Guitarrones

A guitarron is a six-stringed instrument known for its low sound and is large, deep-bodied size. It’s most famous for its use in mariachi music. It is a fretless instrument that’s usually played by playing two notes at once (typically octaves) in a walking pattern that outlines the chord structure of the song.

Although it looks like a guitar and has the same number of strings, a guitarron is not a guitar. In fact, they weren’t even derived from the same instrument. Rather, the guitarron history is from the Spanish bajo de uña.

A guitarron has six strings. Guitarron strings are heavier than guitar strings and are more similar to bass strings. The most common guitarron tuning is A1-D2-G2-C3-E2-A2.

The guitarron is played by being plucked with the fingernails. Typically, two strings are plucked at a time with the right hand, while the left hand presses the strings in a walking bassline pattern.

The guitarron is traditionally from Mexico, though it was derived from a Spanish instrument.

Commercially-made guitarrones range in cost from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on the brand, construction quality, materials use, and, in some cases, the collectibility of the instrument.

To exclusively browse guitarrones near you, reference the list of top cities and countries available on Reverb to search within a desired location. You also can review shipping details within an item’s “Shop Policies” section.