Smeets Music of Mexico

The music of Mexico is very diverse and features a wide range of musical genres and performance 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.

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, made popular by 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.

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.