Standardization and canonization in Mexican mariachi music:

A historical analysis of the Son de la Negra

By Sydney Hutchinson1

The mariachi ensemble has for seventy years been a central symbol of the Mexican nation

both at home and abroad: a cultural icon to anchor a Mexican culture in transition (Sheehy

1997:132). This anchor has been fairly stable since the 1950s, but this was not always the case.

Thomas Turino has explained how the creation of a canon of regional Mexican music helped

produce the image of a Mexican nation, much as occurred in other Latin American nations with

strong regional identities, like Peru (2003). In this paper I will show more precisely how this

process of canonization and standardization of mariachi repertoire has taken place through the

twentieth century and how it has been influenced by social, political, and economic

circumstances in Mexico. In this way, I aim to tie together two main threads of mariachi

research: that taken by Mexican scholars, many of whom have been primarily concerned with the

mariachis origins and history, and that taken by U.S. researchers, who have tended to focus on

the musics current social situation. I originally wrote this paper for a historical musicology

seminar in 2003; since then, Jess Juregui has published a significant article on the same song. I

believe that my musical and structural analysis here complements his valuable ethnographic data.

By focusing on this one particular song I will show the exact musical results of processes of

canonization and standardization, thus providing a more detailed picture of early mariachi

practice that can aid both performers and researchers.

1 This paper was written as a class assignment for the course Introduction to Musicology[ at New York University,

taught by Prof. Edward Roesner in 2003. Thanks to Prof. Roesner for his comments and to Conrad Bahre for help with map-making. This paper should be cited as an unpublished article dated 2003.

Mariachi History

Today, the word mariachi refers to a specific ensemble composed of violins, guitar,

vihuelas, and guitarrn (formerly often multiple guitarrones, as we will see), often with trumpets

and occasionally including a harp. It also refers to the style of music the group plays, which at

present includes a varied repertoire of popular and traditional songs from rancheras and corridos

to huapangos, sones, and others. However, the instrumentation, repertoire, and usage of the word

itself have changed significantly since the mariachi first appeared in the nineteenth century.

Some of the instruments in the mariachi ensemble descend from those brought over by

Hernn Corts himself. The handful of musicians who came with him to Mexico in 1519 were

responsible for teaching the inhabitants of Mexico the guitar, vihuela, harp, and violin along with

Spanish dances, and in the process, they introduced such items to Mexican Indians as well

(Mendoza 1956:87). At least one of these Spanish musicians, Alfonso Mern, settled in the

western state of Colima, so Vicente Mendoza suggests it is possible that the mariachi tradition of

the west could be traced all the way back to the time of the Conquest (ibid.), although it seems

doubtful that the music of the 16th century sounded much like mariachis of today. In any case, the

term mariachi did not come into use until the 19th century. Before that time, the Spanish word

fandango was used in its place.

Both fandango and mariachi were originally used to refer to a much broader range of

musical activity and objects than they are at present. Fandango, usually thought of as a Spanish

dance, was considered by the Spanish themselves as a dance introduced to Spain by those who

have been in the Realms of the Indians (Diccionario de Autoridades, 1732, cited in Ochoa

2000:97). In actual usage the word referred to any festivity involving dance (Ochoa 2000:98),

and particularly those of the lower classes, in contrast to the upper-class baile or ball (Sheehy

1979:28). In the 19th century, the term mariache or mariachi was used as a synonym for

fandango, but could also mean a type of music or musical group as well as the small, wooden

platform or tarima on which couples danced (ibid.;Cruz 1982:76). Daniel Sheehy explains that

the word had different meanings in different places: in Nayarit, it was the platform upon which

jarabes were dances; in Guadalajara, it was a string band composed of what the elite called out-

of-tune instruments; and in Michoacan, it was the type of music such groups played (2006:16).

In the 20th century, mariachi became the standard term, replacing fandango while narrowing its

referent to the music and musical ensemble only. As the term itself shifted from a dance focus to

a musical focus in general usage, so did the mariachi ensemble gradually lose some of its

connection to choreography.

The origin of the word mariachi is a matter of considerable debate among Mexican

scholars. One popular explanation holds that it comes from the French mariage for wedding,

since such ensembles were and are often used at marriage ceremonies. However, numerous

researchers including Jos Ignacio Dvila Garibi (1935), Julio Estrada (1984), and Jess Juregui

(1990) have proven that the term was in use long before the French occupation of the 1860s.

Coupled with the fact that the French were deeply hated in the mariachi region, a French origin

seems unlikely. Many scholars today believe that the word derives from an indigenous term,

probably from the Coca language once spoken in Jalisco, though a number of different source

words have been suggested. Herms Rafael posits relationships between the word mariachi and

cariach, a Coca word for goodbye, as well as chirima, a term used to describe another musical

instrument and ensemble in the same region (1982:63,86). Alternatively, he suggests, the word

could be broken down into the following component parts: mar/mari meaning running, ia

meaning sound, and chi meaning in, producing an original meaning of that which is played

running (i.e. in a fast tempo) (Rafael 1982:71). Still another hypothesis is offered by Efrain de la

Cruz, who writes of a hymn to the virgin in the Nhuatl language entitled Mara ce son

(1996:37): Mara for the virgin Mary; ce corresponding to che, chi, or tzi, which Rafael tells us

was a Coca locative suffix (1982:66), and son for music. The lyrics of Mara ce son are said

to have been set down on paper in 1835, in a document reproduced by Villacis and Francillard

(1995:15), but its authenticity has not been adequately proven. Thus, though many compelling

arguments have been offered, the etymological debate has yet to be resolved.

Another major concern for Mexican music researchers has been the attempt to ascribe a

specific place of origin to the mariachi ensemble. Most (Villacis and Francillard, de la Cruz,

Flores and Dueas) trace its roots to the town of Cocula or to nearby Tecalitln (see Figure 1B), a

myth enshrined in the verses of a song popularized by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitln: De

Cocula es el mariachi, de Tecalitln los sones (the mariachi is from Cocula, sones from

Tecalitlan). However, tying the mariachi to any one place is an inherently problematic enterprise

for several reasons. First, the term has been used to refer to a wide variety of musical groups with

vastly different instrumentation, and it is impossible to say which one is more original than the

others. Second, the ensemble has historically been widely dispersed throughout western,

northern, and central Mexico, and not in any way confined to Jalisco, although that state has long

been at the center of mariachi discourse. Third, the repertoire seems to have been subject to

significant interregional interchange throughout most periods of the mariachis (and the sons)

existence due to the influence, travels, and interactions of various regional ensembles. Such

circumstances further complicate any attempt to ascribe a particular ensemble, or even a

particular song, to any one place. Musicologists such as Juregui and Alvaro Ochoa Serrano have

drawn upon these facts in order to challenge the hegemony of the Coculan origin myth. In the

following pages, I will explore these issues further through a look at the mariachis and the son

genres intertwined histories. An exploration of historic diversity in mariachi instrumentation and

repertoire will help to highlight the significance of the mid-twentieth century standardization

evidenced in my analysis of La Negra.

Regional and temporal variation

In the nineteenth century up to the turn of the twentieth century, the mariachi ensemble

was used in a much larger area than that with which it is currently associated (see Figure 1A): the

states of Jalisco, Colima, Michoacn, and Nayarit. For example, Julio Estrada suggests that its

zone extended north as far as southern Sonora and included Durango as well (1984:25), while

Vicente Mendoza instead expands the region south all the way to Oaxaca and inland to include

the states of Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, and southern Guanajuato (1956:87). Although he

concedes that the term was used in northern states as well, Mendoza believes that there it referred

to a much different ensemble (ibid.).

A number of stringed instruments have found favor in the mariachi ensemble over the

years. Vihuelas and harps were brought to Mexico by the Spanish in the 16th century, although

the Mexican versions are quite different from the Spanish ones. The guitarra de golpe, a five-

string flat-backed guitar with various regional tunings (one is D-G-C-E-A), was once commonly

used by Jaliscan mariachis but today is found almost exclusively in the arpa grande (big harp)

ensemble of Michoacn (Chamorro 1999:29). The common six-string guitar was introduced

later, and in some ensembles is found together with its requinto, a smaller version tuned a fourth

higher (ibid.). The requinto takes the melodic part and is normally played by plucking or picking,

while the guitarra sexta takes the harmonic role and is played by strumming (Estrada 1984:22).

Before, many of these instruments were made by local Jaliscan instrument-makers, though in

recent years deforestation has decreased such activity (Chamorro 1999:30).

The trumpet is generally thought of as a late addition to the mariachi ensemble (although

it appeared as early as the late 1920s), and is often accredited to Mariachi Vargas but in truth, a

variety of wind and brass instruments had been used by mariachis for decades prior to the

trumpets inclusion. Jos Santos Marmolejo reports that his father, Cirilo, used a flute in his

mariachi ensemble around 1912, but the instrument was later removed from the group due to

ambivalent audience response (in Sonnichsen 1993:4). Early experiments were also made with

trombone and accordion (Flores and Dueas 1994:21), while Concho Andrades Mariachi

Coculense included a clarinet during the 1920s (Rafael 1982:125;Villacis and Francillard

1995:50). In the 1940s, one resident of Tecolotln recalls, mariachis used a pistn, or valve

trumpet (Pedro Garca Merino, cited in Garca 1999:40); this instrument had also been used by

mariachis in San Gabriel, Jalisco, during the 1930s (Mata Torres 1992:31). Cornet was played in

the Mariachi de Coculn in 1913, and the trumpet itself had appeared in a number of early

Coculan mariachis during the 1920s, including those of Justo Cuenca and Cirilo Marmolejo

(Villacis and Francillard 1995:64).

In previous generations, the use of a drum or tambora in the mariachi ensemble was not

uncommon. In highland Jalisco, this is considered an indigenous mariachi sound, and up till

the mid- to late-twentieth century such groups were still used at weddings, bullfights, and

religious festivals (Chamorro 1999:34). The tambora also forms one-half of the chirima, a

traditional ensemble of a Spanish-derived reed instrument and drum, also native to the western

region and used for religious processions (Villacis and Francillard 1995:69-70). The chirima

reed instrument also formed part of proto-mariachi groups in Jalisco in the early 19th century:

Mata Torres writes of an ensemble in San Pedro Tlaquepaque in 1810 formed of chirimas,

harps, guitarrones, and teponaztles, or Aztec log drums (1992:33). Tamboras may still be found

in traditional mariachi groups of Jaliscan towns such as Cuquo and San Antonio de los Vzquez

and in Jess Mara, Nayarit (Mata Torres 1992:32-34). In the arpa grande groups of Michoacn,

the percussive role is taken up by a musician who strikes the box of the harp. In the string-based

mariachi, one might guess that dancers feet would have provided the sounds of percussion

lacking in the ensemble itself, and in fact, percussive dancing is an important part of several

regional son traditions to this day.

In mariachi, as in many other types of Mexican and Spanish popular music, two voices

are generally preferred to one. Normally, two men sing the melody a third or a sixth apart, the

higher one sometimes in falsetto an additional octave above; the singers have traditionally always

been instrumentalists as well. However, Mendoza indicates that on occasion, two groups may

have sung antiphonally (1956:88). The solo singer is a more recent development that resulted

from the influence of the ranchera-singing hero of Mexican film, and seems to have first

appeared in 1950s or 60s recordings like those by Mariachi Mxico de Pepe Villa.

Arturo Chamorro Escalante suggests that the gradual process of amplification and

substitutions in the mariachi organography has created several mariachi subregions in Jalisco

defined by instrumentation. In Los Altos, the highlands, we find the mariachi with drum; in

central and southern Jalisco, the typical mariachi string ensemble; and in northern Jalisco, an

indigenous mariachi strongly influenced by the Huichol Indians, using the high-pitched raweri, a

locally made violin-like instrument, and the kanari, flat-backed small guitar; until recently, a

harp was used as well (1999:34-35).

At the microregional level, even more variation may be discerned, and even in the same

place, instrumentation changed significantly over short periods of time. To take only Jaliscan

towns in comparison, in Cocula and Tecalitln at the turn of the century, the typical quartet

instrumentation of two violins, vihuela, and guitarrn was used; at the same time in Copala, a

quartet was composed of one violin, guitar, vihuela, and harp. In 1925, the church-based

mariachi of San Antonio de los Vzquez included two violins, guitar, and tololoche or standing

bass; in Nayarit in 1920 mariachi groups ranged from an accordion and guitar duo to guitar,

violin, and violn, while in the same year, Cirilo Marmolejo was experimenting with instruments

like flute and trombone. As late as 1950, musicians in Zapotlanejo used the unusual

instrumentation of violin, tambora, snare drum, and guitarrn de grgoro, a smaller version of

that bass instrument that was played with a pick (Mata Torres 1992:30-34). In light of such

evidence, it is clear that instrumentation was far from standardized through the first half of the

twentieth century.

Style of playing may also differ by region. The phenomenon has not yet been studied in

any detail, but Jaliscan musicians seem to recognize many different styles of playing. For

example, Eusebio Silva, an elderly vihuela player from Tecolotln, is said to play in a style called

huapanguiadito that is now disappearing (Garcia 1999:46). It is also suggestive that, though

outside researchers have a hard time finding any discernible differences between certain genres

distinguished by region like the son abajeo or the son arribeo (lowland and highland son,

respectively), musicians maintain that these are in fact quite separate. For example, musicians

from Acatic, Jalisco note that the highland sones have a different ending than those of southern

Jalisco (Chamorro and Rivera 1999:58-59).

In sum, when one examines early mariachi groups, the term can never be taken at face

value because of the high level of diversity this music exhibited up to the mid-twentieth century.

The attempt to place a date on the mariachis origin is thus made difficult, if not impossible, by

problems of definition. Since mariachi is today defined mainly by instrumentation, scholars tend

to put a date and place to its emergence based on the appearance of string ensembles, in

particular the prototypical Coculan group comprised of two violins, vihuela, and guitarrn.

However, the huge variation in instrumentation that took place over space and time suggests that

a specific instrumentation was not a defining factor for the mariachi ensemble until the mid- to

late twentieth century.

Son jalisciense

While the mariachi repertoire is highly diverse, I focus here on only one genre: one that,

like its ensemble, has undergone numerous changes on both regional and national levels over the

course of the twentieth century. Son jalisciense is the type of piece most associated with the

traditional mariachi ensemble, and sones are considered the oldest part of the repertoire. Sheehy

emphasizes, The son is perhaps the most important musical genre over the history of the

mariachi and has defined the mariachi sound more than any other form of music. Its importance

runs deep into Mexican history (2006:29). The word son is widely used in Mexico, Central

America, and the Caribbean to denote various musical styles, particularly rural ones, most (but

not all) of which are dance tunes played by string ensembles. The terms wide dissemination is

due to the fact that it was commonly in Spain used during the time of the Conquest to refer to

music in general. New World musical genres used for dancing were referred to as sones from

quite early on. For example, in 1626 one chaconne, a dance thought to have originated in

Veracruz that was later popularized in Europe, includes text describing the genre as a son. The

chaconne was in coplas, the verse form most commonly used in modern sones (Sheehy 1979:19-

20).

In Mexico, the term was first used to refer to a specific musical genre in inquisition

documents from 1766 banning a son called chuchumb for its immoral lyrics: lyrics that have

much in common with modern day sones in the eastern state of Veracruz (Sheehy 1979:17,27).

This son was brought to Mexico from Cuba, and the same documents also call it a tonadilla,

indicating that it came from the eighteenth-century popular theater genre of the same name

(ibid.;23). These plays depicted scenes from the folklife of the period, including regional music

and dance (31). Vicente Mendoza suggests not only that sones originated in the tonadillas

music, but that sixty percent of all Mexican popular music derives from the same source (cited in

Sheehy 1979:32), a figure that seems a bit hyperbolic, but nonetheless gives an idea of the

musical and symbolic importance of sones. With the tonadillas, such musical pieces would have

travelled throughout Mexico.

Son texts are made up of coplas or couplets, generally octosyllabic and totaling four to six

lines, upon themes of love (often using double entendre); a particular geographic place; or

animals, especially birds (Estrada 1984:21; Reuter 1985:158-159). Sones were originally of

variable length. There was no rule as to how many verses could be included: depending on the

musicians knowledge of appropriate extant couplets or improvisational ability, a single son

could include many dozens of couplets, particularly when competition between two musical

groups was involved (Reuter 1985:162). In performance, numerous interjections and/or gritos

(stylized shouts, often wordless) also form part of the text of a son, and these vary region to

region (ibid).

The most readily identifiable, and most written about, characteristic of the son,

particularly the son jalisciense of the greater Jaliscan region, is its use of sesquialtera rhythm, or

the alternation between 3/4 and 6/8 meters. Thomas Stanford suggests that this rhythmic scheme

originated in Arabic music, since it is found in musical treatises of the Middle East since the

tenth century AD (Stanford 2003). Others have suggested an African origin (Prez Fernndez

1990); still others consider it an indigenous Mexican characteristic. Whatever the case, the lively

rhythm was and is used not only in Mexican sones but in many other forms of Latin American

music. It was even returned to Europe in the form of baroque-era dances like the chaconne and

sarabande.

Sheehy suggests that the development of regional son variants began in the early

nineteenth century, the same time in which regional variants of the mariachi ensemble were

coalescing. Today, numerous types of son exist and continue to be performed in Mexico. On the

Caribbean coast, son jarocho is played by harp ensembles in the state of Veracruz. Further north

on the same coast the son huasteco is found, a song type often called huapango by mariachis. In

the south, distinctive sones are played in the state of Oaxaca. On the Western coast, various states

and regions claim their own styles. In Michoacn, Jalisco-type sones are performed along with

the sones michoacanos of the arpa grande ensemble. In Guerrero, local forms of son are also

known as gustos or chilenas; and musicians in states like Aguascalientes and Colima share a

repertoire of sones with their neighbors. But because of the ensembles association with the

Jaliscan region, the son jalisciense is considered most typical of the mariachi. Though these

varieties of Mexican son each have their own unique sounds and forms, they do share a few

features. All use triple or compound meters, many are played at a fast tempo, and all evolved

primarily as dance musics. In fact, son today is defined as a rural music used for dancing

zapateado, the quick stomping footwork similar to that of flamenco dance (Sheehy 1979:18). The

zapateo steps vary region to region, as does the sons music, and are used both for traditional

social dancing (Pearlman 1988:237) and in recently created popular dances like the quebradita

(Hutchinson 2007).

Twentieth century developments

As noted, the prototypical Jaliscan mariachi group is said to be a quartet composed of two

violins, vihuela, and guitarrn, though it is hard to know how far back in time such a group goes.

Oral histories state that this type of ensemble was already in use by 1800 (Flores and Dueas

1995:8-9) though such statements have not been verified. We do know that at the turn of the

twentieth century such groups existed, since the first recording of Jaliscan mariachis is of the a

group called Cuarteto Coculense (1908-1909), which featured this typical instrumentation.

The Cuartetos membership was a mystery until the connection was made to the Coculan

musician Justo Villa, who in fact led the ensemble. The problem in uncovering the identities of

these early musicians was, I believe, caused by the early twentieth century practice through which

folk ensembles were recorded not under their own names but under a generic title intended only

to describe the type of music being offered. For example, in 1943 Vicente Mendoza used the

term Cuarteto Coculense to refer to the type of group formed by the instruments listed above, a

group said to have originated in the town of Cocula, rather than to a specific ensemble (88).

Furthermore, in 1939 Daniel Castaeda wrote of trovadores tamaulipecos (troubadours from

Tamaulipas) as a category of musicians rather than a specific ensemble (1939:447), as a 1928-30

recording of La Negra listing Trovadores Tamaulipecos as artists would imply. To

Castaeda, trovadores tamaulipecos were simply regional ensembles made up of guitars and

violins from the northeastern state of Tamaulipas that had recently migrated to Mexico City,

where they contributed to the formation of national sentiment (ibid.)

It is notable that, of the twenty-one songs recorded for Columbia, Edison, and Victor by

the so-called Cuarteto Coculense, all were sones abajeos. A few of these songs are still played

today, but most are not. This indicates that the son played a much more central role in Jaliscan

mariachi music a century ago than it does today. The Cuartetos recordings are interesting for

ethnographic purposes, but it is doubtful that they had much impact on regional musical practices

of the time, since in those pre-radio times only the wealthy would have had access to the

gramophones needed to play them. However, the subsequent development of mariachi music and

the Mexican recording industry was very much influenced by the political events that would

occur not long after these early recordings were made.

The most important Mexican political event of the early twentieth century was without

doubt the Revolution of 1910. The Revolution brought about enormous social and economic

change throughout Mexico, so it is not surprising that music was affected as well.2 In 1939,

Daniel Castaeda wrote an analysis of changes in Mexican popular music after the Revolution,

calling the period 1910-1925 the bridge of transformations and arguing that music during this

period was an external expression of the sentiments that the phenomenon of the new ideology

provides (1941:438). He emphasizes that Mexican music - by which he means mestizo music

of rural areas - was not played in the large cities until after 1910 (1941:439). As Castaedas

writings suggest, mariachi and other regional folk musics had great symbolic importance for

2 Sheehy tells us that by 1907 the Jaliscan mariachi was seen as a symbol of regional Meexican culture, a symbol

used by the elite class of that region to represent themselves, since such a group was presented in the capital for a visit by the US secretary of state (2006:17). However, the transfer from regional to national symbol did not take place until after the Revolution.

those who subscribed to the Revolutions egalitarian ideals. Because mariachi was associated

with rural peasants, and because it was seen as a symbol of mestizaje or racial mixing, it was the

perfect vehicle for the romantic nationalism encouraged by the Revolution. The process of nation

building in Mexico was very much tied to the process of the creation of a national music style

in which mariachi played the key role, much like costeo music in Columbia (Wade 2000) and

merengue in the Dominican Republic (Austerlitz 1997).

Mariachis move from regional to national symbol was aided by various politicians. In the

1920s, both Mariachi Coculense de Cirilo Marmolejo (the later incarnation of the Cuarteto

Coculense) and Concho Andrades group played for President Alvaro Obregn (Rafael

1982:124;Flores and Dueas 1994:14). Cirilo Marmolejo soon became a favorite of Obregn,

who issued the group a special permit to play in the streets of Mexico City at a time when

mariachis were routinely harassed by the metropolitan police (Flores and Dueas 1994:20).

Lzaro Crdenas, the populist president of the 1930s, would further cement mariachis reputation

as the national music of Mexico, even issuing a national decree forbidding police harassment of

mariachis (ibid). By that time, it was the custom . . . for politicians and presidents to take one or

several mariachi groups under their wing, in order to give a nationalist touch to their official

events (ibid;24).

National recognition of the music coupled with the ongoing search for greater economic

opportunities and a more generalized process of urbanization encouraged numerous mariachis to

move to Mexico City. The first group to perform in Mexico City was that of Justo Villa in 1905;

two years later, Cesreo Medinas group, accompanied by dancers, played there. Both groups

were from Cocula, a fact that initiated the musics ties to that town in the popular imagination

(Rafael 1998:5-6). However, it was Cirilo Marmolejo who must be credited with popularizing

the mariachi in the capitol city and turning it into an urban institution. After performing in

Guadalajara in 1918 at the behest of the Governor of Jalisco, the group met the well-to-do Dr.

Luis Rodrguez Snchez, who became their patron and gave them the name Mariachi

Coculense, despite their origins in Tecolotln. Around 1920, the group relocated to Mexico City

and the next year they were invited to perform for a national charro association, an event that

would result in a new image for the mariachi (Flores and Dueas 1994:19). In 1923, Mariachi

Coculense associated itself with the Coculan couple that opened the restaurant Tenampa that

year on Garibaldi plaza, with the result that both the plaza and the restaurant became national

centers for the production of mariachi music.

The musics relocation to an urban setting affected everything from instrumentation and

repertoire to musical style and modes of dress as rural-to-urban migrants acquired more

cosmopolitan tastes (see Sheehy 2006:18). For example, the ensemble grew in size. Mendoza

wrote that it was common in the 1940s to add more jaranas or vihuelas, violins, and even an

additional guitarrn (1563:88). One trumpet became standard in the 1940s, two became the rule

in the 1960s (Clark 1993). Musicians upgraded their attire. When Justo Villa first went to

Mexico City, his group was clothed in a manner typical of Jaliscan peasants: wide-brimmed hats,

white cotton shirts and pants, ponchos or blankets over the shoulder, huarache sandals, and a red

sash to dress up the ensemble (Rafael 1998:6). For many years thereafter, mariachis would dress

in the clothes to which they were accustomed in everyday life. Then, in a 1926 photograph of

Mariachi Coculense de Cirilo Marmolejo, after Obregn had taken an interest in the group, we

see the musicians still dressed simply but with the beginnings of a uniform look: wide-brimmed

straw hats, white cotton shirts, unremarkable black or white pants, knotted kerchiefs, and a

sarape over one shoulder. In the center is seated their wealthy patron, Luis Rodrguez, in tall,

shiny leather boots, charro-style pants and jacket, silk ribbon tie, and charro hat (cover of

Arhoolie CD 7011; also see Flores and Dueas 1994:123). Not long after, and perhaps related to

their performances for the charros, the musicians were seemingly transformed into gentlemanly

charros themselves, wearing the charro suit now standard for mariachis and visible in

photographs of Mariachi Tapato from the 1930s (see, for example, cover of Arhoolie CD 7012).

The mariachis musical sound was also affected by the move to the city. Jess Juregui

finds several musical changes occurring during the 1930s and 1940s as the mariachi was

becoming urbanized. The repertoire was expanded to include popular and semiclassical music;

two types of specialized mariachi evolved, one playing directly to a known clientele and the other

focusing on dissemination through the mass media; and playing style changed slightly due to the

incorporation of musicians from other locales (1990:49-50). (Though he does not elaborate on

what specific musical changes were made, we will take up this theme later in the analysis of the

Son de la Negra.) The split into two mariachi types is important, as it continues to this day.

Victor Pichardo, director of Chicago-based ensemble Sones de Mexico, calls these branches the

traditional and the popular, explaining that the traditional mariachi plays for community

celebrations in primarily rural areas, learn music by ear, and are talented improvisers, varying

their repertoire each time they play: They used to say: We are going to play a Bamba, not

the Bamba. The popular mariachis, on the other hand, are professionals who wear expensive

costumes, are usually trained musicians, and include songs learned from radio or TV in their

repertoire. Their versions of traditional sones tend to be more standardized (Pichardo, p.c.2005).

These two types of mariachi correspond to Jureguis breakdown by dissemination face to face

performance versus mass media consumption; they might also be termed rural and urban

mariachis.

The standardization of instrumentation also began in the 1930s (Sonnichsen 1993:5), and

was finalized in the 1950s in groups like Mariachi Vargas and Mariachi Mexico de Pepe Villa

(Sheehy 2006:21). The formation of the current canon of mariachi repertoire dates to the same

period. Much of this process was due to the musics diffusion through recordings, radio, and,

especially, film. Ramn Mata Torres writes that radio and television deform and kill the musical

particularities of each region (1992:35). Mass media have certainly caused the homogenization

of mariachi music, erasing differences between the many rural, regional styles. However, the

evolution of the urban mariachi (or popular mariachi, in Pichardos terminology), which must

certainly be considered an entity separate from the rural mariachi styles that still exist today, is

closely tied to the development of mass media in Mexico. Legend has it that the very first sound

film made in that country, Santa (1931) featured mariachi music played by the original urban

mariachi, Mariachi Marmolejo (a later name of Cirilo Marmolejos Mariachi Coculense; Flores

and Dueas 1994), though when I watched this film I saw only single guitarists accompanying

singers rather than a full mariachi ensemble. At any rate, numerous comedias rancheras (films

with rural, costumbrista themes) were made throughout the 1930s that showcased the mariachis

music and contributed to the canon such well-known songs as Cielito Lindo, Ay Jalisco, No

Te Rajes, and Guadalajara. Though, as I have noted, mariachi groups had been recorded as

early as 1908, it was not until the 1930s that recordings were nationally disseminated and made

popular, giving them the necessary reach to influence musicians around the country. This was

made possible by the advent of Mexicos first radio station in 1930, which broadcast mariachi

music to national audiences (Sheehy 2006:65).

Though the mariachi of Cirilo Marmolejo and, later, that of his son Jos, were the most

influential in the 1920s and 1930s and were in large part responsible for the creation of the urban

mariachi, their ascendancy did not last forever. During the 1940s and 1950s, the most popular

and influential mariachi was without doubt Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitln. The group was

founded in the Jaliscan town of Tecalitln by Gaspar Vargas in 1898, and his son Silvestre took

over its direction in the 1930s. In the 1940s, Silvestre made it the most popular mariachi in

Mexico through innovative instrumentation and arrangements by Rubn Fuentes. The groups

1950s recordings were particularly influential, and since these were popularized mariachi style

has changed little. The success of the Vargas arrangements virtually set the music in stone.

Though new songs are continually added to the mariachi repertoire, the traditional songs,

particularly the sones, seldom vary.

Despite the many regional varieties of son available to Mexican musicians and listeners,

it is the son of southern Jalisco that has now come to represent Mexico as a whole, both in its

home country and abroad (Prez 1990:171). How this happened is a matter of debate, not to

mention consternation on the part of many Mexicans from other states. Irene Vsquez Valle

suggests that it was the presence of Jaliscan mariachis in Mexico City in the early twentieth

century, which allowed the music to be heard by large and diverse audiences, coupled with the

use of mariachis by politicians that led to the use of Jaliscan music as a national symbol (in Prez

1990:171-172). Juregui suggests that the Jaliscan hegemony is due to the symbolic weight of

the state of Jalisco - and that of the Jaliscan image - in the context of the Mexican Republic

and, in particular, to its place as counterweight with respect to the countrys capital (in Ochoa

2001:41). Thomas Turino, in turn, finds that the connections of capitalism and nationalism can

help explain how strong regional identities were converted into national symbols in countries like

Mexico. He shows how the creation of a canon of regional songs, the teaching of this canon in

schools across the nation, and its performance in contexts such as national folk festivals helped

shift the indexical association of musical styles like the mariachi from region to nation. Such

associations were then cemented in the mass media, particularly through the ranchera film

(2003:194-197). These processes, combined with the economic power of the region, help explain

why Jalisco looms so large in the Mexican national consciousness, having supplied such images

and symbols as the charro, or well-dressed horseman; tequila, considered the national drink by

many; and the music of the mariachi.

There are several subtypes of son jalisciense, though most of the best-known may be

defined as son abajeo or lowland son, which comes from the coastal lands called Bajo or Tierra

Caliente that stretch south into Colima and Michoacn, and which is also cultivated by the

indigenous Purhpecha people. Another principal subgenre is the son alteo or serrano, a

highland son. Lesser-known son genres can be found in various parts of Jalisco, and some of

these are thought to predate the mariachi-type son by hundreds of years.3

In light of the significant variations we know to have existed in early mariachi practices,

the current uniformity in the performance of these songs is notable. Writing of modern mariachis,

James Koetting notes that their performances of sones are based on a musical arrangement

prescriptive in nearly all its details, and that these details are integral to the specific son and

would not vary in performance from mariachi to mariachi (1977:163). Steven Pearlman adds,

Innovation in sones, when it occurs, is usually limited to the melodic embellishments played

during sung verses or choruses (1984:3). While show mariachis - those that play primarily in

elaborate staged performances - do create new arrangements (see Sheehy 2006 or Pearlman

3 One genre mentioned as a proto-son type in Jalisco is that of the sonajeros of Tuxpan, who play

flute and drum for group dances, and in whose music Ernesto Cano finds a clear relation with the rhythmic and melodic motives of the sones of the traditional mariachi of southern Jalisco (1999:7). Such ties are highly debatable.

1988:310), the majority of mariachis make their living playing at private parties or at restaurants,

where more elaborate versions of standard repertoire would not be either encouraged or accepted

and where standardized arrangements facilitate musicians movement between groups. These are

particularly necessary in al taln or wandering musician performance settings, where

arrangements are either improvised on the moment based on formulas or cobbled together from

popular recordings (Sheehy 2006:67). Most customers wish to hear the songs they request

performed in a style and form they recognize, and that recognizability depends upon the

dissemination of particular versions through radio, film, and recordings. This standardization

occurred during the 1940s-1950s, when Mariachi Vargas began to popularize their own

arrangements of sones through widely disseminated recordings. Cornelio Garca Ramrez argues

that such commercialization resulted in simplified music (1999:41). In my opinion, the Vargas

arrangements are not simple, but they have resulted in uniformity and a reduction of the

improvisatory element in mariachi. As Steven Pearlman writes, Many musicians say . . . that the

original sones had many more parts, and that the Vargas arrangements were developed so that

they would fit on a 78 rpm record (1988:225). While older musicians could remember longer

versions of sones like La Negra, at the time of Pearlmans writing such versions were no

longer being performed in Los Angeles. Though in parts of Mexico like Tecolotln mariachis

still play in the old way, without arrangements (Garcia 1999:41), for urban mariachis, the son

jalisciense has become increasingly standardized.

At the same time and with a similar result, standard choreographies were created for La

Negra and other sones (Pearlman 1988:277). These choreographies were widely disseminated in

both Mexico and the United States as folklrico dance was popularized and institutionalized in

the 1960s, largely through the world tours and televised performances of the Ballet Folklrico de

Mxico led by Amalia Hernndez (see Hutchinson 2006). Today, La Negra and other sones are

nearly always performed in exactly the same way, the only variations being in small details such

as the number of turns in the opening sequence. The effect of the sedimentation of choreography

on mariachi music should not be underestimated, since the son is a type of dance music and is

still often used to accompany folklrico dance performers. Even a small change like the number

of turns performed is reflected in the music by the addition or subtraction of one measure

(Pearlman 1988:226). Lucina Rodrguez, a dancer who performs old-style son jalisciense with

the Bay Area group Los Cenzontles, finds that the way she dances the son differs significantly

from the versions she has seen danced by ballet folklrico groups: [the old style] is improvised.

Some of the steps are kind of connected with the music we stop every time the music stops.

It has changed a lot. The problem also is that it loses its rhythm, so it becomes more square and a

lot faster. For all the, especially sones, theyre supposed to be a little slower so you can feel it.

In her opinion, the new mariachi groups play the son too fast (interview with author, 2005).

Victor Pichardo of Sones de Mxico adds that Amalia Hernndezs Ballet Folklrico exerted

influence over the development of mariachi music not only through their choreographies, but also

through their very professional musical arrangements, some of which were created by composer

Blas Galindo to Amalias own specifications. And in response to my further questions, he

elaborated, Sometimes she needed faster versions to [accompany] an energetic theatrical show,

or brighter keys. She asked the musicians to standardize old versions to fit them with the steps

and movements she needed, adding, most of the folkloric ballets in Mexico and in the U.S.

used the Amalia Hernndez style, her music and her choreographies (electronic

communications, 2005).

To summarize, while regional son styles may have developed in relative isolation for a

short time, during most of its history the Mexican son was subject to considerable regional and

even international interchange. A pan-Mexican son style utilizing international influences from

Spain to Cuba developed through association with the widely disseminated tonadillas during the

eighteenth century, prior to Mexican independence. This tradition is regionalized during the

nineteenth century as Mexico gains independence from Spain and infrastructure dissolves.

Contact between regional son style increases again as musicians from all over the country move

to Mexico City in the early twentieth century and mass media dissemination begins. Finally,

during the 1930s-50s those sones that become accepted into the mariachi canon became

increasingly standardized, as did their choreography.

As for the mariachi ensemble, we know that its origins are to be found in a wide

geographic region centered on the neighboring states of Jalisco, Colima, and Nayarit but which

historically extended much further. Heterogenous instrumentation and modes of attire in the early

twentieth century were gradually replaced by one master style dictated by the urban mariachis of

Mexico City through their associations with the Mexican recording and film industries. Particular

songs and styles were selected as representative of their regions of origin and became part of the

mariachi canon (such as La Bamba for the Jarocho region, La Malaguea for the Huastecan

area, and the Jarabe Tapato for Jalisco), while other once-popular songs were allowed to die

out (including many sones features on the Cuarteto recordings, like La Ensalada). Finally,

improvisation and variation in the performance of sones was severely limited once the Mariachi

Vargas arrangements of traditional numbers became widely known.

La Negra

Having reviewed secondary sources that suggest how and why mariachi repertoire

became canonized and standardized during the period between 1930 and 1960,I now turn to

primary sources to provide an illustration of these processes in action, to expand upon points

suggested but not elaborated by other authors, and to trace specific musical changes over time. In

doing so, I will narrow my focus to one particular son jalisciense. Possibly the best known of

thisrepertoire, La Negra has been a part of the urban mariachi canon for as long as that

ensemble has existed. One can infer that it was already considered symbolic of its region as early

as 1940, since Jaliscan orchestral composer Blas Galindo used it in his symphonic composition

Sones de Mxico that premiered that year in New York. For perhaps a hundred years before

that, it was well known at least among regional Jaliscan musicians, and perhaps beyond.

Unfortunately, no recording of La Negra was made during the pre-revolutionary period.

However, two recordings were made of this piece in the second quarter of the twentieth century.

Made at some point during the years 1928-1930 in New York City for the Columbia label, the

first version bears the title Mi Negra, which more closely reflects the actual text of the song.4

The featured musicians are not a mariachi group in the modern sense, but a group called

Trovadores Tamaulipecos, or Troubadours of Tamaulipas. Tamaulipas is part of the

northeastern Huastecan region, and as one would expect, four of the eight songs recorded in New

York were huapangos (a genre considered typical of that area). The remainder include three

sones abajeos and an ambiguously named cancin rural (rural song) (Flores and Dueas

4 I would like to thank Howard Batchelor and Steven Davison of the UCLA libraries for

providing me with access to this recording, which forms part of their Frontera Collection

1994:44), indicating that even before their use in film, the Jaliscan sones were already becoming

a national symbol and being adopted by musicians of other regions.

The second recording dates to the late 1930s and was made by the Mariachi Tapato of

Jos Marmolejo, son of Cirilo Marmolejo, the Jaliscan musician who was a favorite of presidents

and is credited with popularizing mariachi in Mexico City. In order to interpret this recording

properly, we must look at Mexicos social and political situation at the time it was made as well

as the musical environment of the time. When this recording was made, the social and economic

reformer Lzaro Crdenas was president. Besides implementing a plan intended to improve

education for the poor and make land rights and usage more equitable, he was also responsible

for institutionalizing mariachi music and stopping police harassment of musicians (Flores and

Dueas 1994:24). The place of mariachi music and, by extension, Jaliscan culture in general, at

the center of national culture was becoming cemented through its use in motion pictures, and in

1937-38, Tapato was by far the most popular mariachi in Mexico due to recent appearances in

popular movies such as Las Cuatro Milpas, La Tierra del Mariachi, and Jalisco Nunca

Pierde, a film that included the now standard son Guadalajara.

The next recording of this song appears in the late 1950s. This era is considered by many

to be the golden age of mariachi, and it was a time of comparative prosperity in Mexico. In

1958, moderate leftist Adolfo Lpez Mateos was inaugurated; he, like Crdenas, would attempt

to better the lives of Mexicos poor through the doling out of land parcels. Mariachi musics

popularity was at its peak, as was that of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitln. This group became a

serious rival for Tapato in the 1940s; and after Jose Marmolejo died in 1958, Vargas became the

countrys most popular and most respected mariachi, a position it retains to this day (Clark

1993:9). Among the groups innovations were the addition of a second trumpet and the

reintroduction of the harp to the ensemble.

For my analysis of La Negra, I used three supplementary recordings along with these

principal ones for purposes of comparison. These included a later recording by Mariachi Vargas,

probably dating to the 1980s; one by the well-known Mariachi Mxico de Pepe Villa, claiming to

be the authentic son jalisciense and recorded in the 1960s; and a recent recording by Mariachi

Michoacano, a group whose distinguishing feature is that they advertise themselves as belonging

to Michoacn, a state on the periphery of the traditional mariachi region. These three recordings

adhere closely to the 1950s Vargas model, and indeed urban mariachi performances today

seldom differ in any significant way from the Vargas arrangement.5 It is this fact that makes the

Tapato and Trovadores recordings so surprising on first listen. In the following pages, I will

compare text, form, style, instrumentation, and technique in these six versions of La Negra.

In the 1930s Tapato and 1950s Vargas versions of La Negra, the lyrics are mostly the

same, though they are placed in a different order and Tapato repeats certain sections. The

Trovadores recording includes the same two verses as do the later versions, but adds one more.

All other versions conform to the Vargas recording except in small details. Here are the lyrics

according to Mariachi Vargas:

Negrita de mis pesares Ojos de papel volando Negrita de mis pesares Ojos de papel volando A todos diles que s Pero no les digas cuando As me dijiste a m Por eso vivo penando

Dear one of my sorrows Eyes of flying paper Dear one of my sorrows Eyes of flying paper Tell everyone yes But dont tell them when Thats what you told me Thats why I am suffering.

5 The exception may be found in show or stage mariachis, like Mariachi Sol de Mexico, who have the musical and

economic freedom to created new and complicated arrangements; yet these are still few in number (see Sheehy 2006:36).

Cundo me traes a mi negra Que la quiero ver aqu Con su rebozo de seda Que le traje de Tepic. (x2)

When will you bring me my negra I want to see her here With her silk shawl I brought her from Tepic.

In Mariachi Tapatos earlier version, the two verses are reversed in order and one

line of text is present that has been dropped in the Vargas version. Here is Tapatos:

Cundo me traes a mi negra Que la quiero ver aqu Con su rebozo de seda Que le traje de Tepic Que le traje de Tepic Para pasearme con ella. Cundo me traes a mi negra Que la quiero ver aqu Con su rebozo de seda Que le traje de Tepic.

When will you bring me my negra I want to see her here With her silk shawl That I brought her from Tepic. That I brought her from Tepic, In order to take a walk with her. When will you bring me my negra I want to see her here With her silk shawl I brought her from Tepic.

Negrita de mis pesares Ojos de papel volando Negrita de mis pesares Ojos de papel volando A todos diles que s Noms no les digas cundo Asi me dirs a mi, Por eso vivo penando. Negrita de mis pesares Ojos de papel volando As me dirs a m, Por eso vivo penando.

Dear one of my sorrows Eyes of flying paper Dear one of my sorrows Eyes of flying paper Tell everyone yes Just dont tell them when Thats what youll tell me Thats why I am suffering. Dear one of my sorrows Eyes of flying paper Thats what youll tell me, Thats why I am suffering.

As can be seen, this version is more repetitive than that of Vargas, and besides the

addition of the idea of taking a walk with her, what the singer tells his love is slightly

different, as well. Now he is anticipating her leading him on in the future, though she

hasnt yet said anything.

The Trovadores Tamaulipecos version is close to that of Mariachi Tapato, yet

they have added another verse altogether:

Cundo me traes a mi negra Que la quiero ver aqu Con su rebozo de seda Que le traje de Tepic. Con su rebozo de seda Que le traje de Tepic. Que le traje de Tepic Para pasearme con ella.

When will you bring me my negra I want to see her here With her silk shawl That I brought her from Tepic. With her silk shawl That I brought her from Tepic. That I brought her from Tepic, In order to take a walk with her.

Ay s s, parece que s. Ay no no, parece que no. Ay s s, chame a los brazos Ay no no, que ya amaneci. Ay la la la

Oh yes yes, it seems she will Oh no no, it seems she wont Oh yes yes, come into my arms Oh no no, day has already broken La la la

Ay, negrita del alma ma Hojas de papel volando Ay, negrita del alma ma Hojas de papel volando A todos diles que s Pero no les digas cuando Que as me dijiste a m Y hasta ahora vivo penando

Oh, dear one of my soul Sheets of flying paper Oh, dear one of my soul Sheets of flying paper Tell everyone yes Just dont tell them when Thats what you told me And up until now I am suffering.

Of the three more similar versions I examined, two differed from the Vargas lyric

by one word each. In Mariachi Mexico, soloist Pepe Gutirrez sings Negrita de mis

cantares, dear one of my songs, in the first line, taking a slightly more positive

approach. Mariachi Michoacano sings hojas de papel volando, sheets of flying paper,

instead of the now-standard ojos, eyes. This conforms to the earliest known recording,

that by the Trovadores, and it has the further advantage of appearing to make more sense,

but the word brings into question the meaning of the whole text. Various researchers have

suggested that the original, correct text was hojas, and that la negra actually referred

not to a woman but to a printing press used for making revolutionary flyers, presumably

during the time of the French or Austrian occupations (Flores and Dueas 1994:108).

Compelling as this story may be, no evidence has been offered to back up the claim. No

other texts have been offered to show that la negra was, in fact, a term commonly used

to refer to a printing press; in addition, a printing press is most definitely not the subject

of the rest of the song. This song, like many sones, is clearly a song of love. However

strange or nonsensical eyes of flying paper seems to us at present, this comparison has

parallels in other nineteenth-century sones. For example, an old son abajeo that has

fallen into disuse, El Frijolito, uses the same metaphor, this time comparing eyes to

green paper:

Seorita, seorita Ojitos de papel verde, Yo le canto El Frijolito Para que de mi se acuerde.

Young miss, young miss Eyes of green paper I sing you the Frijolito So that youll remember me.

(Cuarteto Coculense 1908, Arhoolie CD 7036)

Therefore, it is possible that the eyes-paper metaphor once had a larger context in which it

made sense, perhaps in a tonadilla or as part of a longer song text, but that this context

has since been lost.

In overall form, the three early performances are similar but differ in length and in

the musical material used. The three other later recordings I examined follow the form of

the Vargas recording to the letter. The recordings follow these schemes, in which I have

assigned letters to each different musical motive or sung verse (I use the same letter

whenever the versions played by two groups are recognizably the same, but add a

number when they use the same chord progression and similar melodies but differ in

rhythm):

I will begin by comparing the Tapato and Vargas versions, since these two groups

came from the same region and have much more in common with each other than with

the Trovadores. Both end with the stereotypical cadence common to all sones of the

region, though in slightly different rhythms, which can be compared in my transcriptions

in Figure 2. Both also begin in much the same way, with the familiar driving eighth notes

of section A followed by two other instrumental sections before the first verse occurs.

Between the first and second verses, both use E2, but Vargas includes several more

instrumental sections before verse two enters. After the second verse, both groups return

to E2 and then segue into variants of G before ending. However, the recordings differ in

numerous ways. In the older piece, E2 is always preceded by its variation E, which never

occurs in the more recent recording (see Figure 3). Though each group offers five

variations on theme G, which is characterized by one bar each of the chords IV, I, V, and

I, Tapato plays all five in a row while Vargas divides the variations around verse two. In

addition, each G variation played by Tapato uses parallel phrase structure, while the

Inst. Vocal Instrumental Voc. Instrumental Voc Inst

Trovadores A D B H2 J F I2 D2 J K A2

Tapato A B C D E E2 F E E2 G G2 G3 G4 G5 A [cadence]

Vargas A B H F A I E2 G6 G7 G8 D E2 G9 G10 [cadence]

Vargas never do, relying instead on rhythmic variation. Vargas introduces entirely new

melodic material in sections H and I, while omitting the section C that takes Hs place in

the Tapato recording (figure 4), and as noted, they reverse the order of the verses.

Finally, although I have labeled the vocal sections D and F in both versions since both use

very similar texts, the melodies and rhythms used in each recording are completely

different (compare them in Figures 5 and 6).

Turning to the Trovadores Tamaulipecos, a number of differences become

immediately apparent. The textual discrepancies, including the added verse, have already

been noted. Fewer instrumental sections appear here, giving the vocals greater weight

than in the other recordings. While the words to the D and F sections are much the same

as in the versions already examined, here they are sung to yet another melody (see Figures

5 and 6); and the ends of verses are frequently marked by a ritardando and a short pause

before continuing (the tempo is never interrupted in the other versions). A new melodic

section resembling other traditional huapangos (K) has been added before returning to a

variant of the A section at the end of the piece, a repetition that does not occur in the

Tapato or Vargas arrangements. The violins, rather than adding fills between lines of

text, typically play the melody along with the vocalists or harmonize with them. In one

instance, the violins layer instrumental melody I2 over vocal section D2 (Figure 5), a

variation of the Cuando me traes verse in which the lyrics of D are set to a melody

that echoes that of the Trovadores version of F (Negrita del alma mia). There is also

an unusual temporary key change during this same section. Finally, the Jaliscan cadence

is notably absent in the Trovadores termination (Figure 2). In instrumentation, the three

recordings differ quite a bit, though it is difficult to tell exactly how much by ear since

they are not in pristine condition. The Trovadores seem to conform to the model for such

groups outlined by Castaeda, consisting simply of a guitar, two violins, and harmonizing

vocalists. Comparing the two mariachis, it is clear that Mariachi Vargas has significantly

expanded the ensemble from its 1930s size. Mariachi Tapato consisted of one trumpet,

two violins, one guitarrn, and one or two vihuelas. In the 1950s, Vargas was using two

trumpets, multiple violins and vihuelas, a marimba, possibly harp (they are known for its

use, but I am not certain that it was used in this exact recording) and guitar, and an

additional guitarrn, creating something akin to a mariachi orchestra in effect, the

modern, urban mariachi. The doubling of instruments, particularly trumpet, became

popular and was used by most later groups. The size of this ensemble likely made the use

of written arrangements necessary as a means of keeping together paired instruments like

the guitarrones, which formerly (when used singly) had played various rhythms that

changed according to the whim of the player. Certainly, this was a factor contributing to

the wide dissemination and usage of the Vargas Negra arrangement.

Vocal production is another area in which the temporal and stylistic distance

between the recordings is evident. Mariachi Tapato sings in a manner common to rural

areas in many parts of Latin America that is characterized by a tight, closed-throat sound

and often considered rustic or untrained. The higher, harmonizing voice sings in a

falsetto whose pitch usually approximates a third above the melody line but is often

indeterminate. The Mariachi Vargas singers have a more open-throated, popular sound -

a bel canto that conforms to urban middle-class values conditioned by international

popular song and classical music, and one that suggests they have had vocal training. At

the same time, their recording includes gritos, the stylized shouts today considered so

typical of Mexican music, a feature absent from the 1930s Tapato Negra. This

omission may have occurred not because gritos were not used in the 1930s, but because

they were supposed to arise naturally from the audience or from a musicians feeling

particularly moved. To create such sounds in a studio may have seemed artificial or

unnecessary to the Marmolejos. The Trovadores eliminate both falsetto singing and gritos

in their performance, and favor a semipopular singing style that recalls Cuban guitar trios

of the early to mid twentieth century, though with a more closed-throated sound in the

higher-pitched vocals. My three supplemental recordings follow the Vargas model in

vocal style. However, though sones originally featured a chorus of voices rather than a

soloist and this practice is continued in both the Marmolejo and the Vargas arrangements,

Mariachi Mexicos version of La Negra is unique for featuring a soloist. This

innovation is likely due to the popularity of solo ranchera singers in films.

Some instrumental techniques differ from recording to recording. For example,

one unusual feature clearly heard on the Mariachi Tapato recording is the use of violin

strumming during vocal sections of the piece, a technique characteristic of the Marmolejo

groups (Sonnichsen 1993:5). No other group uses this technique.6 In the 1950s Vargas

recording, trumpet and violin fills are used between lines of text during each verse.

Although they discontinued this once-characteristic practice in their later recording, the

Michoacano and Mxico examples both feature fills similar to those of the 1950s.

Orchestration differs slightly between the Vargas recordings and those of Mxico and

Michoacano, even though the melodic material and form remain the same. Finally,

articulation and ornamentation seem to have been of concern to each group, though each

approached it in a different way. Tapato clearly has a set way of bowing each section,

and the trumpet generally chooses an articulation to match that produced by the violins. In

the 1950s, Vargas used similar-sounding articulations, but they have become much more

defined and precise - so much so that they sound stylized. Similarly, where grace notes

and slides are used by Tapato, Vargas does the same, though these ornaments are now so

defined they sound almost a caricature of the more rustic sounding practices of the earlier

musicians. The focus on precise articulation reaches an extreme in the Mariachi

Michoacano recording, where almost everything is played staccato. Even performance

style has become canonized to some extent, although more variation occurs here than in

form.

The analysis of son jalisciense may not, at first glance, seem to pose many

challenges. Harmonically, only tonic, dominant, secondary dominant, and subdominant

chords are used. Formally, they are sectional pieces involving little repetition. However,

the rhythmic features used are considerably more complex. Steven Pearlman writes that

sones are composed of several themes and variations, a puzzling statement until one

realizes that he is referring to rhythmic, not melodic or harmonic, variation (1988:225).

The theme and variation concept clearly applied to La Negra in the many variations

offered by each recording on the G section, each of which is distinguished from the others

only by rhythmic alterations. Structurally, James Koetting finds that the son jalisciense

must be analyzed in its own terms, and that those terms are fundamentally non-Western,

6 It is worth noting that another now-extinct technique appears on the 1908 Cuarteto

Coculense recording: chordal strumming of the guitarrn, a style then known as

despite the superficially simple I- IV -V harmonic progression used. Instead, he finds the

music to be stratified - the melody (violin, trumpet) and harmony (vihuela, guitarrn)

layers are more independent than in Western classical music, while the metric

ambiguity such independence creates is much more common in African than in

European music (1977:183).

I agree with Koetting that, as in many other traditional and popular musical forms,

harmonic analysis is of little use in studying the son jalisciense. A rhythmic analysis can

better illustrate the complexity of early mariachi music; I will give a few short examples

here from La Negra. For instance, metric ambiguity is far more pronounced in the

1930s Tapato performance than in any recording made since then. In their version of La

Negra, the guitarrn plays only offbeat accents on the second and fifth eighth notes of

each measure throughout lengthy sections of the piece, particularly during the vocal

sections. Because bass instruments provide such a strong auditory anchor, this serves to

effectively displace the 6/8 beat by one eighth note for entire sections until the downbeat

returns. Such a practice contrasts dramatically with the guitarrn part in the Vargas

arrangement. Here, beat displacement also occurs, but only for one measure, and this is

always followed immediately by a straightforward measure of 3/4. Koetting writes that

this is the standard guitarrn part for any son, but the Tapato recording shows us that this

was not always the case. Overall, the Vargas version maintains a 3/4 feel throughout most

of the piece, while in Tapato the displaced 6/8 rhythm is the rule. The Trovadores, with

no bass instrument, maintain a steady 3/4 accompaniment in the guitar throughout, yet

without emphasizing the downbeat (see its rhythm in Figure 2). A 6/8 feel appears in just

arrastrado (Clark 1993:12).

two sections: the second part of section A has a brief change of accompaniment rhythm,

while in K, the violin melody is formed of groups of three notes rather than two.

Otherwise, they seem to make no effort to include the sesquialtera rhythm typical of son

style.

The Trovadores arrangement is, then, a Jaliscan son as interpreted within the

stylistic conventions of another, very different regional tradition. It features none of the

regionalisms like the sequialtera rhythm, the instrumentation, and the final cadences that

clearly mark the Tapato and Vargas versions of La Negra as a Jaliscan son abajeo, as

expected. Yet, these son rhythms may not have been as confined within that region as is

generally supposed. Rolando Prez Fernndez notes that some of the same rhythmic

patterns characteristic of the melody parts in La Negra are exactly the same as those

found in other sones from the state of Guerrero (1990:150,165), suggesting that this piece

is an example of a style common (at least at one time) throughout the Western states and

not limited to lowland Jalisco. It is also worth noting that the only place name mentioned

in the song is Tepic, which is the capital of Nayarit, and that the first recording of it was

by a group from Tamaulipas, indicating that La Negra was already known well beyond

Jaliscan borders even prior to the advent of the recording industry. We may never know if

this was a result of the convergence of regional musicians in urbanizing Mexico City at

the time or of earlier processes of musical interchange. However, the fact that both the

Vargas and the Trovadores versions include sections H and I, while the Tapato one has

neither, suggests that these groups (or others trovadores and mariachis like them) must

have made contact in the city by the 1920s.

Of all the differences between these recordings, those in instrumentation and

vocal production are especially significant for what they say about mariachis changing

social context and political function. The expanded instrumentation and cleaned-up

vocal sound of the later recordings resulted from mariachis new location within an urban

context, new status as a national symbol, and reflects musicians search for a greater

acceptability among middle-class audiences. Mariachi Vargass choice to use marimba in

their 1950s recording is particularly revealing, since that instrument has never been a part

of musical culture in the western states but is associated with southern Mexico,

particularly the Yucatn. This seems to indicate a conscious move on the part of Vargas

to create a pan-Mexican sound that would be more suited to the role of national symbol.

The differences in form, text, and rhythm are important mostly for what they

suggest to us about performance practices before the standardization effected by the

recording era. We know that performances of sones in the nineteenth century were much

longer than the time allowed by recording media like cylinders and 78 rpm discs, and that

they could include any number of verses and instrumental sections. The differences

between the Tapato and Vargas versions of La Negra likely result from each groups

choice of different sections from the longer versions originally performed in rural areas.

They may also suggest the existence of local variants, since the Tapato musicians were

mostly from Cocula and Teocaltiche, while the Vargas family is from Tecalitln.

Mariachi Vargass choice of a more stable rhythmic setting may also be indicative of an

attempt to make the music more intelligible to an urban or international audience, while

the unique features of the Trovadores recording seem to be the results of an effort to fit

the rhythmically complex and instrument-focused Jaliscan song into a different regional

style, one that had fewer instruments with which to work and that emphasized vocals

above rhythm.

The analysis of early recordings serves several purposes. First, such research can

be used to debunk myths relating to mariachis origin and development, such as those

tying it, its instrumentation, and repertoire to overly specific localities. Second, it can be

of aid to performers who wish to recreate a historic mariachi style, one that is

significantly different from the homogenized versions of sones that are usually played

today. For example, the Tapato recording suggests that the guitarrn and vihuela players

were allowed much more rhythmic freedom in that time period than they are at present,

while all three versions show that the form was expandable, allowing for the inclusion of

new musical material. Finally, it can shed light on the processes of canonization and

standardization of repertoire that were taking place in Mexico during the 1930s-1950s.

These can be related to social change resulting from urbanization and the growth of mass

media in Mexico, and they may also be compared to similar musical processes occurring

in other parts of Latin America in the same period, as mass media helped to nationalize

other formerly regional musics (see Hutchinson forthcoming for a description of the

similar case of Dominican merengue tpico). In the future, research into mariachis ties to

dance and the development of ballet folklrico and into current rural performance styles

could doubtless illuminate these topics even more.

Bibliography

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Chamorro Escalante, J. Arturo. 1999. Organografa de los mariachis tradicionales en Jalisco. Estudios jaliscienses 36(May):23-38.

Chamorro Escalante, J. Arturo. 2000. Mariachi antiguo, jarabe y son: Smbolos compartidos y tradicin musical en las identidades jaliscienses. Zapopn: Colegio de Jalisco.

Chamorro Escalante, Arturo and Mara Guadalupe Rivera Acosta. 1999. El son calentano, el son del sur de Jalisco y el jarabe ranchero. Estudios jaliscienses 37(August): 58-67.

Clark, Jonathan. 1993a. Mexicos pioneer mariachis, vol. 1. Mariachi Coculense Rodrguez de Cirilo Marmolejo, 1926-1936. Notes to Arhoolie Folklyric CD 7011.

Clark, Jonathan. 1993b. Mexicos pioneer mariachis, vol. 2. Mariachi Tapato de Jos Marmolejo. Notes to Arhoolie Folklyric CD 7012.

Clark, Jonathan and Herms Rafael. 1998. Mexicos pioneer mariachis, vol. 4. Cuarteto Coculense: The very first mariachi recordings, 1908-1909. Notes to Arhoolie Folklyric CD 7036.

Cruz, Efrain de la. 1996. El origen del mariachi coculense: Una cultura con mariaci, charros, y tequila. Guadalajara: Secretara de Educacin Pblica.

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Discography

Cuarteto Coculense. 1998 [1908-1909]. Mexicos pioneer mariachis, vol. 4. Arhoolie Folklyric CD 7036.

Mariachi Mxico de Pepe Villa. [1960s] El autntico son jalisciense. Orfen 25CDF-721.

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Mariachi Tapato de Jos Marmolejo. 1994 [1937-1938]. Mexicos pioneer mariachis, vol. 2. Arhoolie Folklyric CD 7012.

Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitln. [1958.] El mejor mariachi del mundo. RCA Victor MKS-1224.

Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitln. 1991. La serie de los 20 xitos. BMG Bertelsmann de Mxico CDM-3340.

Trovadores Tamaulipecos. [1930?] Mi negra. Columbia 3693-X (Matrix #97403).

Note on Transcriptions

A full transcription of the Mariachi Tapato version of La Negra is printed here as Appendix B. There is also a commercial arrangement of the song by John A. Vela that conforms in most ways to the Vargas version, which was published in 1990 by Southern Music Company, San Antonio, Texas. My own transcription of excerpts of this version appears in Appendix C below.

APPENDIX 1 Map of mariachi regions & localities

c. Sydney Huthinson, 2014

APPENDIX 2 (below) Transcription of Mariachi Tapato version of La Negra

APPENDIX 3 (below) Transcription of excerpts from Mariachi Vargas version of La Negra

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