One of the driving rhythmic forces in a merengue band, the güiro's distinctive sound is common in much Latin American popular music. It is an indefinite-pitched percussion instrument that was originally made by scraping a stick back and forth across the raised ridges of a hollow gourd or piece of wood.

Modern güiros are manufactured from wood or stainless steeI with a textured surface that is scraped to give a rasping sound.

In Cuba, guiro can also mean shekere.