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1. Bongo Drums. Check Price. The bongo drums shortly called bongos are a percussion instrument with a pair of unequal drums. The larger drum and the smaller drum were named hembra and macho in order. A right-handed player shall play the hembra with his right hand and vice versa.
- Overview
- Pre-Columbian patterns
Latin American music, musical traditions of Mexico, Central America, and the portions of South America and the Caribbean colonized by the Spanish and the Portuguese. These traditions reflect the distinctive mixtures of Native American, African, and European influences that have shifted throughout the region over time.
This article surveys religious, folk, and art (informally, classical) music through time and over the hemisphere. After a brief discussion of the uses of music in preconquest cultures (for further treatment, see Native American music), the narrative turns to how Europeans introduced Iberian church music and began the hybridization of musical practices in both the religious and the folk realms. At the same time, imported art music practices became part of the colonial cultures and were in turn infused with local and regional flavours. By the 21st century various national musical characteristics had asserted themselves in all types of musical practice, while international trends flowed into the regional musical stream as well.
At the time of Christopher Columbus’s first encounter of the “New World” in 1492, numerous indigenous cultures were spread from the northern Mexican mountains to the southern tip of South America and on the Caribbean islands. These cultures ranged from isolated and technologically primitive peoples to highly organized societies with advanced technological knowledge. Little is known about the musical activities or systems of these precolonial civilizations, but available sources do afford glimpses into the roles of music in the most-advanced cultures. These sources include surviving musical instruments, dictionaries of Indian languages compiled by early European missionaries, chronicles written by Europeans of the 16th century, and, for Mesoamerica, a substantial number of pre-Columbian Mexican codices. (A codex is a manuscript in book form.) Some scholars have studied the musical cultures of isolated indigenous communities of the 20th century as a means to understanding the past; although such an approach may be somewhat useful, it is not wise to assume that traditions are continuous and uninfluenced over centuries.
The type of ancient Mesoamerican music that is best-documented is the ritual music of the courts (primarily Aztec and Mayan). Music performance (often allied with dance) is depicted as a large-ensemble activity, in which numerous participants variously play instruments, sing, or dance. The 8th-century murals of the Bonampak temple, for example, show a procession with trumpets, drums, and rattles.
To an extent that is remarkable in light of their numerous differences in other artistic and cultural realms, the different cultures from at least the 8th century to the early 16th century used similar instruments. Drums and wind instruments, primarily flutes, are commonly described in texts and found in artifacts. The teponaztli, a two-key slit drum played with a mallet, and the huehuetl, a single-headed cylindrical upright drum played with bare hands, occupied a special position in Aztec rituals and were considered sacred instruments. Many of the archaeological examples of these drums carry elaborate carvings with glyphs and drawings that reveal symbolically their ritual uses and functions. Comparable instruments served essential functions for the Maya.
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Many flutes from Mesoamerican cultures survive. Among the Aztec they were known generically as tlapizalli. An especially intriguing type of flute found near the Gulf of Mexico coast consists of two, three, or four tubes sounded from a single mouthpiece. Such instruments prove the existence of harmonic possibilities, up to four notes simultaneously, but it is not known how they were used. Ancient Mesoamericans did not develop musical notation, and the Spanish did not transcribe music they heard. Surviving instruments provide some indication of sound quality and pitch but not any precise way of determining scales or melodies.
- Gerard Béhague
- Vihuela. The Mexican vihuela is like the younger sibling to the guitar in a Mariachi band. This Mexican instrument is smaller and higher-pitched. Its five strings strum out bright, rhythmic chords that make any tune bounce with that distinct Mariachi energy.
- Guitarrón. The guitarrón is one of the main Mexican musical instruments in Mariachi music. The sound produced by this hefty, six-stringed acoustic bass is the pulse of the band, supplying the rich, deep tones that underscore the rest of a Mariachi band.
- Requinto. The requinto guitar is the charming, high-pitched cousin of the guitar in traditional Mexican music. It’s smaller in size but big on delivering lovely, melodic lines that soar above the ensemble.
- Trumpet. The trumpet is the loud and proud brass voice in many traditional Mexican bands. Introduced to Mariachi in the 20th century, its clear, ringing notes command attention and add a special something to the mix.
The rich Iberian tradition of stringed instruments—guitar and guitarlike instruments, lute, mandolin, harp, and violin—spread rapidly through all of Latin America. Yet in practice these instruments respond to different aesthetic outlooks.
- Gerard Béhague
- Accordion. A familiar instrument to most, the accordion comprises hand bellows, a treble casing, and a bass casing. The two casings sit on opposite sides of the bellows and feature piano keys (for the treble) and buttons (for the bass).
- Arpa Jarocha. The Arpa Jarocha or Mexican Harp is a large, wooden-framed harp, which has 32 to 36 strings made initially from animal guts, but nylon is now used, a resonator, a flat soundboard (occasionally arch outwards), and without any pedals.
- Ayoyotes. The Ayoyotes are part of the legacy left behind by the Aztecs. They are considered percussion instruments, which are made of the hard shells of seeds from the Ayoyote tree.
- Bajo Sexto. The Bajo Sexto is part of the guitar family, belonging to the strings section. These are larger than standard-sized guitars with twelve strings divided into six sets of two strings.
Latin American folk and popular music comprises numerous musical styles and genres that have emerged over time in specific countries or regions.
Jun 28, 2024 · The music of Mexico incorporates a vast many genres and performance styles, but perhaps most vital in shaping the country’s sound is the blending of traditional folk music with the European styles introduced by the Spanish in the 16th century.
