A tiple (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtiple], named after the high-pitched sounds of a soprano voice) is a type of guitar. It usually has 10 or 12 strings, though it may have fewer in some cases. It is made in different styles depending on the region. A person who plays the tiple is called a tiplista. The first written record of the tiple was made by music researcher Pablo Minguet e Irol in 1752. The 12-string tiple from Colombia is recognized as the country's national instrument. The tiple from Puerto Rico typically has fewer than 12 strings, as do those from Cuba, Mallorca, and North America.

Tiple family

The Colombian tiple is a musical instrument in the guitar family. It looks like a standard classical guitar but is slightly smaller, about 18% shorter. The neck connects to the body at the 12th fret, and the typical length of the fretboard is about 530 mm (just under 21 inches). The tiple has 12 strings grouped into four sets of three strings each. Traditionally, the strings are tuned from lowest to highest as C, F, A, D. However, many modern players use tunings similar to the upper four strings of a modern guitar or a Baritone ukulele, which is D, G, B, E. In traditional tuning, the outer two strings of each of the first three sets are tuned an octave higher than the middle string in the set. For example, the first set is tuned C4, C3, C4. In modern tuning, the first set is D4, D3, D4. The tiple has 18 or 19 frets, allowing it to play a range of about 2-2/3 octaves, from C3 to G#5 (or A5). The tiple is used in traditional Colombian music genres like bambucos and pasillos. It can be played for accompaniment or as a solo instrument. A famous composer of tiple music is Pacho Benavides.

David Pelham explains that the tiple is a Colombian version of the Renaissance Spanish vihuela, brought to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. By the late 19th century, it evolved into its current form. The 12 strings are arranged in four groups of three: the first group has three steel strings tuned to E, and the second, third, and fourth groups each have a copper string in the middle of two steel strings. The middle string in each group is tuned one octave lower than the surrounding strings. This setup creates unique harmonic sounds. Outside Colombia, the "copper" strings are often replaced with brass or bronze-wound steel strings.

A smaller version of the tiple is called the tiple Colombiano requinto. It is 10-15% shorter than the standard tiple. The central octave strings of the tiple requinto are tuned in unison, meaning they all play the same note. In traditional tuning, this gives C4, C4, C4 • F4, F4, F4 • A4, A4, A4 • D4, D4, D4. In modern tuning, it is D4, D4, D4 • G4, G4, G4 • B4, B4, B4 • E4, E4, E4. The tiple requinto is sometimes shaped like a violin or "hourglass" instead of a guitar. This design makes its sound thinner and higher-pitched compared to the larger tiple, even though its tuning range overlaps with the larger instrument.

The tiple is the smallest of three stringed instruments in Puerto Rico’s orquesta jibara, which includes the Cuatro, the tiple, and the Bordonua. Research by Jose Reyes Zamora shows the tiple in Puerto Rico dates back to the 18th century and likely evolved from the Spanish guitarrillo. There is no standard design for the tiple, so many variations exist. Most tiples have four or five strings, and most tiple requintos have three strings. Some tiples have as many as six strings or as few as one, though these are rare.

The main types of tiple in Puerto Rico are:
– Tiple requinto de la montaña: A tiny version with three strings, usually smaller than 12 inches.
– Tiple requinto costanero: A smaller version with three strings, usually about 15 inches long.
– Tiple doliente: The most common type today, with five single strings and about 15 inches in length.
– Tiplón or tiple con macho: A larger version with five strings and a fifth string peg on the neck, usually about 21 inches long.
– Tiple grande de Ponce: The largest version, about 21 inches long with five strings. It is sometimes called "bordonua chiquita" (small bordonua).

The most commonly played tiple in Puerto Rico today is the tiple doliente. It has a fixed body shape that narrows at the top and has five metal strings. It is usually made like the cuatro, either constructed like a guitar or from one piece of hollowed wood. The bottom of the body is rounded like a guitar, while the top is square or triangular. Other features, like the neck and bridge, resemble a standard Spanish guitar. Tuning machines are on the side or back of the peghead. The strings are tuned E3, A3, D4, G4, C5.

A tiple from Venezuela resembles a smaller version of the Colombian tiple. It has four sets of triple strings and is also called the Guitarro, Guitarro Segundo, or Segunda Guitarra. Another Venezuelan instrument called a tiple is part of the Cuatro family and is known as the Cinco y Medio or Cinco. It has five strings instead of four, like the Cuatro.

In Menorca, Spain, a tiple is an instrument with five single nylon strings. A tiple Cubano has five sets of doubled strings, totaling ten strings. The tiple de Santo Domingo, also called the tiple Dominicano, has five sets of doubled strings (ten total) and is tuned C4, F4, A#4, D5, G5. All courses are tuned in unison. In Peru, a tiple has four single or doubled steel strings and is tuned A3, E4, B4, F#5, similar to a mandolin with a capo on the second fret. In Uruguay and Argentina, the requinto guitar is sometimes called a tiple.

Other versions

The North American tiple was created in 1919 by C. F. Martin & Company, a guitar company from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, for the William J. Smith Co. in New York. It became popular during the ukulele craze of the 1920s through the 1940s. The tiple is about the same length as the tenor ukulele but has a deeper body. (C. F. Martin introduced its four-string tenor ukulele later than other companies in the 1920s.) Unlike a ukulele, the Martin tiple has ten steel strings arranged in four groups: 2, 3, 3, and 2 strings. Made for about 50 years, the Martin tiple was used in jazz, blues, and old-time country music. It was often tuned like a D-tuned ukulele.

Ohana, a modern company that makes similar instruments, suggests tuning their copies of the Martin tiple a full tone lower, similar to how modern ukuleles are tuned.

C. F. Martin produced tiples with mahogany or rosewood bodies. They used a naming system like their guitars: T-15 and T-17 (mahogany top, back, and sides); T-18 (spruce top, mahogany back and sides); T-28 and T-45 (spruce top, rosewood back and sides, with fancy abalone inlay). Martin continued making tiples on and off until the 1970s.

Other companies, such as Regal, Harmony, Lyon & Healy, Oscar Schmidt, and D'Angelico, also made similar instruments during the early years of Martin’s production.

In the 21st century, Ohana began making an all-mahogany tiple inspired by the Martin design. They called it a "vintage ukulele inspired by the Columbian (sic) Tiple." Ohana recommends tuning it with the lowest note as a C. (G3 G4 – C4 C3 C4 – E4 E3 E4 – A4 A4)

In addition to its original ukulele-style tuning, the American tiple is sometimes tuned like the top four strings of a guitar, using special string sets.

North American tiple performers include:
• Four Virginians
• Cats and the Fiddle
• Spirits of Rhythm
• Timmie Rogers
• Ed Askew
• Golden Melody Boys, also known as Georgia Melody Boys

Electric tiples usually follow either the Colombian (12-string) or "Martin" (10-string) tuning and string arrangement.

Related instruments

In Spain, there are similar musical instruments. A small guitar with four strings is found in Menorca. Other small guitars in Spain include the guitarra, guitarro, and guitarrico.

In Portugal, similar instruments are the cavaquinho or braguinha and the rajâo. The braguinha and rajâo were brought to Hawai'i by Portuguese immigrants from Madeira. These instruments are considered the early versions of the ukulele.

The timple, which traveled from North Africa to the Canary Islands and later to Murcia, is now the traditional instrument of the Canary Islands. In La Palma and the northern part of Tenerife, some players remove the fifth string and tune the timple like a ukulele. However, many players in other regions prefer the five-string version. The popular tuning for the tiple is GCEAD.

Other instruments

The word "tiple" means "treble" or "high-pitched" and has sometimes been used to name other instruments that are not part of the true tiple family. One example is the Marxochime Hawaiian tiple, which does not look or sound like traditional tiples. Instead, it resembles a zither, a stringed instrument played by plucking, strumming, or sliding a metal bar across the strings, similar to how a lap steel guitar is played. This instrument was one of many zither-like devices sold in the United States during the early 1900s. Only the autoharp became widely popular over time. The Marxochime Hawaiian tiple is also called the "Tremola," and it uses the name "Hawaiian tiple" only for marketing reasons. At the time, many people in the mainland United States were interested in Hawaiian music and culture, which influenced the instrument's name.

Resources and sources

• Puerta's impressive tiple skills
• Colombian instrument maker Alberto Paredes (Archived 2008-03-21 at the Wayback Machine)
• Paredes, A., Mottola, R.M. “Construction of the Colombian Tiple,” American Lutherie #90, 2007, p. 40.

• The Puerto Rican Tiple
• The Tiples of Puerto Rico
• ATLAS of Plucked Instruments
• El Tiple Puertorriqueño (In Spanish)

• (In Spanish)
• (In Spanish)

• El Timple (In Spanish)
• [1] Learn TIMPLE (Spanish)

• Miguel Teurbe Tolón y de la Guardia (Matanzas, 1820–1857)

Tiple Dominicano, Tiple Argentino, Banjo Tiple, Tiple Uruguayo, and the Tiple Venezolano:

• TIPLES EN OTROS PAISES (In Spanish)
• Ficha del Tiple (In Spanish)

Marxochime Hawaiian Tiple:

• Marxochime Hawaiian Tiple