Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music
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cal ambiguities. One important manico of this type is the caballito (little horse):
it creates a distinctive galloping sound by grouping strums into threes (two down
and one up), with a harsh accent on the second of three beats. This emphasizes a
6/8 feeling, whereas the simpler manico pajero or simple up-and-down strumming
brings out a 3/4 rhythm. Vihuela players sometimes reverse the pajero stroke by
starting to strum up on a strong beat, so this variation can be referred to as manico
pa’rriba (up) or manico pa’bajo (down).
Mariachi holds the unique status of the national music of Mexico and is an ur-
banized genre that originated in the regional son jalisciense string ensembles of
the western states of Colima and Jalisco. From the earliest mariachi recordings in
1908 in Chicago, the accompaniment to this son was one or two violins, a vihuela,
perhaps a guitarra de golpe and a harp (later replaced by the guitarrón ). Around this time, the devastating introduction of the six-stringed guitar began to drown out
more subtle traditional instruments such as the harp and caused the violins to at-
rophy. After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the son jalisciense was featured by
Mexican presidents for official and political functions. Trumpets were introduced
into the son jalisciense in the 1920s and became standard by the late 1930s. This
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genre of son dominates Mexican sound films of the 1930–1940s and established
the traditional core of the mariachi repertoire.
Most sones jaliciensces are strophic songs, beginning with an entrada, verso,
and coro . Witty and flirtatious four-line coplas alternate with a simple chorus ( Ay sí sí, ay no no ) or with melodically fixed instrumental interludes. The coro section
may be presented responsorially (between a soloist and group) or as a separate re-
frain. The final section reprises a shortened version of the entrada. Melodic lines
are usually doubled at the major third, and sesquiáltera (fluctuations in the way a
6/8 pattern is accented) provides restless unpredictability to the beat. “La Negra” is
a familiar example of this style, and other mariachi sones in this style include “La
Culebra,” “El Carretero,” “Camino Real de Comina,” and “ El Triste .”
The lyrics of sones jaliscienses frequently focus on country life: in particular, the
plants, animals, and people of the region. These lyrics are highly suggestive, often
using imagery of the courtship of farm animals to describe the relations of women
and men. The traditional dance technique associated with both the son jalisciense
and the son jarocho is the zapateado, a distinctive style of footwork that originated in Spain. The rhythms created by the dancers’ heels are often syncopated against
the main melody of the son, and upper body movements often represent the images
and farmyard courtships described in the coplas for each verse.
The son jalisciense is closely related to the son michoacano (which often adds
percussion instruments such as wooden log drums made of the ceiba tree) and to a
lesser extent to other Mixtec sones throughout the territory stretching from south-
ern Sinaloa to Guerrero.
Further Readings
Fogelquist, Mark. “Rhythm and Form in the Contemporary Son Jalisciense.” M.A. the-
sis, UCLA, 1975.
Nevin, Jeff. Virtuoso mariachi. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002.
Sonnichsen, Philip. Mexico’s Pioneer Mariachis, Vol. 1: Mariachi Coculense de Cirilo
Marmolejo, plus Several Sones by Cuarteto Coculense: the Very First Mariachi Recordings
from 1908. El Cerrito, CA: Arhoolie Records CD7011, 1993.
Vázquz Valle, Irene, series director. El Son del Sur de Jalisco. Vols. 1, 2, 18, and 9. Mex-
ico: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 1976.
Laura Stanfield Prichard
Son Jarocho
The son jarocho is a variety of the Mexican son , as it is practiced and performed in the jarocho region of southern Veracruz, Mexico. It is a song and dance tradition
that is easily recognizable by both its sound and its visual manifestation of regional
386 | Son Jarocho
material culture. Although the music originated from a folkloric tradition, sones
from the jarocho repertoire have migrated beyond the region to enjoy widespread
popularity.
As a folkloric idiom that eventually crossed over to the popular sphere, the
performance practice among ensembles was established in the middle of the
20th century when notable jarocho musicians Lino Chavez and Andres Huesca
began making commercial recordings. It was their ensembles in particular, Con-
junto Medellin and Los Costeños, that were responsible for the professionalization
of the jarocho sound; both made recordings for the RCA Camden label in the 1940s
and 1950s. The ensembles hence became an emblem of regional identity and their
inclusion in major cultural festivals in Mexico and abroad, as well as a prominent
place in the programs of Mexican ballet folklorico performances, did much to in-
troduce the repertoire to areas outside the jarocho region.
The sound of the ensemble is string based, and because of the combination of
regional instruments, produces a distinct and easily recognizable sound. The stan-
dard professional ensembles today consist of arpa jarocho , jarana (a rhythm guitar that is strummed), a requinto jarocho that plays a lead melody), and guitars. Instrumentalists sing the vocal parts, often alternating between a pregonero , or lead
singer, and a chorus. The songs are usually short, around three minutes in length.
A typical son may begin with an instrumental introduction followed by verses
in strophic form, usually alternating between verses and a repeated chorus. Toward
the end of the son, there will be a break where the harp plays alone, after which the
requinto will solo along with the harp, and the latter of the two will be joined by the
remaining instruments for the remainder of the instrumental. Like most Mexican
sones, the concluding verse, or despedida, will bid farewell to the listener. The main verses of the sones are often improvised with the texts of the chorus being fixed,
and the latter often carrying the name of the song. Popular units from the repertoire
include “Maria Chuchena,” “La Bamba,” “El Tilingo Lingo,” and “La Bruja.” The
music is lively and bright, often in a major key with rudimentary harmonic pro-
gressions (e.g., I-IV-V). The verse melody is in a relatively narrow range, and the
choruses are often harmonized in thirds.
Commercial recording of jarocho ensembles are readily available in Mexico
and the United States, especially in the latter’s southwest where there is a large
Mexican American population. The commercialization of the son jarocho through
the recording of “La Bamba” by the Mexican American Ritchie Valens did much
to popularize the genre. The Valens version was an individual rock ‘n’ roll inno-
vation on a traditional style of music from Mexico. It neither changed the perfor-
mance tradition in Veracruz directly, nor did it immediately bring about a rock ‘n’
roll movement to singing folkloric Mexican repertoire in the mainstream. Never-
theless, the influence of the son jarocho and Valen’s recording of “La Bamba” had
an impact on subsequent generations of Chicano musicians and their own musical
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identities. The East Los Angeles-based Chicano band Los Lobos used traditional
jarocho instruments for their performances of some traditional jarocho songs on
their first album, Los Lobos Del Este De Los Angeles, an album sung entirely in
Spanish. These songs included “El Canelo” and “Maria Chuchena.” When Luis
Valdez’s 1987 Ritchie Valens biopic “La Bamba” released a music video with the
title track performed by Los Lobos, the latter concluded their rock ‘n’ roll version
with an instrumental interpretation of the traditional son using jarocho instruments.
Further Reading
Fernández, Pérez, and Rolando Antonio. “El son jarocho como expresión musical afro-
mestiza.” Musical Cultures of Latin America. Global Effects, Past and Present (Proceed-
ings of an International Conference), in UCLA Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology, XI,
edited by Steven Loza, 39–56.
Loza, Steven. “From Veracruz to Los Angeles: The Reinterpretation of the Son Jarocho.”
Latin American Music Review 13.2 (1992): 179-94.
Sheehy, Daniel. “Popular Mexican Musical Traditions: The Mariachi of West Mexico
and the Conjunto Jarocho of Veracruz.” Music in Latin American Culture, edited by John
Schechter. New York: Schirmer, 1999.
George Torres
Son Montuno
Son montuno is a generic type of son for singing and dancing of Cuban origin. It has a festive character and is widely present in the popular environment of Latin
America and the Caribbean.
There are few musicological references to son montuno, which together with the
historical information, also use the word montuno to occasionally differentiate two
different species, when they are actually referring to the same typology. Nonethe-
less, it must be said that the word montuno also names a section of the son pieces;
its main objective is to fuel the enjoyment of the dancers and the climactic mo-
ments of the piece.
Musically speaking, the son montuno is recognized by having a binary character
and a rhythmic pattern supported by the denominated Cuban stick. In its per-
formance can be noticed the existence of four characteristic timbric levels: the
strummed string, rhythmic figures of independent character, constant and regular
rhythmic figures and the harmonic tone bass, each of them with a clearly defined
function: improvisation, accompaniment, harmonic support and stabilizing guide.
The bass performs a regular design that distinguishes the son sintaxis from the syn-
copated anticipation of time.
The structure of son montuno is the only difference from canonical son. While
the son follows a classic structure organized in three main sections–introduction
388 | Son Montuno
(almost always instrumental), presentation or body of the piece (in which the topic
of the piece is presented by the soloist), and montuno (based in the alternancy
soloist-chorus)—the son montuno is organized in a round way from beginning to
end since it is conceived in the alternancy soloists-chorus in the segment in which
the presentation takes place. At the same time, when the section corresponding to
the montuno appears, the alternation is established with improvisations sung by the
soloists or by instrument passages that are generally performed on the piano, the
tres and the trumpet, depending on the performing format. Therefore, the func-
tions of introduction, presentation and montuno can be defined in this genre as
macro sections.
Concretely speaking, in the canonical pieces of son montuno or son, a regular
and stable structure can be appreciated, made up of an introduction and a montuno,
the latter being understood as the part of the piece in which the above-mentioned
alternation soloist-chorus occurs. The introduction is generally brief and its the-
matic material, which is poorly developed, keeps a relative independence from the
rest of the number.
Several modifications can be seen within this general conception, which com-
prises a larger or shorter extension of the introduction (from a motif or a phrase);
the absence of a presentation section with narration, which appears rarely and
in the cases it does is very reduced and with poor text and music, unlike son; and
the presence or absence of a final montuno as a section.
From the point of view of the dramaturgical conception, the introductory seg-
ment, which is almost always instrumental, is followed by the montuno, which is
notable for its marked slow, cadential, and weighty character, underlined by the
peculiar stressing of the rhythm. It has only one chorus repeated through the piece,
although another can appear but it is just a modification of the main chorus by re-
ducing the text to look for semantic synthesis. This process can take place in a more
or less segmented way and overlapped with the improvisations by the soloist or the
instruments, and it is more noticeable in modern pieces.
Lyrics are composed in traditional eight-syllable structures like décima or qua-
trains. The stanzas, in some cases, have relative autonomy from the point of view of
the content, while the chorus can be in stanzas of two or four verses. It has a popular
character similar to that of son in terms of tone, devices, and language used. The
themes can be rural or urban depending on the musical references of the perform-
ers and the composers. Thus, several types of montunos exist with different styles
derived from country music, New Orleans jazz, pop, or other genres existing at the
moment of the creation of the piece.
As to its origin, it is supposed that son montuno began in the early stages of the
evolutionary process of son as musical genre, since it keeps the alternating prin-
cipal characteristic of the first pieces of son, together with other traditional species
with shared common roots such as changüí and nengon, which contain structure
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developed prior to the incorporation of the presentation section of narrative charac-
ter that is common in later pieces. Although rural roots and references can be clearly
recognized, the most canonical type of son montuno is mostly located in the city,
since a large number of relevant musicians who established the guidelines of this
genre developed their careers intensively in the cities (in spite of their rural origin
or deep contact with rural expressions).
Son montuno is performed by various instrument groups associated with di-
verse environments. It is very common in the song listing of ensembles, septets and
sextets that perform son, jazz bands, son duos, and trios, as well as country music ensembles. It has also been assumed by other types of groups such as the vocal
group Vocal Sampling, together with others who have followed and have given a new
meaning to its musical discourse, which is why it is performed by wind instrument
quartets or choirs, which have added it to their repertoire as a way of appealing to
different kinds of audiences.
Some important names in the evolution of son include Arsenio Rodríguez,
Lilí Martínez, Niño Rivera, Benny Moré, Chano Pozo, Celina González, Compay
Segundo, Los Compadres duet, and Pío Leyva among other important creators and
interpreters who, although they were born in cities, villages, or suburbs, have deep
contact with rural expressions at the same time their musical careers developed in
the cities.
Representative pieces of son montuno are “Sazonando” by Lilí Martínez; “Yo
como candela” by Félix Chapottín; “La ternera” by Pío Leyva; “Caña quemá” by
Lorenzo Hierrezuelo; “Chan chan” by Compay Segundo; “Cómetelo to,” “Serende,”
and “Seven seven” by Chano Pozo; and “Yo soy el punto cubano,” “Oye mi leloley,”
and “El guarapo y la melcocha” made popular by Celina González, among others.
In modern times, the legacy of son montuno is present in other genres such as salsa ,
songo, and timba that use the rondal principle and add new structural variants such as the incorporation of new choruses, for example, especially in the final segments.
Although there is no doubt of its Cuban origin, the international transcendency of son
montuno cannot be denied, as it has been taken up by countless musical groups in
Latin America and the Caribbean, not only in cover versions but also original pieces.
This is largely due to the impact of the groups and composers from Cuba.
Further Reading
Garciá, David F. Arsenio Rodríguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular
Music. Studies in Latin American and Caribbean Music. Philadelphia, PA: Temple Uni-
versity Press, 2006.
González, Neris, Grizel Hernández y Liliana Casanella. 2002. “La encuesta del siglo XX.
Música cubana.” Multimedia (Inédito) La Habana.
Sublette, Ned. Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo. Chicago: Chi-
cago Press Review, 2004.
390 | Songo
Waxer, Lise. The City of Musical Memory: Salsa, Record Grooves, and Popular Culture
in Cali, Colombia. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2002.
Neris González and Liliana Casanella
Songo
The songo is a Cuban musical genre created by Juan Formell in 1969. It represents
a major legacy and is a predecessor to the son in contemporary Cuban popular
music. It has also inspired the repertoire of several orchestras such as Los Van Van,