Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Mariachi Tradition

Mariachi bands have been a mainstay in Mexican culture for hundreds of years. It has become emblematic of Mexican music by being some of the first music on Mexican radio and film, and by creating some of the regional song forms of the country. Typically a Mariachi band uses violins, trumpets, and guitars (including a low-pitched guitar, a guitarron, and a high-pitched one, a vihuela).

The mariachi style actually has many stylized song forms, analogous to Baroque and Renaissance dance forms. 2/4 song forms include Cancion ranchera, Corrido, Polka, and Pasodoble, and 3/4 forms include Valses mexicanos, Son Jaliscience, and Huapango.

1 comment:

  1. Great job. Don't forget to check out the "Banda" tradition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banda_music

    "Established in the late 1880s in Sinaloa, a state in northwestern Mexico, banda music exploded in popularity in the 1990s throughout Mexico. Its roots come from the overlapping of Mexican music with German polka music. At the time, many German Mexicans lived in the states of Sinaloa, Chihuahua, and Nuevo León. This greatly influenced northern Mexican music. Immigrants from northern Mexico brought the music to the United States. Initially popular in the southwest United States, primarily in Texas, California and Arizona, banda has followed the movement of Mexican immigrants to the Midwest United States and the rest of the country. Other notes on the origin of "Banda" music resembling mid 20th century Jazz: Mexicans whom came in contact with Latin-based Jazz of Chicanos or Mexicans born and raised in the United States adopted Jazz-like sounds in banda to further enrich the music type."

    ReplyDelete