mariachi

Mariachi
Stylistic origins	Son Jaliscience
Cultural origins	18th century, Cocula, Jalisco
Typical instruments	Violin, guitarrón, guitarra de golpe, vihuela, guitar, trumpet, and occasionally a harp and a Piano
Subgenres
Ranchera, Traditional
Other topics
Charro - Jarabe tapatío(also the name of a song) - Zapateado - Son Huasteco - Huapango - Mexican pop

Mariachi is a type of musical group, originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Usually a mariachi consists of at least three violins, two trumpets, one Spanish guitar, one vihuela (a high-pitched, five-string guitar) one guitarrón (a small-scaled acoustic bass) and occasionally a harp. They dress in silver studded charro outfits with wide-brimmed hats. The original Mariachi were Mexican street musicians or buskers.^[1] Many mariachis are professional entertainers doing paid gigs in the mainstream entertainment industry. Professionals are normally skilled at more than one instrument, and they also sing. They sometimes accompany ranchera singers such as Vicente Fernandez or even pop star Luis Miguel. Although ranchera singers dress in a traje de charro (Charro suit), they are not mariachis.

Although mariachis are hired to play at events such as weddings and other formal occasions, such as a quinceañera (a girl's fifteenth birthday celebration), they are very often used to serenade women because many of the songs in a typical repertoire have as a theme the desire to touch the heart of the opposite sex. Trios of mariachis can be found for hire in different places at night (the best known venues are Plaza de los Mariachis in Guadalajara and Plaza Garibaldi in Mexico City) for the purposes of serenading. Mother's days are also another popular occasion for mariachis. Hiring prices can vary immensely and are normally not cheap.

Tourists frequently confuse mariachis with all types of buskers seen in Mexico, such as jarochos. Mariachi refers to musicians who dress and play in a style typical of the Mexican state of Jalisco, although the style and music played has spread far beyond the limits of Jalisco and jalisciense music itself. Generally a guitarrón and a vihuela must be included for a group to be considered a mariachi.

Instrumentation

Current mariachi instrumentation includes a guitarrón, a vihuela, a guitar, violins, and trumpets. Some groups might use a guitarra de golpe, a mariachi harp or even a flute. From the 70's some singers have occasionally added other instruments as accordion, organ, keyboard, harmonica, saxophone and even drums, although they were considered additions, never part of the mariachi instrumentation itself. During the last years ranchera singers as Alejandro Fernandez, Pablo Montero and Pepe Aguilar have made fusions of mariachi with orchestra and drums/percussions giving birth to a mariachi/pop ballads crossover style.

Musical forms

Vargas de Tecalitlán

• Metre in 2/4 [chun-ta]

• Canción ranchera (a dos tiempos)
• Corrido (a dos tiempos)
• "Polka"
• Pasodoble
• Marcha

• Metre in 3/4 [chun-ta-ta]

• Canción ranchera (tres tiempos)
• Corrido (tres tiempos)
• Valses mexicanos
• Son
• Huapango

• Metre in 4/4

• Bolero ranchero
• Danzón
• Ranchera Lenta
• Cumbia

• Metre in 6/8

• Son
• Jarabe
• Huapango

• Metre mixed

Examples:

• "Muerte de un gallero" (corrido-son)
• "El Charro Mexicano" (ranchera-son)

• Oberturas de música clásica

References

External links

• Mariachi con Ñ
• Desde la Cuna del Mariachi
• Tucson's Ronstadt Family
• "Mariachi Women"
• "Females in Mariachi"