An Introspection on Afro-Mexican History Through the Science of Music and Maroonage

“Yanga came down to meet them to the sound of a drum and some bells they were ringing” (Ajonja 2017, 26).

Summary: Veracruz is a town at the heart of Afro-Mexican culture and history. This timeline starts with the enslaved Gaspar Yanga’s resistance fight that eventually forced a treaty with the Spanish in 1609, forming the first free Black town in the Americas. Out of this marronage a distinct Afro-Mexican culture was born that later cultivated the revolutionary sound of Son Jarocho. Son Jarocho, with its lively African flavor, later takes the world by storm with its most notable melody, “La Bamba.” Together, we will learn about the science and innovation that built a maroon colony and how the legacy of Gaspar Yanga lives on today.

Open Educational Resource: Timeline

Collaborators: Amirah Ayeva, Jasmine Mitchell, Wise Supreme Allah, Andrea Richino, and Irvin Severino

Faculty Mentors: Dr. RaShelle R. Peck and Dr. Brian Rafferty, BMCC

External Collaborators: Ara Figueroa and Juliana Acevedo 

---

Lesson Plan

Elements of Son Jarocho:

There are three main elements infused within Son Jarocho music. These elements are the instruments, dancing, and singing.

Click through each hotspot shown below to learn further about the instrumental aspects of Son Jarocho:

---

 

What Materials Are These Instruments Made From?:

The material used to make the strings of most Mexican guitars originally came from animal guts, though today, nylon strings are more commonly used instead. The following quote is from an oral history given by Mario Barradas on the history of Son Jarocho and all of its historical as well as evolutionary aspects (c. 1926 in Timeline).

“The best gut comes from sheep, but cow gut also works. First you take out the little inner thread; you use your fingernail to look for it, and you take it out. Then you scrape off the flesh and wrinkles, cutting from end to end. Sometimes little air bubbles will form, and you must use a needle to pop them. We would start at 7:00 a.m., and by 1:00 p.m. we were already stretching the strings according to the thickness needed for each bass string. If you want thick strings, you gather three, four, even five strands of gut and twist the strands together with a loop. Stretch the strings until they’re tight, and in about three minutes they are loose again. Then you have to retighten them. When the strings begin to stay tight, you sand them so that they come out round. After sanding, the string stretches again, and when the string is more or less ready, you rub beeswax on it with a chamois. Once it starts to squeak, you stretch it again. As soon as it becomes transparent, the string is ready to use.” (Broyles-González 2022, 13)

– Mario Barradas

 

Mexican Cedar

The wood used to construct most Son Jarocho instruments/guitarras is derived from Mexican cedar or Spanish cedar, otherwise known as cedrela odorata or cedro. Cedrela Odorata is known to develop and grow the best in drier areas, and is found in Mexico in addition to parts of the West Indies.

|

Tarima and Zapateado

Aside from instruments made audible through handwork, there is also an instrument that adds to this Afro-Mexican genre of music through its footwork. Below, you will see images of something called a tarima. A tarima is a wooden platform that acts as a percussion as well as a stage for dancers to dance on during a Fandango (a gathering of a community that experiences and participates in the celebratory performance), otherwise known as zapateado.

Here are visual examples of what a Tarima is through photography and how it is used, among other photos of the people of Tamiahua:

|

Singing and Verses

As far as the singing in Son Jarocho music, singers typically follow a verbal rhyming form named decimas, which is composed of verses formed into ten-line stanzas.

“Décimas are an integral part of Son Jarocho performatives; they are interwoven among song and dance at fandangos or wherever the opportunity arises.” (Broyles-González 2022, 80)

At the beginning of or in between the fandango or performance, singers will usually recite a decima or utilize improvisation in order to come up with verses on the spot in a humorous or playful manner.

The singers of this genre of music also utilize a musical technique referred to as call-and-response, in which one singer offers a statement or question, and the rest of the singers (or a second singer) offer a comment or a response to that first singer’s call.

|

Polyrhythms

The sounds of Son Jarocho, explained above, all work to produce something called polyrhythms. Polyrhythms or polyrhythmic music involves the simultaneous playing of two or more rhythms. Polyrhythms are used in Son Jarocho through the playing of instruments (the guitars, the harp, and the tarima). Simple polyrhythms such as two against 3 (2:3 or 2/3) and four against 3 (4:3 or 4/3) are the most common form of the sound. 

Many sones (traditional Mexican folk music and dance) are often produced in a 6/8 time signature, typically following a 2:3 beat pattern.