Vicente Carattini - Early Years

Early Years

Carattini was born and raised in the town of Cidra, Puerto Rico where he received his primary and secondary education. His father realized that the young Carattini was fascinated with Puerto Rican folk music and presented him with a Puerto Rican cuatro. A cuatro is a Puerto Rican stringed instrument somewhat similar to a guitar but smaller in size. The Puerto Rican cuatro has five pairs of strings for a total of ten, and is different from the cuatro in other Latin American countries (for example, the Venezuelan cuatro actually has four strings). At the age of nine, Carattini learned how to play the cuatro by asking those in town who knew how to play the instrument to teach him. In 1950, his father gave him a better quality cuatro and a guitar.

In 1956, when Carattini was 15 years old, he formed the "Trio Los Juglares", which dedicated themselves to sing boleros. The trio included the vocals of Felito Felix and performed basically in Cidra, however Felito Felix left the following year and the trio was dissolved.

Carattini continued to go to school and graduated from the Jesus T. Piñero high school of Cidra. In 1958, he enrolled in the Catholic University of Ponce and after one year transferred to the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras. In 1960, he earned his teacher's certificate and in 1961 his Bachelors of Science degree. He returned to his hometown and became a teacher.