Traditional folk music

Mexican traditional folk music can be classified in two aspects:

By types of musical forms and styles: corrido, cancin Ranchera, Yucatecan trova, Son
Huasteco, Yucatecan jarana, Son Jarocho, Mexican Danzn, Mexican Bolero, Son istmeo, Son
Jaliscience, Chilena, Son calentano, Son Planeco, and Canto cardenche.
By types of ensembles: banda, Yucatecan trio, conjunto calentano, conjunto huasteco, conjunto
jarocho, conjunto norteo, Yucatecan jarana ensemble, mariachi, and marimba.

Son Jarocho group Zarahuato performing at the Museo de Arte Popular.

Group of tamborileros

Its formal structure is based on the alternation of instrumental sections and the singing of short
poetic units called coplas. The mode is usually major, with harmonic vocabulary mostly limited to
progressions drawing from I, IV, II7, V and V5. Triple meter (6/8, 3/4, or a combination of both)
predominates, with many exceptions in duple meter.[1]
Son is performed most often by giant ensembles in which string instruments predominate, with
notable region-specific exceptions like marimba ensembles and wind ensembles.
Mexican Son music was developed from the mixture of Spanish music with indigenous music from
different regions, hence the music exhibited lots of variation from different places, both in rhythm and
instrumentation.[2] Mariachi can be considered one type of Mexican son. Mexican son also includes
various miscellaneous styles. The guitar is universally present in nearly all Mexican son subgenres.
Other instruments may include trumpets, violins, and accordions.
 Abajeo music from Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacn. Indigenous communities have produced
their own variants of Mexican son, which is otherwise a primarily mestizo genre.
The Purpecha (from Michoacn) are known for the sones abajeos, which are often played
alongside pirekaus, a form of native love song. Famous bands include Atardecer and Erandi.
Chilena from the Costa chica region in Guerrero and Oaxaca.
Istmeos originates from the Zapotecs of Oaxaca and is known for love songs, and the people's
sones istmeos, which are sung in both Zapotec and Spanish. The music has been popularized,
primarily by pop stars from outside the area, including Lila Downs.
Son calentano is a melodically complex violin music from the Balsas River Basin of southern
Mexico. Juan Reynoso is especially popular, and has won the National Prize for Arts and
Sciences.
Sones de arpa grande developed in an arid, hot area of western Mexico. It is dominated by
a harp, accompanied by violins and guitars. Originally confined to poor rural areas and urban
brothels, sones de arpa grande is now popular among the suburban and urban middle- and
upper-class audiences. Juan Prez Morfn and Beto Pineda are the best-known performers.

Son Huasteco music, from the Huasteca territory, this music is played in the states
of Hidalgo, Veracruz, San Luis Potos and Zacatecas and the fiddle is accompanied with jarana
huasteca and huapanguera. Two guitarists sing in a falsetto with accompaniment by a violin.
Improvisation is common. Los Camperos de Valle, Harmonia Huasteca, Los Hermanos
Calderon and Trio Tamazunchale are especially influential performers.
Son Jarocho music comes from the Veracruz area, and is distinguished by a strong African
influence. International acclaim has been limited, including the major hit La Bamba. The most
legendary performer is Graciana Silva, whose releases on Discos Corason made inroads in
Europe. Southern Veracruz is home to a distinct style of Jarochos that is characteristically
lacking a harp, is played exclusively by requinto or jarana guitars, and is exemplified by the
popular modern band Mono Blanco.
Son Jalisciense is from Jalisco and Colima and has both instrumental and versed songs in this
form, mostly in major keys. Most performers consider this in 3/4, some will say alternating 3/4
and 6/8.
Corrido
Main article: Corrido
Corrido music is a popular narrative song of poetry form, a ballad. Various themes are featured in
Mexican corridos, and corrido lyrics are often old legends (stories) and ballads about a famed
criminal or hero in the rural frontier areas of Mexico. Some corridos may also be love stories there
are also corridos about women (La Venganza de Maria, Laurita Garza, La tragedia de Rosita and la
adelita) and couples, not just about men. Some even talk about fiction or a made-up story by the
composer. Contemporary corridos written within the past few decades feature more modern themes
such as drug trafficking (narcocorridos) and immigration.
A common example is "la Cucaracha" which is derived from an Arabic sailors' song from
the Moors prior the Reconquista. The corrido has a rhythm similar to that of the European waltz;
corridos, like rancheras, have introductory instrumental music and adornos interrupting the stanzas
of the lyrics. However, unlike rancheras, the rhythm of a corrido remains fairly consistent, rancheras
can be played at a variety of rhythms. Corridos often tell stories, while rancheras are for dancing.
By types of ensembles

Son Huasteca trio at the Alfredo Guati Rojo National Watercolor Museum in Mexico City

Conjunto jarocho
Ensemble specialized in Son Jarocho. It consists of jarana jarocha, requinto jarocho, arpa, pandero.
Conjunto huasteco
Ensemble specialized in Son Huasteco. It consists of guitarra huapanguera, jarana huasteca, violin.
Conjunto de marimba
Ensemble specialized in folk music of traditional marimba. It consists of marimba, double bass and
drums.
Mariachi
Main article: Mariachi

Silvestre Vargas (198185), violins and musician of the Mariachi Vargas from 1921 to 1975, director from 1931
to 1955.

Mariachi is an ensemble that consists of guitarrn, vihuela, guitar, violins and trumpets.
This folk ensemble performs ranchera, son de mariachi, huapango de mariachi, polka, corrido, and
other musical forms. It originated in the southern part of the state of Jalisco during the 19th
century.[3] The city of Guadalajara in Jalisco is known as the "Capital of Mariachi".[4] The style is now
popular throughout Mexico and the Southwestern United States, and is considered representative of
Mexican music and culture.[5]
Mariachis playing at the Tenampa in Mexico City

This style of music is played by a group consisting of five or more musicians who wear charro suits.
The golden age of mariachi was in the 1950s, when the ranchera style was common in
movies. Mariachi Vargas played for many of these soundtracks, and the long-lived band's long
career and popular acclaim has made it one of the best-known mariachi. These movies became very
popular in Latin America and mariachi's became very popular in places such
as Colombia and Peru until this date.[6]
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 often played at weddings and by most folk
people by the name of Evan Strout. However, mariachi originates from a part of Mexico that the
French never visited and, even it they had, it began before their arrival in 1864. Another theory is
that the word comes from the indigenous name of the Pilla or Cirimo tree, whose wood is used to
make guitars. It has also been said that the name comes from a festival in honor of a virgin known
as Maria H. that musicians played for and that over time they were given this name.[3]

Plaza Garibaldi

The traditional mariachi band consists of the violin, the vihuela, guitar, a guitarrn (large bass guitar)
and a trumpet. Other instruments may also be seen in a mariachi band, such as the flute, French
horn, accordion, or organ are used. These instruments are used for specific arrangements.[7]
Mexican music was popularized in the United States in the late 1970s as part of a revival
of mariachi music led by performers like Linda Ronstadt.[8] Other famous mariachi performers
include Pedro Infante, Vicente Fernndez, Pepe Aguilar, Pedro Fernndez, Alejandro
Fernndez, Antonio Aguilar, and Miguel Aceves Meja. Some of the best-known examples of
Mexican music in the United States is "La Cucaracha" and the Jarabe Tapato (called the Mexican
Hat Dance in the United States).
In Mexico City, the center of mariachi music remains Garibaldi Plaza. The plaza fills with mariachi
musicians to solicit gigs from individual songs for passers-by to being hired for events such as
weddings and baptisms. They even stand on Eje Central in front of the plaza to flag down passing
cars. In 2010, the government renovated the plaza to make it more tourist-friendly, adding new
paving, gardens, police, security cameras, painted facades, and a museum dedicated to mariachi
and tequila. Although mariachis can be hired in Mexico City over the phone or on the internet, many
people still prefer to come to the plaza, hear the musicians and haggle over the price. About 2,500
mariachis hold union cards to work in the plaza, but as many as 4,000 may circulate through on a
busy weekend.[9]
In 2011 UNESCO recognized the music as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, joining six others of this
list from Mexico.[10]
Conjunto norteo
Main article: Norteo (music)

Los Tigres del norte

Ensemble specialized in norteo music. It consists of diatonic accordion, bajo sexto, double bass
and drums. Another important music style is musica nortea, from northern Mexico, which has been
the basis for such subgenres as musica de banda. Musica Nortea, 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. This type of Mexican music has derived from singers like Los Relmpagos del Norte, Ramon
Ayala, Los Tigres del Norte, Los Huracanes del Norte and many more.
Banda
Main article: Banda music

Banda el Recodo renowned as "the mother of all bands"

Banda music was made with the imitation of military bands that were imported during the Second
Mexican Empire, headed by emperor Maximilian 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.

Banda Sinaloense at the start of 1900

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.
Some well-known artists are Banda el Recodo, La Arrolladora Banda El Limn de Ren
Camacho, Banda Los Recoditos, Banda Cuisillos, Joan Sebastian, Chalino Snchez, El Chapo de
Sinaloa, Banda Machos and although the Regional Mexican genre is dominated by men Jenni
Rivera has a more important place than many men in this genre
Tamborazo Zacatecano
Tamborazo Zacatecano ("drum-beat from Zacatecas") is a banda style traditionally played by
two trumpets, two saxophones, and the al bass drum. An outstanding example is La Marcha de
Zacatecas (The March of Zacatecas) by Genaro Codina Fernndez, the anthem of the State of
Zacatecas and considered the second national anthem of Mexico.

Duranguense
Duranguense (also known as pasito duranguense) is a genre of Mexican music. It is popular among
the Mexican-American community in the United States. Duranguense is closely related to the
Mexican styles of banda and norteo. The main instruments, which are held over from banda, are
the saxophone, trombone, and bass drum. However, what sets the duranguense ensemble apart
from banda is the addition of synthesizers to play both melodies and the tuba bassline. The tempo is
also noticeably faster than banda or norteo. Among the duranguense elements carried over from
other genres is el tamborazo; a heavy percussion line consisting of the bass drum and varied snare
drum rolls.

Popular music of folk roots

Grupera
Main article: Grupera
Marco Antonio Solis

Grupera (or onda grupera) is a genre of Mexican popular music. It is influenced by the styles of
cumbia, norteo, and ranchera, and reached the height of its popularity in the 1980s, especially in
rural areas.
The music has roots in the rock groups of the 1960s but today generally consists of five or fewer
musicians using electric guitars, keyboards and drums. Artists in this genre include Yonics, Los
Humildes, La Migra, Los Caminantes, Limite, Ana Brbara, Joan Sebastian, Selena, Marco Antonio
Sols, Myriam, and Jenni Rivera. The music increased in popularity in the 1990s and became
commercially viable, and is now recognized in some Latin music awards ceremonies such as Lo
Nuestro and The Latin Grammy Awards.
The original wave of Mexican rock bands got their start mostly with Spanish covers of popular
English rock songs. After this initial stage they moved on to include in their repertoire traditional
ranchera songs, in addition to cumbia, and ballads. Thus the 1970s saw the rise of a number of
grupera bands that specialized in slow ballads and songs that up to that point had only been sung
with mariachi. Among these we can include Los Muecas, Los Freddys, Los Babys, La Migra, etc.

Popular music
Pop
Main article: Mexican pop music

Statue of Jos Jos El Prncipe de la Cancin (The Prince of Song) in Mexico City

During the 1960s and 1970s most of the pop music produced in Mexico consisted of Spanish-
language versions of English-language rock-and-roll hits. Singers and musical groups like Sin
Bandera, Anglica Mara, Johnny Laboriel, Alberto Vzquez, Enrique Guzmn or Los Teen
Tops performed cover versions of songs by Elvis Presley, Paul Anka, Nancy Sinatra and others.
 Thala in a Visin Expo event in 2007, presenting her eyewear collections "The Queen of Latin Pop"

The Mexican music market serves as a launching pad to stardom for many non-Mexican artists who
are interested extending the market-range of their music.[citation needed] For the last thirty
years,[when?] Mexican pop music has been led by teen pop bands and their former members. Specially
teen pop bands of the last decades have been Timbiriche, OV7 and RBD. Unlike teen pop bands
elsewhere, the Mexican audience tends to prefer mixed-gender combos over boys or girls
bands.[citation needed]
In 2000, the century saw the crossover of some of Mexican recording artist like Paulina
Rubio and Thala into the English music industry, with bilingual albums, compilation album, that
included hit songs in English and Spanish language, and the firsts solo English-language albums by
this Mexican pop artist. The best recording crossover artist has been Paulina Rubio with her first
English-language album being Border Girl released on June 18, 2002. Thalia has collaborated with
American singer of traditional pop standards Tony Bennett in a duet for the song "The Way You
Look Tonight". Viva Duets is the studio album by Tony Bennett, released in October 2012. It consists
of electronically assembled duets between Bennett and younger singers from various genres
like Frank Sinatras"Duets II". In Duets II, Sinatra personally invited Luis Miguel to participate on a
duet in the album for the song "Come Fly with Me". Luis Miguel has been dubbed several times by
the press and the media as the "Latin Frank Sinatra".[11]
The best-known Mexican pop singers are Lynda Thomas, Thala, Paulina Rubio, Luis
Miguel, Belinda Peregrn, Alejandro Fernndez, Natalia Lafourcade, Alejandra Guzmn, Ana
Gabriel, Gloria Trevi, Fey and Marco Antonio Sols.[citation needed]

Rock
Main article: Mexican rock music
The Mexican rock movement started in the late 1940s and early 1960s, rapidly becoming popular,
and peaking in the 1969 and 1990s with real authentic sounds and styles. One of the early Mexican
rock bands came out of the predominantly Mexican barrio community of East Los Angeles, "Los
Nmadas" (The Nomads). They were the first racially integrated Rock and Roll band of the 1950s,
consisting of 3 Mestizo boys, Chico Vasquez, Jose 'J.D.' Moreno, Abel Padilla, and a Caucasian boy
Bill Aken (Billy Mayorga 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, arranging music and playing lead guitar for everybody from Elvis to Nina
Simone. His association with the other three boys would be a lifelong one and they stayed together
as a band for more than thirty years. Mexican Rock combined the traditional instruments and stories
of Mexico in its songs. Mexican and Latin American rock en espaolremain very popular in Mexico,
surpassing other cultural interpretations of rock and roll, including British rock.

Caf Tacuba performing in Pontevedra, Spain

In the 1960s and '70s, during the PRI government, most rock bands were forced to appear
underground, that was the time after Avndaro (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 Nar
Mattaru formed in 1995 in Monterrey. N.L. and 90s many Mexican bands went to the surface and
popular rock bands like Santa Sabina, Caf Tacuba, Caifanes, Control Machete, Fobia, Los de
Abajo, Molotov, Man, Ely Guerra, Julieta Venegas and Maldita Vecindad achieved a large
international following.

Zo the band has achieved success in Mexico and most Spanish-speaking countries

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.[citation
needed]
In the late 1990s, Mexico had a new wave "resurgence" of rock music with bands
like Jumbo, Zo, Porter, etc., as well as instrumentalists Rodrigo y Gabriela and Los Jaigey the
band of Santa Sabina's bass player, Poncho Figueroa, along with brothers Gustavo Jacob & Ricardo
Jacob in the late 2000s.
Extreme metal has been popular for a long time in Mexico, with bands such as
Dilemma, Exanime formed in 1985 in Monterrey. N.L. The
Chasm, Xiuhtecuhtli, Disgorge, Brujeria, Transmetal, Hacavitz, Sargatanas, Mictlayotl, Yaoyotl,
Ereshkigal, Xibalba, and Calvarium Funestus. The Mexican metal fanbase is credited with being
amongst one of the most lively and intense, and favorites for European metal bands to perform for.
Alejandra Guzmn's 26 years of artistic career, with more than 10 million albums sold, 16 released
albums and 30 singles in radio's Top 10 hits, has earned her the title of La Reina del Rock (The
Queen of Rock). She is the daughter of two Latin entertainment legends: movie icon Silvia Pinal and
rock and roll legend Enrique Guzmn, from whom she inherits her talent and passion for arts, music,
dance and constant spiritual growth.
Latin alternative

Lila Downs in the "National Sor Juana Festival" 2007.

An eclectic 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 American record company executives
as a way to sell music that was -literallyall 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 Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos del Quinto Patio, Nortec
Collective and Caf Tacuba, have set out to defy traditional expectations of Latin music.

Mexican ska

Panteon Rococo

Ska entered Mexico in the 1960s, when both small bands like Los Matemticos and big orchestras
like Orquestra de Pablo Beltrn Ruz recorded both original ska tunes and covers of Jaimacan
hits.[12] After early new wave bands of the early eighties like Dangerous Rhythm and Kenny and the
Electrics incorporated ska into their post-punk sound, a more punk-influenced brand of Ska started
being produced in Mexico City in the late eighties, and the genre enjoyed its highest popularity
during the early 2000s, even though it is still very popular today. Mexican Ska groups
include Panten Rococ (Mexico City), La Maldita Vecindad (Mexico City), Mama Pulpa (Mexico
City) and Tijuana No! (Tijuana, Baja California; originally named Radio Chantaje).

Electronic
Some of the best Mexican composers for electronic and electroacoustic media are Javier Torres
Maldonado, 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, Wakal, Kobol (band), Murcof, Hocico & Deorro and Mexican Institute of Sound.
Other music of Latin-American roots

Agustn Lara

Other popular forms of music found in various parts of Mexico mostly with origins in other parts of
the Caribbean and Latin America include rumba, mambo, bolero, and cumbia. Rumba came from
the black Mexican slaves in Veracruz, Mexico City, and Yucatn. 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 Yucatn, and Danzn to Veracruz. Both styles became very popular all
over the country, and a Mexican style of both rhythms was developed.
In the 1940s, the Cubans Prez Prado, Benny Mor emigrated to Mexico, they brought with them
the mambo, which became extremely popular especially in Mexico City, later on mambo developed
into Cha cha ch which was also very popular.

Bolero

Armando Manzanero widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era

The Cuban bolero has traveled to Mexico and the rest of Latin America after its conception, where it
became part of their repertoires. Some of the bolero's leading composers have come from nearby
countries, most especially the prolific Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernndez; another example is
Mexico's Agustn Lara. Some Cuban composers of the bolero are listed under Trova. Some
successful Mexican bolero composers are Mara Grever, Gonzalo Curiel Barba, Gabriel Ruiz,
and Consuelo Velzquez.
Another composer Armando Manzanero widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer
of the postwar era and one of the most successful composers of Latin America has composed more
than four hundred songs, fifty of which have given him international fame. His most famous songs
include Voy a apagar la luz (I'm Going to Turn Off the Lights), Contigo Aprend (With you I Learnt... ),
Adoro (Adore), No s t (I don't know if you...), Por Debajo de la Mesa (Under the Table) Esta Tarde
Vi Llover (English version "Yesterday I Heard the Rain"), Somos Novios (English version "It's
Impossible"), Felicidad (Happiness) and Nada Personal (Nothing Personal).
Some renowned trios romnticos were Trio Los Panchos, Los Tres Ases, Los Tres Diamantes and
Los Dandys. Trio Bolero, a unique ensemble of two guitars and one cello.

The romantic ballad or Latin ballad

Luis Miguel, "El sol de Mexico" (The Sun of Mexico).

The Latin or romantic ballad has its origin in the Latin American bolero in 50 years (Lucho Kitten,
Leo Marini), but also in the romantic song in Italian (Nicola Di Bari) and French (Charles Aznavour)
in years 60 and 70.
The ethnomusicologist Daniel Party defines the romantic ballad as "a love song of slow tempo,
played by a solo singer accompanied by an orchestra usually".

Cristian Castro

The ballad and bolero are often confused and songs can fall in one or the other category without too
much presicion. The distinction between them is referring primarily to a more sophisticated and more
metaphorical language and subtle bolero, compared with a more direct expression of the ballad.
In Mexico, the first ballad that is registered as such is "Sonata de Amor" (Sonata of Love) of Mario
Alvarez in 1961. In 1965 the famous bolero singer-songwriter Armando Manzanero, recorded his
first ballad, "Pobres besos mos" (My Poor Kisses).
The heyday of the ballad was reached in the mid-1970s, where artists such as Jos Jos, Camilo
Sesto, Raphael, Roberto Carlos, Roco Drcal and others released many hits. The main hist of Jos
Jos were "El triste" (The Sad One), "La nave del olvido" (The Ship of Oblivion), "Te extrao" (I Miss
You), "Amar y querer" (Love and Love), or "Gaviln o paloma" (Pigeon or Hawk), "Lo pasado
pasado" (The Past is past), "Volcn" (Volcano) or "Lo que no fue no ser" (What Never Was Will
Never Be). In the course of their existence the genre merged with diverse rhythms to form several
variants, such as romantic salsa and cumbia aside others.
From the 1990s on, globalization and media internationalization contributed to the ballad's
international spread and homogenization.

Cumbia
Main article: Mexican cumbia
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 1950s 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 be popularized in Mexico with Tony Camargo as
one of the first exponents of Mexican Cumbia. Cumbia had made its mark in Mexico D.F where
mostly the people dance to it are called "Chilangos" which were people that were born in the main
district. The dances have transformed through time by the style and with its new moderation.
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 sonidera, Cumbia andina mexicana, Cumbia Nortea, Tecno-cumbia.
Popular Mexican Cumbia composers and interpreters include Rigo Tovar y su Costa Azul, Celso
Pia, Los Caminantes, Grupo Bronco, and Selena.

Art music
Operas
See also: List of Mexican operas

Jos Mojica was a Mexican Franciscan friar and former tenor and film actor.
ngela Peraltaoperatic soprano

The first opera by a Mexican-born composer was Manuel de Zumaya's La Partnope, performed in
1711 before a private audience in the Viceroy's Palace in Mexico City.[13]However, the first Mexican
composer to have his operas publicly staged was Manuel Arenzana, the maestro de
capilla at Puebla Cathedral from 1792 to 1821.[14] He is known to have written at least two works
performed during the 1805/1806 season at the Teatro Coliseo in Mexico City El
extrangero and Los dos ribales en amore. Both were short comic pieces.[15] The first Mexican opera
seria was Paniagua's Catalina de Guisa (composed in 1845 and premiered in 1859). With its story
about the Huguenotsin France and an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, contemporary critics noted
that the only thing Mexican about it was the composer.[16][17]
Although the traditions of European opera and especially Italian opera had initially dominated the
Mexican music conservatories and strongly influenced native opera composers (in both style and
subject matter), elements of Mexican nationalism had already appeared by the latter part of the 19th
century with operas such as Aniceto Ortega del Villar's 1871 Guatimotzin, a romanticised account of
the defense of Mexico by its last Aztec ruler, Cuauhtmoc. Later works such as Miguel Bernal
Jimnez's 1941 Tata Vasco (based on the life of Vasco de Quiroga, the first bishop of Michoacn)
incorporated native melodies into the score.[16] ngela Peralta, known in Europe as "The Mexican
Nightingale", who sang in the premieres of operas by Paniagua, Morales, and Ortega del Villar.

Classical
See also: List of Mexican composers of classical music

Silvestre Revueltas
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 Gutirrez 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 Gutirrez 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 Ins 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.

The Jalisco Symphony Orchestra.

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.

OFUNAM playing at Sala Nezahualcyotl.

In the 20th century, Carlos Chvez, 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 Garca
Lorca, Sensemay based on a poem by Nicols Guilln, and orchestral suites
like Janitzio and Redes originally written for motion pictures. Jos 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 Mrquez is also
internationally known by his orchestral mastery and melodic vivacity.
In 1922, Julin 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 Enrquez, Mario Lavista Juan Antonio Rosado Rodriguez, Julio
Estradaand Lucia Alvarez. Some of them also contributed to the academic development of music
teaching in American universities, a work also enriched by Daniel Catn, Carlos Sanchez-
Gutierrez, Guillermo Galindo, Carlos Sandoval, Ignacio Baca-Lobera, Hebert Vzquez, Ricardo
Zohn-Muldoon and Samuel Zyman. In the other side of the Atlantic the composers of a new
generation,** Javier lvarez, Ana Lara, Vctor Rasgado, Juan Trigos, Hilda Paredes, Javier Torres
Maldonado, Gabriel Pareyon, and Georgina Derbez, also have contributed to the academic and
artistic life.

Jazz
Some major exponents are Richard Lemus, Leo Acosta, Tino Contreras, Juan Garca Esquivel, Luis
Ocadiz, J. J. Calatayud, Arturo Castro, Chilo Morn, Popo Snchez, and Eugenio Toussaint. Antonio
Snchez is also a very well known jazz drummer and composer from Mexico City who has been
performing with some of the best known American musicians since he moved to the US in the early
90's including Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Michael Brecker and Gary Burton besides leading his own
bands and ensembles.

Table (traditional music ensembles)

Traditional ensembles and instruments

Other
Bowed Plucked Wood Membranophone Idiophone
Ensemble Brass Winds Aerophon
Strings Strings Winds Percussion Percussion
es

guitar, vihuela,
Mariachi violin trumpet
guitarron

clarinet,
tuba, trombone
Banda tambora, tarola cymbals
, trumpet
saxophone
 bajo
Conjunto
sexto, double saxophone accordion drums, tarola redoba
norteo
bass

requinto
Conjunto jarocho, jarana marimbol, quijada,
pandero octagonal
jarocho jarocha, leona, giro
harp

huapanguera, j
Conjunto
violin arana
huasteco
huasteca

Marimba
double bass saxophone drums marimba, giro
orquesta

guitarra
Conjunto sexta, guitarra
violin tamborita
calentano panzona, doub
le bass

harp, guitar, vi
Conjunto de
violin huela, double
arpa grande
bass

Jarana clarinet, sax trumpet, tromb

double bass timpani cymbals, giro
yucateca ophone one

Conjunto de
vihuela, guitar cajn de tapeo
son de tarima
 Conjunto guitar, bajo
violin cntaro
mixteco quinto

guitar, guitarra
Tro romntico maracas
requinto

Tamborileros flauta de tamboril, tamboril

de Tabasco tres hoyos requinto

Orquesta bandoln, guit

violin clarinet snare drum
tpica ar, salterio

Flauta y flauta de tambor de

Tamboril tres hoyos marco, tamborcito

Chirima chirima tambor

Conjunto de
harmonica friction drum quijada
Costa Chica

Tamborileros
clarinet tambora
del norte

Violn y
violin tambora
tambora

ocarina, car
acol, flauta huehuetl, tambor teponaztli, ayoyotes
Prehispnico
de tres de u, kayum , sonaja
hoyos