Mariachi Music
Mariachi music originates from the Mexican culture and has been around for hundreds of years. Mariachi music is filled with dance beats, lively rhythms and fast-paced, vibrant sounds, making it ideal for celebrations and special events.1
As you leave Cullum’s Landing you will most likely run into groups of Mariachi’s entertaining visitors. The music of the Mariachi’s adds to the atmosphere of the River Walk.2
Popular folk belief has it that mariachi music originated in Mexico in the nineteenth century. Specifically, people have argued that it was born in the Mexican state of Jalisco during the ill-fated reign of the Emperor Maximilian, a Frenchman, in the 1860s.3
More than 200 middle and high school student participants will be on campus April 25-26 for two days of instructional seminars focusing on various aspects of the mariachi musical art form. Everything from personalized instruction on the various instruments used in mariachi music and vocal technique to stage presence, arrangement and the traditions of mariachi are included in the two-day event.4
The early development of mestizo folk music in Mexico is largely undocumented, making speculative any theories on the early evolution of the mariachi. The earliest known incontrovertible reference to a mariachi appears in a letter written by priest Cosme Santa Anna in 1852, although the word can be found earlier as a place-name.5
One of the world’s best-known mariachi bands is the Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, founded by Silvestre Vargas with a bunch of relatives and friends that he taught to read music scores. That was quite an about-face because until then mariachi musicians used to play only by ear.6