Big Blog 1: Tejano Music
What happens when you mix American, European, and Mexican musical styles together? You birth a new musical evolution: Tejano Music
History on Tejano Music: The evolution of Tejano music began in Northern Mexico (also known as norteño) and Texas around the mid 19th century. The name Tejano, is actually the same name that's given to Mexican-Americans living in Texas. Tejano music actually originated from Europeans of Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic when they migrated to Mexico and Texas. On the way to their migration, they brought along dances like polka and waltz and introduced the accordion. When the Mexican Revolution arose, the Europeans fled and left everything behind, including their musical impact on the Tejanos.
How is Tejano Music Played: Tejano has three forms of music and you can distinguish which group is which based on instrumentation and orchestration.
The original form, conjunto, featured the accordion that played the melodic line and it is accompanied by a twelve string guitar called bato along with an acoustic bass guitar. Conjunto form also had dances like waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, and rancheros. Over time conjunto changed their instrumentation by adding a drum kit and replacing the acoustic bass with an electric bass. The most well known musician of conjunto music is Lydia Mendoza. She was only a child when she was singing for money in order to keep a roof over her family's head and over time, she became a pioneer in the Mexican-American popular music. She was also known as the first female artist to emerge in this genre because conjunto was still a male dominated genre. She was one of the most highly honored female artists in the Mexican-American communities in the Southwest and was given the nickname "La Cancionera De Los Pobres" which translates to The Songstress of the Poor. Below is a recording of Lydia Mendoza singing "Mal Hombre," the Evil Man.
The second form, orquesta, incorporates both Mexican folk traditions and conjunto traditions. The music still consists of bass, drums, and electric guitar but to spice up the music, a brass secton was added into the mix which was created by the man himself, Oscar Martinez.Oscar Martinez learned tuba and saxophone when he was in high school band. He performed in nightclubs while his father worked a regular nine to five. In 1958, he launched his own label and even created his own band and then around 1965, his dreams of becoming famous were coming true. Unfortunately, his legacy came to an end last year when he was diagnosed with pneumonia. His legacy still lives on and will always be remembered as the humble trailblazer. Below is a recording of Oscar Martinez singing "You Went Away."
Works Cited:
Oliva, John. “Tejano Star Óscar Martínez Remembered as 'Humble' Pioneer, Trailblazer in Music.” Caller, Corpus Christi Caller Times, 22 July 2020, www.caller.com/story/news/local/2020/07/22/oscar-martinez-remembered-pioneer-corpus-christi-tejano-scene/5470877002/.
Patoski, Joe Nick. “A Timeline of Tejano Music - C&I Magazine.” Cowboys and Indians Magazine, 19 Mar. 2020, www.cowboysindians.com/2020/03/timeline-of-tejano-music
“Selena Quintanilla.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 4 Dec. 2020, www.biography.com/musician/selena.
“Strachwitz Frontera Collection.” Artist Biography: Lydia Mendoza, Meadowlark of the Borderlands | Strachwitz Frontera Collection, frontera.library.ucla.edu/blog/2017/07/artist-biography-lydia-mendoza-meadowlark-borderlands.
“Tejano.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/art/Tejano music.
I have never heard of "Tejano" Music before! I think it's so interesting that European immigrants in Mexico had a huge impact on the music there. I never thought that European dance music could mix so well with Mexican culture, but listening to it makes it blend nicely! Lydia Mendoza sounds really pretty and I think that's awesome that she was the first female conjunto singer.
ReplyDelete"You Went Away" is also very nice to listen to. It sounds very jazzy but is also very relaxed and smooth. I find it very interesting that he is singing in English too! I had no idea that Selena was actually a Tejano artist. It's so funny listening to music and not realizing what exact genre it is until later on! I agree that she is an amazing artist and I learned about her story a couple of years ago in Spanish class. I find it incredibly sad that Tejano died out completely, because I really enjoy this type of music.
Really interesting post! I loved learning about the adaptation of Tejano over the years and its different branches of subgenres too!
Hi Tisha! I loved your blog post. I remember in my high school spanish class we did a unit on music and we briefly talk about tejano, but we never really talked about how there's 3 different styles (which is really interesting)- I was only familiar with Selena!
ReplyDeleteYES. I love this a lot. I didn’t know there were three forms of tejano music. They’re all beautiful and rich sounding. You posted the best “Si Una Vez” performance by the way. This is such a rich genre. It’s very emotive, especially with the skills of the vocalists and instrumentalists. I love this entry a lot .
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