Cuban Tres FAQ

Questions, Answered

What actually is a guajeo?

A fixed repeating figure — which course sounds on which eighth note, rests included, one bar at a time — run through a chord voicing. It is how a tres states harmony: instead of strumming the chord, it walks the chord’s tones in rhythm while the rest of the band holds the block. The cell pages show three of them with every pitch derived from the tuning, not typed by hand.

Why G–C–E? What do the open courses spell?

The three open courses spell a C major triad — which is why so much of the son repertoire sits where it sits: in and around C, the instrument’s free chord. The G course also sounds above the C beside it, so lines that look like they descend on paper can rise under the fingers. The fretboard explorer makes both facts visible in one tap.

The courses are doubled — why do the diagrams show three strings?

A tres carries six strings in three pairs: the G and C courses are traditionally strung in octaves and the E course in unison, and each pair is fretted and struck as one. The diagrams draw the pair as a single course because that is how your hands treat it — the octave doubling changes the shimmer, never the fingering.

I play guitar. Will my chords work here?

Your left hand will settle in quickly — three courses ask for simpler grips than six strings, and the chord pages chart every one with frets and fingers named. The genuinely new part is the right hand’s job: a guitar mostly states harmony in blocks, and a tres states it as a repeating line. Learn one cell before anything else and the instrument starts making sense.

Do I ever just strum a tres?

Sometimes — endings, accents, and some folkloric styles strum freely. But the working default is the figure: single strikes, one course at a time, with the silences counted as carefully as the notes. That is why every chord page here links to the cells that can run through it, and why the drills are all about evenness.

Is any of this paid?

No. Every chart, cell table, drill, and tool on Tres Warrior is free, with no ads and no account.