From Acoustic Guitar October 2017 | Greg Allwell

Since most guitarists who can play open chords can quickly start using a plucked stringed instrument in the Mariachi to make music, this seems to be a good time to introduce the string members of the ensemble. In order to better measure, I also included some relatives in other styles. Although they are not pure mariachi bands, they are very closely related. Any curious guitarist should play for them.

In some ways, Mariachis are like bluegrass, because these two genres are almost all defined by their instruments. The popular definition of bluegrass now covers almost all country-sounding string band music, but the most authentic form is usually played with guitar, mandolin, violin, dobro, and vertical bass. Similarly, mariachis especially need violin, trumpet, vihuela, guitarrón, and sometimes guitar, harp, and flute.

A typical modern version of one of these instruments has guitar-like additional features not found in the traditional version, including truss rods, inlaid fret instead of nylon fret, and buckles on the neck heel and tail nails. The latter development is particularly useful for students who may not remember the traditional strap that hangs in the sound hole and wraps under the instrument and requires the player to hold it in place.

Although learning new styles, rhythms, and techniques is part of playing these instruments, in essence, Mariachi music is created as a group, not about solo singing. As the late leader of Grammy Award winner Mariachi los Camperos and Vihuela player Nati Cano said in an interview with Smithsonian Folklore, “Being a good musician does not do this. If you If you don’t sing or play, you are not a complete mariachi. When we sing mariachi, we become part of the group and'we' become'one person'."

Here are the tools that will be introduced in this article:

The Mexican vihuela has a mini-guitar-like body and high profile, with a keen and fast attack, which is very suitable for fast triplet playing in a Mariachi band. Although the pitch and interval of vihuela (vee-whey-lah) tuning (ADGBE) will make many of the guitar chord shapes familiar to you work, the tuning may be bothersome for guitarists. The lower three strings are octaves higher than the guitar. Paired with vihuela's huge tortoise-shaped backboard, when played with nails, this will produce a unique sound, between the ukulele and nylon string guitar, and occasionally flick with the index finger.

The initiator of the group's conversation, the guitarist is a large six-string band and a bass member of the orchestra. When playing, the huge body is at an upward angle—a posture assisted by a large arch—and the thumb and index finger of the plucker are used to pull the strings directly from the fretboard instead of crossing them. The guitar dragon (gee-tar-RHON; scroll r if possible) is usually played on six strings (three steel strings and three nylon strings) using an octave to negotiate each chord root note by routing the melody to the next chord. The first beat of two bars. Playing notes with the thumb of the hand that presses the strings is a common technique for guitarists.

Although not an official Mariachi instrument, the five-string two-channel bajo quinto (literally "fifth bass") is a strong guitarist and the core of norteño and Tex-Mex conjunto music. The bajo quinto (bah-ho tip) is usually decorated with large guards and rope bindings. It is a modernized version of bajo sexto, but the low E string pair is cancelled, leaving only the 10-string tuning aA dD GG CC FF (perfect four One part), which can cover rhythm and melody duties, not only in Lydia Mendoza or Santiago Jimenez's Tejano music, but also wherever you might want the sound of the baritone 12 and the floor creak-string. By changing the tuning, you need to modify your standard guitar grip (see the picture on the left) to fit the powerful quinto, but once you hear the sound, you will thank you for encountering the bajo quinto.

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The tuning of requinto is like a guitar capo clipped to the fifth frets, usually used to play the passage between vocal phrases and melody solo. Outside of Mariachis, requinto (ray-keen-toe) is a great way for any guitarist to explore new sounds. With higher tuning, its sound is bright and lively, which is very suitable for groups that already have a guitar sound but need something special to make the sound sweet.

This article was originally published in the October 2017 issue of Acoustic Guitar.

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