a good number of chordophones have designated such name over the centuries. There exist also the disagreements in names given to the same version of musical instrument in different parts of Columbia. In this book Concionero of Antioquia written by Antonia Jose Restrepo makes a list of chordophones that he includes the vihuela, the “cuatro”  that has only four strings, the guitar, the vihuela brava that is also known as bandola  and the old version of tiple that has only five strings.  

Today, there isn’t much evidence of the version of the musical instrument that has five strings except for references founding historic publications. However the musical instrument that is of four strings still exists today and it is a well-known musical instrument in the eastern regions of Colombia and Venezuela.

The instant predecessor of modern day version of the Colombian tiple and requinto is the eight string musical instrument. This was reinforced by the evidence discovered among publications from 1868 and 1877 that talked about teaching people how to play such musical instruments. The publications were revised by Jose Eleuterio Suarez, Jose Viteri and Telesforo D’Aleman. The first one of these publications is Metadofacilparaaprender los tonos del tiple and at this time can be found at the Luis Angel Arango and National Libraries of Bogota as historic musical instrument.

In 1868 Jose Viteri published a collection called ‘Metodocomletoparaaprender a tocartiple o bandolasin necessidad de maestro’, the whole patterns on how to play this musical instrument as well as the bandola without a teacher that he describes how at the time some authors used the term bandola and tiple consecutively.

During the 20^th century the musical instrument went through a series of change that gives it its current appearance. In the first year of 20^th century the development of the musical instrument was still going on and the sounds of the instrument were still in state of exploration. Adding strings to the musical instrument in order became necessary to keep the harmony of the notes and because of that, the tiple was altered with two additional strings resulting in four courses of 2 strings - 3 strings -2 strings.

In 1915 writer Santos Cifuentes composes an article titled “hacia el americanismo musical – La musical en Colombia”. In it he mentions the Colombian tiple. Unknown with the musical instrument Cifuentes points out a couple of flaws, but his writing is of historic value since it explains that by this time, the musical instrument already has about 123 strings.

The final step towards the contemporary musical instrument takes place in the switch from a wooden machine head to a mechanical one along with a metal gears permitting the player of the musical instrument to get the right tuning unlike modern day guitars.

Photography from 1921 shows the “Colombian Lira” with its shape it is known today. After this time the Colombian tiple maintains its current form but the manufacturing process improves over the years producing better quality tiples reaching a level of high quality such as the ones currently manufactured by Alberto paredes in Bogota or Carlos Norato and Hemando Guzman in Cali among others around the country.

The musical instrument is now seen as a musical instrument more associated to the folklore of rural Colombia where it is still very popular. The musical instrument had humble starting not as a musical instrument played by the well-to-do people but by the people from lower social economic levels. Energetically the musical instrument became more important and finally it was accepted as a musical instrument to level of the guitar which as a musical instrument has a wider heritage and to an extent was seen with more respect. Demographically the musical instrument was rooted to the mestizo population of the Viceroyalty of New Granada where the instrument was looked down upon by the white of unmixed heritage.

In reference to the social difference between the musical instrument and the guitar Antonio Jose Restrepo But the tiple was pervasive among the bronze-colored people, the ones with working cloth and ruana, having a bag full of gossip, also it has a machete tied to the waist, with a stick of guasco or verraquillo being hung on the arm, eye of the peasant, who is barefooted sometimes, sometimes with espadrilles, also with a hat of cane of iraca that is maliciously slanted to one side, under the edge of a broken crown; it always stayed with them, I say, the fat bellied vihuela, tiple, always in company of the tambourine instrument in case a party were to take place.

In santander by 1840 the musical instrument could be found in “third class dances” that were parties for people of lower stock. And it was often performed with a tambourine accompanying it. It was not so until Tomas Carrasquilla’s novel Frutos de mi tierra “Fruits of my land” that the musical instrument was first talked about; in it he opines that the Colombian tiple was performed by every artist whereas the guitars were still being performed only at the Jockey Club in Medellin.

At the southwestern of Antioquia a small municipality became the first one in the country to take in this musical instrument in its coast of arms. This is the result of many artists from this province that saw the musical instrument with compliment and embraced it as a sign of their cultural heritage

As of the contemporary days, the learning procedure changes and they are many learning processes. Since 1936 some processes have been in print in the form of book or booklets. Many players of the musical instrument learn to play the musical instrument from their parents and grandparents as part of a family tradition that in some cases is also a source of income as the musical instrument are well-known in trios or serenades.

As a family of the guitar, the musical instrument is constructed with many materials that are also used for guitars. Take the sound box for example; it is made of walnut tree or cedar. Also the neck of the musical instrument is made of cedar. The frets of the instrument are made of red or yellow copper embedded. The musical instrument is about ¾ the size of a standard classical guitar. The stringing prototype constitutes one of the main differences between the Colombian tiple and other chordophones like the twelve string guitar: the metal strings of the instrument are put down in 4 courses of 3 strings “triple strung courses”.

Traditional tuning low to high is C-E-A-D, but modem players of the instrument frequently tune D-G-B-E like the top four strings of the standard guitar. Today’s Colombian tiple is taken to be a concert pitch musical instrument tuned in the key of ‘C’, However, sometimes tuning the higher octave of the second course to B4 is hard e.g., strings break, and the musical instrument may be tuned a half-step or a whole-step lower. The instrument may then be played with a capo on the first or second fret to bring is back up to concert pitch, or the player of the instrument may adjust their fingerings accordingly. The musical instrument is notated, like the guitar, one octave higher than the real sound.

Just like most chordophone instrument that belongs to the family of guitar, the musical instrument can be performed by either jamming with the fingers of the hand or with the use of a plectrum or the combination of both the fingers of the hand and the plectrum as well. Speaking about playing the musical instrument, Harry Davidson opined that; “The secret of playing the tiple lies in the right hand. Producing the tones with the left hand in a more or less appropriate and fast way is something that even a paraplegic can get with acceptable efficacy. But to pamper it, caressing the strings in a loving way, stomp the strings creating wells of charming silence, to play it with bravado in joropos and torbellinos, to pick the strings between singing and singing carrying the melody. That dear readers requires more than skills, a special gift, a distinctive magic that very few people have. In it the game of the wrist plays a role, the unfolding of the fingers of the hand as a hand fan, the sitting of the palm of the player’s hand that falls on the strings pulsating of emotion, the nails of the hand that scratch off the miracle of the notes. To make a tiple make noises is something anyone can gain, but to make the strings of the instrument speak, laugh, sing, moan, cry that can be achieved not by the one that wants to do it but by the one that can do it”.

An analogous musical instrument, the Columbian Requinto tiple or tiple colombiano requinto is smaller than the main version of the musical instrument, and it is shaped to be more like a violin or Puerto Rican cuatro. It is said to be tuned to a “higher pitch”, but from the tuning chart it can be seen that really, it only does not have the lower octaves of the tiple, and keeps the higher octaves. The musical instrument also has 12 strings and is also triple-strung, but higher pitch connotes that all of the strings of the musical instrument in the courses are tuned to the same equal unisons. The requinto tiple makes use of a reentrant tuning, in that the first course is really tuned to a lower pitch than some of the courses beneath it.