Let's take a trip to Mexico and enjoy the vibrant cultural and traditional aspects of their music!
My first roommate was born and mostly raised in Chihuahua, Mexico. I adored her culture - mostly the language, music, and her mom's cooking! One thing I learned was that Mexico is a country of passion, love, and is certainly family centered. I felt mostly overwhelmed while taking my trip to Mexico to learn more about the music... it goes back many years and it continues to evolve while still holding onto its traditional sounds.
Mexico's music was originally dominated by Aztec culture until Mexico was invaded by Cortes and his conquest. Mexico then became a Spanish colony. Mexico's music became a blend of Spanish, Aztecan and also had a bit of African roots to blend together. There are so many musical styles and influences in Mexico that compliment a ranching lifestyle or festive mariachi bands! There is so much more to Mexico's music than ranchera and mariachi, but it is some of the most popular styles.
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Ranchera
Also, if you've ever seen Disney Pixar's, "Coco," you know it's filled with appreciation and fair representation of Mexican culture. "Remember Me" was performed throughout the movie in a variety of styles and is considered a Ranchera style song. It's so sweet and definitely brought tears to my eyes.
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Mariachi Bands
Mariachi is one of the more popular genre's of Mexican music and is know by those outside of Mexico. Mariachi is a band of instruments including violins, guitar, trumpets, vihuela, and a guitarron. The musicians all take turns singing lead and doing backup vocals. Mariachi is often a large part of events and celebrations in Mexico and is used for celebrating struggles, joys, and growth of the people.
The music is often so joyful sounding. The waltz influence plays a part and you feel as if you could dance along to a fast waltz with Mariachi music with the triple meter that slows down and speeds up through the songs. Mariachi is unique in the fact that it's so distinct in sound and almost anyone could pick up what style it is immediately.
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I believe all cultures all beautiful and none are more beautiful than the other. One thing Mexico does have is a large sense of pride in their culture. It's so popular around the world and you hear it in so many different places! Thanks for taking this journey with me!
-Megan
Sources:
Ilich, Tijana. "Son, Ranchera, and Mariachi Musical Styles in Mexico." Live About Dot Com, Apr. 15, 2018, https://www.liveabout.com/music-of-mexico-son-ranchera-mariachi-2141530.
Clark, Jonathan D. "A Brief History of the Mariachi Tradition." West Music, sourced Mar. 8, 2021, https://content.westmusic.com/resources/brief-history-of-mariachi/
Hi Megan,
ReplyDeleteI've always harbored a mild interest in Mexico in general, but not entirely about Mexican music. I enjoyed you blog post because I learned about Mexican music and what it means culturally to Mexicans and visitors. I also enjoy the movie, The Mask of Zorro, and it's main theme song is quite legato, but the use of the horns still hearken to the exotic nature of mariachi music and define the song as a tale of a Mexican warrior. Just my two-pence :) Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA9NbU_R-y4
Great job with the blog post! I really liked it.
Hey Megan, the appearance of your blog is very captivating! I have always enjoyed the beat and rhythm of Mexican music, so I thoroughly enjoyed being able to learn a little bit more about it from you. One thing that I thought of when you brought up the fact that Mexico is very family-oriented is how inclusive their music is! One of the things that I have always appreciated about this style of music is that no matter who you are or what mood you are in when a song of this style comes on, everyone always wants to get up and dance to it! It does not exclude anyone from the songs by making it one style or another, but it includes everyone by making it fun and upbeat. Good post!
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