The Colombian tiple (in Spanish: tiple, pronounced: tee-pleh) is a plucked string instrument of the guitar family, common in Colombia where it is considered one of the national instruments. About three-fourths the size of a classical guitar, it has twelve strings set in four triple-strung courses. It is played as a main instrument or as an accompanying instrument to the guitar.
Etymology According to the RAE the word tiple denotes an acute sound (treble). It also defines tiple as guitars of very acute sound; this, however, is contradictory as today's tiple can't be classified as an instrument of acute sound. The term tiple is also considered the Spanish word for treble.CAPITULO TERCERO | banrepcultural.org Traditional Colombian tiple should not be confused with the American tiple (aka "Martin" tiple) which are very different instruments in size, stringing, tuning, sound, application and technique.
History Little is known about the beginnings of the Colombian tiple and its use in Colombia. The first accounts exist in an article published in 1849 by Jose Caicedo Rojas; in it he narrates a story that takes place in Chitaraque, near San Gil, Santander; about some soldiers that deserted the military after they became melancholic during a night of party. In the story he describes the tiple and how it was used to sing coplas.
In his references to the tiple Rojas explains : "In New Granada we have the tiple and the bandola.They are an imitation of the Spanish vihuela". In 1923 well known musician Guillermo Uribe Holguin cites Caicedo's writing during a conference in which he criticizes the Colombian tiple as a poorer version of the Spanish guitar by saying "The tiple is a primitive form of the guitar, in other words, is a guitar without the notes E and A (...)CAPITULO PRIMERO | banrepcultural.org
In 1951 Bogotanian musician Jorge Áñez cites in his book Canciones y recuerdos (Songs and memories) an observation made by professor Robert Pizano in which he points out that Neogranadine painter Gregorio Vasquez Ceballos painted some tiples in the hands of angels inside the dome of the church of Saint Ignace.Añez, Jorge; Canciones y recuerdos; Impr. Nacional; Bogotá: 1951. 485p.
Colombian historian priest Jose Ignacio Perdomo Escobar quotes a Jesuit idiom that indicates that by the year 1680 tiples were already sold at stores in the municipality of Topaga, in the Boyaca Department. Such idiom was "guitars and tiples sold to multiply the happiness of the good people". This is supported by information found in the archives at the Cathedral of Bogotá.Escobar, Jose Ignacio Perdomo; Historia de la Musica en Colombia, 3rd ed.; Editorial ABC Bogotá; Bogotá: 1963.
Colombian historian Guillermo Hernandez de Alba gives in 1954 a totally different theory in an article published in El Espectador of Bogotá. "At the Canary Islands they have a typical small instrument called timple, it is played as an accompanying instrument...couldn't it be that our tiple is not but the evolution of a Canarian timple?""Hitoria del Tiple"López, Javier Ocampo; Música y folclor de Colombia; Plaza y Janes; Barcelona: 1984. p. 49.
Researcher and composer Miguel Angel Martin writes in his book Del Folclor llaneroDEL FOLCLOR LLANERO (Folklore from the eastern plains) from 1978:"I believe the tiple was brought to us from the Canary Islands and I believe the first tiples were made at the settlements of Tamara, Morcote, Pauto and Tame in the Casanare".PARTE 3 | banrepcultural.org
In 1970 Harry C. Davidson publishes an extensive monograph about the tiple within his book Diccionario Folclorico de Colombia (Colombian dictionary of folklore). In it Davidson analyzes the concepts expressed by Añez about the paintings in Saint Ignace church and he concludes that there aren't enough sources to accept his theories and then he goes to affirm that "this instrument entered the historic heritage of Colombia at the beginning of the 19th century".Davidson, Harry C.; Diccionario Folclorico de Colombia; Banco de la República, Departamento de Tall. Gráf.; Bogotá: 1970.
This wealth of theories may indicate that it's very likely that throughout the 19th century the tiple was already part of Colombia's culture. There is no clear conclusion on where in Colombia the tiple first originated since the documentation is sketchy. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the tiple is linked to the Spanish guitar and the timple from the Canary islands.
Today's Colombian tiple is the result of a lengthy modification of guitars brought by the conquistadors to the New World. Historically it is difficult to say precisely what a tiple is since a number of chordophones have adopted such names over the centuries. There exists also the discrepancies in names given to the same instrument in different parts of Colombia. In his book, Cancionero of Antioquia (Chansonnier of Antioquia), author Antonio Jose Restrepo lists chordophones, including the: Vihuela Cuatro (meaning four, because it had only four strings) Guitar Vihuela brava (or bandola) Tiple (meaning the older five string Colombian instrument)
Five string tiples are now relatively unknown, except for references in historic publications. The four string tiple, however, remains popular in Colombia's eastern plains and in Venezuela.
The immediate predecessor of today's Colombian tiple and requinto is the eight-string tiple. This is supported by evidence found among publications from 1868 and 1877 that intended to teach how to play such instruments. They were edited by Jose Eleuterio Suarez, Jose Viteri and Telesforo D'Aleman. The first one of this publications is Metodo facil para aprender los tonos del tiple (Easy method to learn the tones of a tiple) and can currently be found at the Luis Ángel Arango and National Libraries of Bogotá as historic material.
In 1868 Jose Viteri publishes a collection called Metodo completo para aprender a tocar tiple o bandola sin necesidad de maestro (Complete method to learn to play the tiple or bandola without a teacher) in which he explains how at the time some authors used the term bandola and tiple interchangeably.
During the 20th century the tiple changed to its current appearance. In the first years of the 20th century, the tiple was still evolving. Makers added strings to keep the harmony of the notes, resulting in four courses: two strings - three strings - three strings - two strings.
In 1915, writer Santos Cifuentes wrote an article titled "Hacia el americanismo musical - La musica en Colombia" (Towards a musical Americanism - Music in Colombia) In it, he mentions the Colombian tiple. Unfamiliar with the instrument Cifuentes points out a couple of flaws, but his writing is of historic value since it explains that the tiple has by this time 12 strings.Cifuentes, Santos; Hacia el Americanismo Musical: La música en Colombia; Correo Musical Sud-Americano I:37:8; Venezuela: December 1915. (The ten string tiple still survives as the "American Tiple", often also known as the "Martin Tiple", after the chief manufacturer of this type in the states, the Martin Guitar Company. Besides having fewer strings the American Tiple differs in being smaller than the tiple Colombiano, nearer the size of a baritone ukulele, than a guitar.)
The final step towards today's tiple takes place in the switch from a wooden machine head to a mechanical one with metal gears allowing the player to find the correct tuning not unlike today's guitars.
A photograph from 1921 reveals the "Colombian Lira" with the 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 Bogotá or Carlos Norato and Hernando Guzman in Cali among others around the country.PARTE 4 | banrepcultural.org
Timeline of the tiple
Timeline of the Colombian tiple (Click "show" or "hide" to toggle this table)YearEventImage1502–1550Guitars and vihuelas arrive to the New Kingdom of Granada1542The word tiple appears in the American continent1571It is known that there are vihuelas in Tunja played by Jorge Voto1585The word tiple is printed on the sheet music of the Cathedral of Bogotá to designate voices and instruments of an acute sound1645Among the instruments of the Jesuit mission in Topaga it is found that vihuelas and discantes are different kind of instruments.1746The tiple is mentioned for the first time in Popayan to designate a chordophone different from the guitar1813–1870The tiples are mentioned in numerous literary works1818The Norato family establishes in the municipality of Chiquinquira as a manufacturer of tiples1845First pictorial representations of tiples found in watercolors1849The first article describing a tiple is published. There are three varieties. One with four strings, one with five strings and one with eight strings all of them paired.1868First learning method published.1890–1901Tiple continues with eight strings. The bandola adopts its pear-shaped shape.1907D'Aleman method for learning to play ten and twelve strings is published.1915The tiple reaches its final configuration with twelve strings1916First photograph of a tiple with mechanical machine heads.
Description As a relative of the guitar the Colombian tiple is similar in appearance although slightly smaller (about 18%) than a standard classical guitar. The typical fretboard scale is about 530 mm (just under 21 inches), and the neck joins the body at the 12th fret. There are 12 strings, grouped in four tripled courses. It is typically built with many materials also used for guitars: the sound box for instance is often made of walnut or cedar and the neck is usually made of cedar. Frets were traditionally made of red or yellow copper, but in modern instruments brass or steel is more common. The stringing pattern constitutes one of the main differences between the Colombian tiple and other chordophones such as the twelve string guitar: the metal strings are laid out in 4 courses of 3 strings each (triple strung courses).Zuluanga, David Puerta; Los Caminos del Tiple [The Evolution of the Tiple]; DamelPublishers; Bogotá, Colombia: 1988. 208pp.
David Pelham says of the Colombian tiple:
"The tiple is a Colombian adaptation of the Renaissance Spanish vihuela brought to the New World in the 16th century by the Spanish conquistadors. At the end of the 19th century, it evolved to its present shape. Its twelve strings are arranged in four groups of three: the first group consists of three steel strings tuned to E, the second, third and fourth groups have a copper string in the middle of two steel strings. The central ones are tuned one octave lower than the surrounding strings of the group. This arrangement produces the set of harmonics that gives the instrument its unique voice."Morales, Abadia; Instrumentos Musicales del Folklore Colombiano [Musical Instruments of Colombian Folklore]; Banco Popular; Bogotá, Colombia: 1991.
Outside of Colombia the "copper" strings are more often standard brass or bronze wound steel guitar strings.
Tuning Traditional tuning from lowest to highest course is C F A D. The outer two strings of each of course is tuned an octave higher than the middle string in the course, giving C4 C3 C4 • F4 F3 F4 • A4 A3 A4 • D4 D4 D4. An 18 or 19 fret fingerboard gives the tiple Colombiano a range of about 2-2/3 octaves, from C3 - G#5 (or A5).