35 Fun Facts About The Mariachi Music Genre

Search engine giant Google is celebrating Mexico’s rich cultural heritage: the Mariachi musical genre with a Doodle video on November 24, 2020.

Fun facts about Mariachi

1. Mariachi is a genre of Latin music. It is popularized in Mexico and in its culture.

2. There are many legends that accompany this particular name. Some say it comes from the French word marriage, (marriage) because this musical group was responsible for receiving weddings during the French intercession. Others guarantee that it is a tree that grows in Jalisco and Michoacán.

3. The most recognized theory says that it is a concentrate of the song of Cocas to the Virgin Mary of the river, which reads “Maria ce son” or “le chant de Marie”, which sounds like / Ma-ree -ah // She / when articulated.

4. “Mariachi” is truly an elective name for music. It is aptly called “Child Jalisciense”, as the music is believed to have started in Cocula, Jalisco. Indeed, even today Jalisco produces some of the best mariachi bands.

5. This kind of music incorporates instruments, for example, the violin, the trumpet, the guitar, the vihuela, the guitarrón and sometimes a harp.

6. Mariachi is generally sung and performed in groups. Nevertheless, some solo musicians, for example, Selena and Alejandro Fernández have recorded and performed Mariachi songs.

7. The size of a Mariachi group changes depending on the accessibility of performers. The typical mariachi band today consists of up to eight violins, two trumpets, and at least one guitar.

8. Traditional mariachi guitars incorporate the vihuela, a round-back high-pitched guitar that sets the pace, and a bass guitar called guitarrón, which additionally sets the pace.

9. Sometimes a Mexican folk harp gives bass and adorns the vocals. All are Mexican varieties of European instruments.

10. There is usually no lead singer as in different types of groups, all players singing backing vocals and singing alternately. Regularly, the lead singer is relegated to a specific song due to vocal qualities.

11. The Mariachi vocalization shows impacts of various styles, for example, bolero (a romantic style), huapango (using the falsetto), son jalisciense (an aggressive style), and more.

12. Voices must be loud to be heard on improved instruments. The vocal style emphasizes lyrical qualities and the instrumental performance exhibits a level of virtuosity that reflects advanced musical training.

13. Historically, mariachi groups were made up of men, but there is growing recognition of female mariachi.

14. As mariachi bands are summoned to play requests, they may need to know many different songs.

15. Most of the songs deal with machismo, love, betrayal, death, politics, revolutionary legends and even creatures and national life from the origins of the genre as the music of rural sons. A particularly well-known song is “La Cucaracha” (The Cockroach).

16. Mariachis are also typically hired for baptisms, weddings, patriotic celebrations, and even funerals. It is not uncommon for the deceased to leave a list of favorite songs to sing next to the grave during the funeral.

17. Most mariachi groups are linked to family and religious festivals alongside serenades.

18. One of the most recognized pieces performed by Mariachis is “Las Mañanitas” for birthdays and celebrations of patron saints.

19. In the mid-20th century, 1936 President Lazaro Cardenas was campaigning for office. President Cardenas believed that to bring the different places in Mexico together he would have Mariachi Vargas de Tecalittlan with him in his campaign, music was the connecting element. This event contributed immensely to the importance of mariachi music.

20. In Mexico, mariachi music can also be found as part of Catholic mass.

21. Misa Panamericana is a mariachi folk mass sung in Spanish with new arrangements of classical songs, for example “Kyrie Eleison”. This advance began in 1966 with the Canadian priest Jean Marc Leclerc and has grown from a small church to the cathedral of Cuernavaca.

22. Mariachi music has been incorporated into the most sacred ritual of the Roman Catholic Church: Mass. The Misa Panamericana is a Mariachi folk mass, sung in Spanish, which uses traditional instruments to make new, lively interpretations of the traditional elements of the service: Angelus, Kyrie Eleison, Gloria, Alleluia, Offertory, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei.

23. Mariachi music derives its characteristic sonority from the various Jalisco sons (sones jaliscienses) that formed the premise of the early ensemble repertoire. There are two main categories of yarns in Jalisco: those from the south (sones del sur) and those from the north (sones alteñeos).

24. Notably, mariachi music is one of Mexico’s most symbolic legacies in the world, being perceived as intangible heritage for humanity by UNESCO in 2011.

25. As often as possible, tourists confuse mariachis with all types of buskers found in Mexico, for example jarochos. Mariachi refers to musicians who dress and perform in a style typical of the Mexican state of Jalisco, although the style and music played has spread far beyond the restrictions of Jalisco and Jalisciense music itself. . For the most part, a guitarrón and a vihuela must be incorporated for a band to be considered a mariachi.

26. However, not only in Mexico is this tradition valuable, but in the United States, Aruba, Colombia and Venezuela, some schools coordinate the study of mariachi in their training programs, making it part of their daily lives.

27. American author Jeff Nevin composed a Concerto for Mariachi and Orchestra, which was premiered by the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra.

28. Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan is one of the oldest mariachis in Mexican history. Their sounds are what make them interesting.

29. Traditional mariachi music is made up of a combination of song-specific melodies and common tropes (presentations, bridges and codas). The presence of tropes considers a gathering to perform a piece without everyone in the troupe having to know it well. A significant part of the gathering can play basic obligatory games for many random pieces while showing virtuosity in the tropes.

30. The mariachi tradition has been largely affected from Mexico to the United States, Argentina, and various nations, especially Colombia. Colombian music is exceptionally affected by the famous Mexican mariachi traditions.

31. The current association between the clothing of the Charro and the Mariachi did not begin until the mid-1900s, when Miguel Lerdo de Tejada dressed his ballroom orchestra in Charros to Mexicanize their image.

32. Bands playing Mariachi music wore the well-known style from that time until the 1930s when they received the Traje de Charro and bands began to dress in the same way.

33. Mariachi music became the symbol of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) because it represented the Mexican national soul or the native Spanish blood of the Mexican ethnicity.

34. Today, Mariachi music is available in celebrations, performances and now even in schools around the world. Mariachi music is more common in a few state school systems, such as Texas, Arizona, California, and New Mexico.

35. Music is fun to play and a lot of students can learn about something, mariachi music, which is an integral part of their cultural past, present and future.