Champeta, also called terapia, is a type of music and dance that began in the Caribbean coast of Colombia in the early 1980s. It came from an earlier style called chalusonga, which started in Palenque de San Basilio in the mid-1970s. Chalusonga mixed Colombian chalupa music with Afro-Cuban drum-based music popularized by the group Estrellas del Caribe.
Guacharaca [ɡwatʃaɾaˈka] is a percussion instrument from Colombia. It is named after a bird (Ortalis guttata), as it is said to mimic the bird’s call. The guacharaca is typically made from the cane-like trunk of a small palm tree.
Cumbia is a type of music and traditional dance from Latin America. It combines musical and cultural influences from Indigenous American peoples, Europeans, and Africans during the time of European colonization. Cumbia is believed to have originated from funeral traditions in the Afro-Colombian community.
Tejano music, also called Tex-Mex music, is a style of music that combines American and Mexican influences. It started in northern Mexico as a type of regional Mexican music called norteño. In the late 20th century, Tejano music became more widely known because of popular performers and groups such as Mazz, Selena, La Mafia, Ram Herrera, La Sombra, Elida Reyna, Elsa García, Laura Canales, Intocable, Jay Perez, Emilio Navaira, Esteban “Steve” Jordan, Shelly Lares, David Lee Garza y Los Musicales, Jennifer Peña, and La Fiebre.
Norteño or norteña (Spanish pronunciation: [noɾˈteɲo], northern), also called música norteña, is a type of regional Mexican music. This music usually uses two-beat and three-beat rhythms, and its songs often talk about important issues in society, though there are also many songs about love. The accordion and the bajo sexto are the most common instruments in norteño music.
Huapango is a type of Mexican music. The name probably comes from the Nahuatl word cuauhpanco, which means “on top of the wood,” referring to a wooden platform where dancers perform a style of dance called zapateado. Huapango is played in different ways.
The marimba (pronounced mə-RIM-bə) is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It has wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that makes the sound louder and clearer.
Mariachi is a type of traditional Mexican music that has been around since at least the 18th century. It developed over time in rural areas of western Mexico. A typical mariachi group today includes up to eight violins, two trumpets, and at least one guitar.
The Mexican vihuela ( [biˈwe.la] ) is a string instrument similar to a guitar that was created in Mexico during the 1800s. It has five strings and is often played by mariachi musicians.
The guitarrón mexicano, which means “big Mexican guitar” in Spanish (the suffix -ón makes something bigger), is a large, deep-bodied six-string acoustic bass guitar used in Mariachi groups. It is similar to the guitar but was not developed from that instrument. Instead, it was created independently from the sixteenth-century Spanish bajo de uña, a type of plucked bass.