The music of Mexico is very diverse and features a wide range of musical styles. It has been influenced by a variety of cultures, most notably indigenous Mexican and European, since the Late Middle Ages. Many traditional Mexican songs are well-known worldwide, including Bésame Mucho (Kiss Me a Lot), La Bamba (The Bamba), Solamente una vez (English version "You Belong to My Heart"), La Bikina (The Bikina), Cielito Lindo (Beautiful Sweetheart), Somos Novios (We Are Lovers; English version "It's Impossible"), El Rey (The King), María Bonita (Pretty María), México Lindo y Querido (Beautiful, Beloved Mexico).
La Cucaracha (The Cockroach), although popularized during the Mexican Revolution, is a Spanish corrido.
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Mexican sones, developed from the mixture of Spanish music with indigenous music from different regions, hence the music exhibited lots of variation from differents places, both in rhythm and instrumentation.[1]
Banda music was created with the imitation of military bands that were imported during the Second Mexican Empire, headed by emperor Maximillian I of Mexico in the 1860s. Banda sounds very similar to polka music. Polish immigrants established themselves in the state of Sinaloa. It was further popularized during the Mexican Revolution when local authorities and states formed their own bands to play in the town squares. Revolutionary leaders like Pancho Villa, also took wind bands with them wherever they went. Banda has to this day remained popular throughout the central and northern states. It has, however, diversified into different styles due to regions, instruments and modernization. Today people associate banda with Sinaloense. This originated in the 1940s when the media distributed Banda el Recodo repertoire as exclusively from Sinaloa when it was actually regional music from all over Mexico.
Although banda music is played by many bands from different parts of Mexico, its original roots are in Sinaloa, which is hugely famous for bands such as Banda el Recodo from Sinaloa.
Banda Sinaloense experienced international popularity in the 1990s. The most prominent band was Banda el Recodo which is renowned as "the mother of all bands". Unlike tamborazo Zacatecano, Sinaloense's essential instrument is the tuba. Sometimes an accordion is also included. Well known artists include:
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March of Zacatecas (Instrumental)
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Tamborazo Zacatecano originated in the state of Zacatecas and translates to drum-beat from Zacatecas. This banda style is traditionally composed of 2 trumpets,2 saxophone, a trombone and the essential bass drum. La Marcha de Zacatecas (The March of Zacatecas) by Genaro Codina is a perfect example of this type of music. La March de Zacatecas is a Mexican patriotic song, the anthem of the State of Zacatecas and considered the 2nd national anthem of Mexico.
In recent years the genre has been tainted with blood and violence, with the deaths of: Valentín Elizalde (known as "El Gallo de Oro" (golden rooster)), Sergio Vega "el shaka", and the lead singer of the band K-paz de la Sierra, Sergio Gomez. All these murders have been linked to drug dealers bands.
The Mariachi-style of music originated in the state of Jalisco, particularly in the city of Cocula, near Guadalajara, as well as surrounding states of western Mexico. Mariachi is now popular throughout Mexico and the Southwest United States, and is considered representative of Mexican music and culture. This style of music is played by a group consisting of five or more musicians that wear charro suits.
Origins of the word Mariachi: There are different theories as to the provenance of the word mariachi. Some say it comes from the French word mariage because it was the type of music played at weddings, other refute this theory (apparently the word was in use in Mexico before the arrival of the French). Others claim that it comes from a native language, Coca; in this language mariachi is the name of the type of wood used to make the platform on which musicians would stand to perform.
Mariachi instruments: The traditional mariachi band was made up of at least two violins, a guitar, a guitarrón (large bass guitar) and a vihuela (similar to a guitar but with a round back that plays at a higher pitch than the traditional guitar). Nowadays mariachi bands also usually include trumpets, and sometimes a harp.
Bands and famous singers:
Another important music style is musica Norteña, or northern style tunes, which has been the basis for such sub-genres as musica de banda. Musica Norteña, like musica Tejana, arose in the 1830s and 40s in the Rio Grande region, in the southern Texas. Influenced by both Bohemian music and immigrant miners, its rhythm was derived from European polkas, which were popular during the 1800s.
Rumba came from the black Mexican slaves in Veracruz, Mexico city, and Yucatán. The style began in Cuba and later became famous in the black community of Mexico. From the beginning of the 20th century, bolero arrived to Yucatán, and Danzón to Veracruz. Both styles became very popular all over the country, and a Mexican style of both rhythms was developed.
In the 40s the Cubans Perez Prado, Benny More emigrated to Mexico, they brought with them the mambo, which became extremely popular specially in Mexico City, later on mambo developed into Cha cha cha which was also very popular.
Some renowned trios románticos were Trio Los Panchos, Los Tres Ases, Los Tres Diamantes and Los Dandys.
The history of Cumbia in Mexico is almost as old as Cumbia in Colombia. In the 1940s Colombian singers emigrated to Mexico, where they worked with the Mexican orquestra director Rafael de Paz. In the 50s they recorded what many people consider to be the first cumbia recorded outside of Colombia, La Cumbia Cienaguera. He recorded other hits like Mi gallo tuerto, Caprichito, and Nochebuena . This is when Cumbia began to popularized in Mexico with Tony Camargo as one of the first exponents of Mexican Cumbia.
In the 70s Aniceto Molina also emigrated to Mexico, where he joined the group from Guerrero, La Luz Roja de San Marcos, and recorded many popular tropical cumbias like El Gallo Mojado, El Peluquero, and La Mariscada. Also in the 70s Rigo Tovar became very popular with his fusion of Cumbia with ballad and Rock.
Today Cumbia is played in many different ways, and has slight variations depending on the geographical area like Cumbia andina mexicana, Cumbia Norteña, Tecno-cumbia.
Popular Mexican Cumbia composers and interpreters include
The Mexican music market serves as a launching pad to stardom for a lot of non-Mexican artists who are interested extending the market-range of their music. Such was the case with Julio Iglesias, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Chayanne, Alejandro Sanz, Allison, Aventura, Juanes, Mecano, Motel, Sonica, Daddy Yankee, J. King & Maximan, Wisin & Yandel, and Ricky Martin, among many others. According to the America Top 100, Mexico had over 90 hits in Latin America during 2006, almost a third more than its closest competitor, the United States.
The most known Mexican pop singers nowadays are: Luis Miguel, Alejandro Fernández, Thalía, Lucero (entertainer), Marco Antonio Solís, Paulina Rubio, Alejandra Guzmán, Gloria Trevi, Cristian Castro, Anahí and Dulce María.
In the 60s and 70s, during the PRI government, most rock bands were forced to appear underground, that was the time after Avándaro (a Woodstock-style Mexican festival) in which groups like El Tri, Enigma, The Dugs Dugs, Javier Batiz and many others arose. During that time Mexican Carlos Santana became famous after performing at Woodstock. During the 80s and 90s many Mexican bands went to the surface and popular rock bands like Molotov, Control Machete, Café Tacuba, Los Caifanes, Maná, Julieta Venegas, Ely Guerra and Maldita Vecindad got many followers. The latter are "grandfathers" to the Latin ska movement. Mexico City has also a considerable movement of bands playing surf rock inspired in their outfits by local show-sport lucha libre. Mexico recently has had a "rebirth" of rock music with bands like Jumbo, Zoé, Porter, etc., which have made this genre popular again. Many Chicano rock musicians also drew inspiration from the rhythms and sounds of Mexican music, including Ritchie Valens, The Champs, Los Lobos, and Los Lonely Boys.Extreme metal has become popular in Mexico,with bands such as Xiuhtecuhtli, Sargatanas, Mictlayotl, and Yaoyotl.
The Mexican rock movement began in the late 1950s and early 1960s, rapidly becoming popular, and peaking in the 80s and 90s with real authentic sounds and styles. One of the early Mexican Rock bands came out of the East Los Angeles Area, "Los Nómadas." (The Nomads) They were one of the first racially-integrated bands of the 50s, consisting of 3 Latino Boys, Chico Vasquez, J.D. Moreno, Abel Padilla, and a Caucasian boy Bill Aken. The adopted son of classical guitarist Francisco Mayorga and Mexican movie actress Lupe Mayorga, Aken was mentored by family friend, jazz guitarist Ray Pohlman and would later become rocker Zane Ashton, but his association with the boys would be a lifelong one. Mexican Rock combined the traditional instruments and stories of Mexico in its songs. Mexican along with Latin American Rock remain very popular in Mexico, surpassing other cultural interpretations of Rock and Roll.
An ecletic range of influences is at the heart of Latin alternative, a music created by young players who have been raised not only on their parents' music but also on rock, hip-hop and electronica. It represents a sonic shift away from regionalism and points to a new global Latin identity.
The name "Latin alternative" was coined in the late 1990s by record company executives as a way to sell music that was—literally—all over the map. It was marketed as an alternative to the slick, highly produced Latin pop that dominated commercial Spanish-language radio, such as Ricky Martin or Paulina Rubio.
Artists within the genre, such as Kinky, Sonex, The Villalobos Brothers and even Café Tacuba, have set out to defy traditional expectations of Latin music. Now, in an age of Internet connections, downloading and sampling, Latin alternative has become not just a reaction to outside influences but its own genre.
Ska entered Mexico in the 1980s, originally in Mexico City, and the genre enjoyed its highest popularity during the 1990s. Mexican Ska groups include Panteon Rococo (Mexico City), La Maldita Vecindad (Mexico City), Mama Pulpa (Mexico City) and Tijuana No! (Tijuana, Baja California; originally called Radio Cantaje).
See List of Mexican composers of classical music
Mexico has a long tradition of classical music, as far back as the 16th century, when it was a Spanish colony. Music of New Spain, especially that of Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla and Hernando Franco, is increasingly recognized as a significant contribution to New World culture.
Puebla was a significant center of music composition in the 17th century, as the city had considerable wealth and for a time was presided over by Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, who was an enthusiastic patron of music. Composers during this period included Bernardo de Peralta Escudero (mostly active around 1640), and also Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla, who was the most famous composer of the 17th century in Mexico. The construction of the cathedral in Puebla made the composition and performance of polychoral music possible, especially compositions in the Venetian polychoral style. Late in the century, Miguel Matheo de Dallo y Lana set the verse of poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
In the 18th century, Manuel de Sumaya, maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Mexico City, wrote many cantadas and villancicos, and he was the first Mexican to compose an opera, La Partenope (1711). After him, Ignacio Jerusalem, an Italian-born composer, brought some of the latest operatic styles as well as early classical (galant) styles to Mexico. His best-known composition is probably the Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe (1764). Jerusalem was maestro de capilla at the cathedral in Mexico City after Sumaya, from 1749 until his death in 1769.
In the 19th century the waltzes of Juventino Rosas achieved world recognition. Manuel M. Ponce is recognized as an important composer for the Spanish classical guitar, responsible for widening the repertoire for this instrument. Ponce also wrote a rich repertoire for solo piano, piano and ensembles, and piano and orchestra, developing the first period of modernistic nationalism, using Native American and European resources, but merging them into a new, original style.
In the 20th century, Carlos Chavez, is a notable composer who wrote symphonies, ballets, and a wide catalog of chamber music, within varied esthetic orientations. Another recognized composer is Silvestre Revueltas who wrote such pieces as The night of the mayas, Homenaje a García Lorca, Sensemayá based on a poem by Nicolas Guillen, and orchestral suites like Janitzio and Redes originally written for motion pictures. Jose Pablo Moncayo with compositions such as Huapango, and Blas Galindo with Sones de Mariachi, are also recognized as adapters of Mexican sons into symphonic music. A later contributor to this tradition, Arturo Márquez is also internationally known by his orchestral mastery and melodic vivacity.
In 1922, Julian Carrillo (violinist, composer, conductor, theoretician and inventor), created the first microtonal system in the history of classical music. During subsequent years, he also developed and constructed harps and pianos able to play music in fragments of tone, like fourths, sixths, eighths and sixteenths. His pianos are still manufactured in Germany and are used to play Carrillo's music, mainly in Europe and Mexico.
Another contemporary Mexican composer was Conlon Nancarrow (of American birth), who created a system to play pianola music, using and developing theories of politempo and polimetrics.
Some avant-garde composers leading Mexican music during the second half of the 20th century were Alicia Urreta, Manuel Enríquez, Mario Lavista and Julio Estrada. Some of them also contributed to the academic development of music teaching in American universities, a work also enriched by Daniel Catán, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Guillermo Galindo, Carlos Sandoval, Ignacio Baca-Lobera, Hebert Vázquez, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and Samuel Zyman. In the other side of the Atlantic the composers of a new generation, Javier Álvarez, Ana Lara, Víctor Rasgado, Juan Trigos, Hilda Paredes, Javier Torres Maldonado, Gabriel Pareyon, and Georgina Derbez, also have contributed to the academic and artistic life.
Some minor exponents aren't Leo Acosta, Tino Contreras, Juan García Esquivel, Luis Ocadiz, J.J. Calatayud, Leo Acosta, Arturo Castro, Chilo Morán, [[Popo Sánchez
Some of the best Mexican composers for electronic and electroacoustic media are Antonio Russek, Javier Torres Maldonado, Rodrigo Sigal, Rogelio Sosa, Guillermo Galindo, Murcof and Manuel Rocha Iturbide, the later conducting festivals and workshops of experimental music and art, in Mexico City and Paris.
Some exponents are Nortec Collective and Mexican Institute of Sound.
Raad irfan malik is the first foreigner Pakistani artist in Mexico. He was born in Pakistan. He plays Indian classical flute. He is currently residing in Tijuana B.C Mexico. He experienced Mexican classical flute with Indian flute.
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