ETHNOMUS 108B Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Chichen Itza, Marimba, Maya Dance
13 Dec 2016
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Lecture 4 04/07/2016
Mesoamerican Music
● Classical Period: Tikal,Palenque
● Post-classical Period: Moved up to Chichen Itza
● Mayan area: divided into separate lingual groups
Mesoamerican Cultures: Present
● Guatemala: Maya (21 different languages)
● 50% of the population is indigenous
○ Practice indigenous customs from descendants
Evidence of Music
● Bonampak Murals
○ Instruments in the mural
○ Trumpets, tune, longated (slit) drum
● Chajul Murals
○ Drum
○ Dancer
Contemporary Context
● Tun: accompanies older dance dramas
○ Two tongues often a minor third part
○ Continuation of instruments from pre colonial era
● Musicians learn through a mnemonic devices to transmit rhythm, melody
○ Same melodies that have been played since the 1300s
● Drum and Chirimia
○ Double-reed instruments
○ Like an obo
○ Precedes Maya and Oaxaca religious processions
○ Usually seen in religious contexts
○ Barrio- enclosed area within a Mayan community that performs religious processions for
saints
● Harp Trio (harp, guitarilla, violin)- K’ekchi Maya
○ Ritual context
○ Music used for dancing and also used to honor Jesus, saints, and O’hai (God)
○ Song shown: triple meter/ used for dancing
■ El son de harpa: the song danced to the harp trio
● Compose their own music and make their own instruments as well and perform their own music
● Syncretism- how Mayan culture has incorporated Catholicism into its customs
Marimba in Guatemala
● Marimba de Tecomates (gourd)
● Marimba Sencilla (single)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
● Marimba doble (double)
Marimba de Tecomates
● Arch
● Sit down around the loop and balance the keys
● Keyboard construction
● Gourd resonators: charleo
○ Holes within the gourds hanging off causing a buzzing quality (signature sound)
Marimba Sencilla
● Like marimba de tecomates but has four legs, added keys, and performed by two to three people
● Gourd (thin sheet paper) resonators replaced
● Pokomchi Maya Dance Drama: Danza del Venado
○ Making fun of Spaniards as buffoons not knowing about forests
○ Retelling history as subversives
○ In the dance, a lot of the characters are animals
○ Theme: nature wins over humans trying to hurt nature
○ Victory over nature whatever humans are trying to change it
Marimba and Chirimia in Context
● Procession in honor of San Cristobal
● Celebration/ procession in the streets
Marimba Doble
● 2 sets of keys
● 7 players
● Prove that great classical pieces could be played; added Guatemalan flavor
● Mix between Mayan marimba sencilla with chromatic keys added to the double row
● Rivalry between Chiapas or Mayan Guatemala created marimba doble first
● Comes with Mayan codices and glyphs
Marimba doble: Marimba Orquesta
● Repertoire of Pan-Latin dance genres
● Mixed race population
● Includes marimba doble, keyboard, trumpet, saxophone, conga, giira, drum set, bass
Mayan Musical Terminology
● No direct translation for the word music
● Son does not mean song
○ Name for a dance
○ A type of piece with a triple rhythm
○ Name for the marimba (in some places) -- instrument
● No direct translation for the word rhythm
● Compas does not mean rhythm
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
