A güira (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɡwiɾa]) is a percussion instrument originating in the Dominican Republic, generally used in merengue, and its subgenres like bachata, which in use is similar to the maraca or the trap-kit’s hi-hat but here formed of thin sheet metal—in practice, steel sometimes from a five-gallon oil can—and played with a stiff brush, similar to the Puerto Rican güiro.