The
güira is a metal scraper from the
Dominican Republic used as a
percussion instrument in
merengue and, to a lesser extent, other genres such as
bachata. It is made of a metal sheet (commonly steel, sometimes from a five-gallon oil can) and played with a stiff brush, thus being similar to the Cuban
guayo (also a metal scraper) and the
güiro (a gourd scraper). Güira, guayo and güiro all have a function akin to that of the
maracas or the trap-kit's
hi-hat, namely providing a complementary beat.