is there a english translation for a music instrument that resembles a cheese grater, usually used for merengue music?
is there a english translation for a music instrument that resembles a cheese grater, usually used for merengue music?
I thought the name in spanish was pronounced Quita?
3 Answers
This instrument is called a Guiro, and they're used in many types of music besides just merengue
The wooden ones are actually a bit more common than the metal "cheese graters"
A similarly conceived instrument was the "washboard" that was once (and is still) very popularly used in jazz, zydeco, skiffle, jug band, and old time music. The washboard, however, is usually worn around the neck and sound is produced by running the fingers (sometimes with a thimble on the finger) across the ridged board.
The word you are looking for is gurio.
I think that you might have meant to put guiro.
The instrument is named after a type of gourd because these instruments used to be (and still are) made out of these dried gourds. The type of gourd (I believe) is called a güiro or güira.
The word you are looking for is guiro. I recently purchased one in a market in Latin America.
When I bought it, the vendor called it a "guido" at least to my ears. It took forever for me to find info on line about it. I finally remembered that Spanish speaking people sometimes sound like they are saying the letter "d"when they pronounce their "r's" (at least to English speaking people). I finally found what I was looking for... a **Guiro. 
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