3Tres

By most accounts, the tres was first used in several related Afro-Cuban musical genres originating in Eastern Cuba: the nengón, kiribá, changüí, and son.Benjamin Lapidus states: "The tres holds a position of great importance not only in changüí, but in the musical culture of Cuba as a whole."[2] Onetheory holds that initially, a guitar, tiple or bandola, was used in the son. They were eventually replaced by a new native-born instrument, a fusion of allthree, called the tres. Helio Orovio writes that in 1892, Nene Manfugas brought the tres from Baracoa, its place of origin, to Santiago de Cuba.[3] FernandoOrtíz asserts a contrary theory that the tres is not actually a Cuban invention at all, but an instrument that had already existed in precolonial-eraSpain.[4] There are also a tres variants in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.[5]
The Cuban tres has three courses (groups) of two strings each for atotal of six strings. From the low pitch to the highest, the principal tuning is in C Major: G, C, E. However, today many treseros are playing a step up A,D, F# or D Major.
Players of the Cuban tres are called treseros.
Puerto Rican tres



A Puerto Rican tres.
The Puerto Rican tres may havedescended from the Cuban tres. Unlike the Cuban variety, which has a guitar-like shape, the Puerto Rican tres is shaped like a Puerto Rican Cuatro, with cut outs.The Puerto Rican tres has 9 strings in 3 courses and is tuned G4 G3 G4, C4 C4 C4, E4 E3 E4.
Players of the Puerto Rican tres are called tresistas.