What makes mariachi unique

When big-city radio stations, movie studios, and record companies took mariachi music to new audiences throughout Mexico and abroad beginning in the s, mariachi music was transformed into one of Latin America's favorite musics. Since then, its repertoire of fast-paced sones, expressive canciones rancheras "country" songs , polkas, syncopated huapangos , romantic boleros, and more has been heard throughout the Americas and around the world.

Today, mariachi ensembles are part of musical life in every country of the Americas. The USA, the Southwest in particular, is home to many thousands of mariachi musicians, and hundreds of schools host mariachi education programs.

In the USA, mariachi music is just as likely to be performed in major concert halls by tightly rehearsed concert groups as it is at birthday parties, wedding receptions, baptism celebrations, and restaurants by workaday professional groups. Dozens of major annual mariachi festivals featuring local and internationally renowned groups attract audiences of thousands—both Mexican Americans who might embrace the music as a symbol of their cultural heritage and others who simply enjoy the hard-hitting, lively sounds of the music.

Skip to main content. Music of, by, and for the people. Explore Learn Join Shop. Browse By. Eastern Africa. Middle Africa. These special outfits include waist-length jackets, fitted pants, and special bowties. Most band members also wear boots and sombreros. Mariachi bands always dress to impress—their suits usually include intricate embroidery. Have you ever seen a mariachi band? You can sometimes find them in restaurants. Many also stroll through the crowds at festivals and celebrations.

Their songs often cover topics such as love, betrayal, death, heroes, and animals. Since mariachi bands are expected to play songs requested by the crowd, they often know hundreds of different songs! Are you ready to dance? Be sure to explore the following activities with a friend or family member:.

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Help spread the wonder of families learning together. We sent you SMS, for complete subscription please reply. Follow Twitter Instagram Facebook. What is a mariachi band? How did the word mariachi originate? What instruments are featured in a mariachi band? Wonder What's Next? Natives, who had their own highly developed musical traditions, quickly mastered European musical practices.

With the importation of large numbers of black slaves, African music was also brought to Mexico during the early colonial period. Many regional traditions of mestizo folk music, including that of the mariachi, resulted from the ensuing cultural and musical blending of indigenous and foreign elements.

Despite frequent attempts to attribute it to a specific state or town, the exact birthplace of the mariachi remains unknown. The early development of mestizo folk music in Mexico is largely undocumented, making speculative any theories on the early evolution of the mariachi.

The earliest known incontrovertible reference to a mariachi appears in a letter written by priest Cosme Santa Anna in , although the word can be found earlier as a place-name. Mariachis documented during the second half of the nineteenth century in central western Mexico were commonly associated with the rural fiesta or fandango , and with the tarima or wooden platform upon which couples would dance sones and jarabes , the two most important genres of the early mariachi repertory.

Early mariachis wore peasant garb and had little concern for dressing alike. After the Revolution of , however, modest uniforms began to appear. When for the first time mariachis could afford to outfit themselves elegantly, they chose the suit of the horseman or traje de charro. The gala version of this suit worn by contemporary mariachis — with its tightly-fitting ornamented pants, short jacket, embroidered belt, boots, wide bow tie, and sombrero — was once the attire of wealthy hacienda owners.

The consensus of modern scholars is that the word mariachi is indigenous to Mexico. The now-extinct Coca language of central Jalisco is that most frequently cited as its probable source.

Legend erroneously attributes the word to the French Intervention of the s, explaining it as a corruption of the French word mariage , and citing a similarity between mariachi or its archaic variant, mariache and the French word for wedding.

Historical documents prove that both the word mariachi and the ensemble it designates pre-date the French occupation of Mexico, making any similarity with the French word a phonetic coincidence.

While its roots are rural, the contemporary mariachi is an urban phenomenon associated with post-revolutionary Mexico City. Vestiges of earlier types of mariachis may still be found in rural Mexico, but the urban mariachi has been the dominant model since the s. Although mariachis had performed for official functions under Porfirio Diaz in and in , it was not until after the Revolution of that the mariachi became widely adopted as a symbol of nationalism. The role of the media was crucial to the popularization of the mariachi.