Maracas - Mexican musical instrument

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Maracas (maracas) - an old percussion instrument of the natives of tropical islands. Mexican musical instruments have received very high popularity among the population of Central America.

Design

Initially, maracas rattles were made exclusively from the fruit of the calabash tree, also known as the iguero tree. Ripened fruits are plucked, a hole is made in them, the pulp is removed, crushed pebbles are poured, after which the handle is attached and, in fact, the musical instrument is ready. It is noteworthy that only fruits of small size and regular shape are used. These Mexican musical instruments look very much like a commonplace children's toy. In the course of their ancient history, visually maracas have not changed much, but their popularity around the world has grown many times over. The body is painted in bright colors, sometimes a pattern is cut out in it. It has a round or oval shape. Modern instruments are made not only from gourd fruit, but also from coconuts, metal, plastic, woven rods, leather and gourds. Maracas are filled with peas,pellets, beans, seeds, small stones, beads. The handle is usually either wooden or plastic. They make it swirling, which allows musicians to independently adjust the tone and volume of each instrument by adding or pouring filler. A wooden or plastic maracas is always a paired instrument.

Use

Portuguese, Brazilian, Portuguese, Indian, Mexican music and a wide variety of styles (salsa, bossanova, sambo, rumba, cha-cha-cha, merengue and others) cannot be imagined without the sound of maracas. Any musical group playing Latin American music, among other instruments, must have maracas in its arsenal. They are often used in symphony orchestras to give color to individual works. The sound of maracas is present in the music of bands such as the Monkees, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. And it is these Mexican musical instruments that are the first thing that children use during their first steps in music, using them at holidays in preschool institutions.

History

Since ancient times, people have been using musical instruments, including percussion, including Mexican musical instruments. It is likely that among them there was some kind of rattle - the prototype of modern maracas. It is not known for certain where and how this instrument originated. But there are two theories of its origin. According to the first version of maracaswere identified among the Taino and Arawak Indian peoples who inhabited the territories of modern Cuba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Judging by another theory, maracas were brought to Cuba from Africa during colonial times. Although there is evidence that an instrument from Central America was mentioned in the 15th century, and existed in parallel with its "relative" from Africa. In the early years of the 20th century, Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev brought these Mexican musical instruments directly to Russia from his trip to Paris. He used them in some of his works, for example, in the ballet Romeo and Juliet. Other composers included maracas in their works: Leonard Bernstein, Malcolm Arnold and Edgar Vares.

In our language, the definition of these Mexican musical instruments is used incorrectly, borrowing the Spanish word in the plural (maraca, maracas - plural). The correct form is "maraka" - a feminine word in the singular.