The Musical instruments of native Guatemala Are the marimba, chirimía, ayotl, chinchín, tunkul and ocarina.
These instruments originate in Guatemala; Were created in this country. Guatemala possesses a wide variety of musical styles that come from different legacies that were leaving their legacy with the passage of time.
The marimba is one of Guatemala's most important autochthonous instruments.
In order to fully understand the Guatemalan musical culture, we must first know its origins during the Mayan civilization , Which is divided into three main periods: the preclassic (2000 a.C-250 d.C), the classic (250 d.C-900 d.C) and the classic post (950 d.C-1697 d.C).
Throughout all these years, several musical instruments were developed, which made dancing and singing to civilization during the Festivities . These were present in the agrarian rites that they had as well as they were used by the Mayan warrior groups. They were instruments of percussion (idiophones) and of wind (aerófonos).
Among the winds were whistles, flutes of cane, sibilant glasses, among others. And with regard to percussion instruments, wooden drums and a membrane of jaguar or deer skin, tunkules, turtle shells and scrapers.
Later, with the Spanish conquest, several instruments brought from Europe were included and mixed with the native instruments of the Mayan people, thus creating the tools of the musical culture of present-day Guatemala. You may also be interested in viewing 10 typical musical instruments from Venezuela .
The 6 most important instruments originating in Guatemala
1- Chirimía
It is a cane flute, brought to the Spanish-American colonies by the Spanish at the end of the 1,400d.C. This aerophone instrument, made from cane wood could be defined as the predecessor of the oboe.
It has nine lateral holes, of which only six are used to cover them with the fingers, and have high tones, low and sharp.
This instrument was used by Mayan civilizations for different popular festivities and religious celebrations.
2- Marimba
It is a percussion instrument made up of a series of strips or sheets of wood of different sizes. These are applied in scale from major to minor and to produce the sound, they must be hit by small maces. The Marimba has a great resemblance to the xylophone.
Each of these keys have their own resonance box and at the same time, all are supported or embedded in a wooden board that supports them.
The marimba, comes from the cross between European, African and, of course, Guatemala, between the years 1492 and 680.
The word marimba, comes from the Bantu and means"ma"-"many,"and"rimba"-"single bar xylophone"
It is the obligation of the Ministry of Education of Guatemala to teach this musical instrument in all public and private schools in the country, since since 1999, the marimba was declared a national symbol.
3- Ayotl
The Ayotl or Ayote, is an autochthonous instrument of the Mayan culture. It is a percussion element, built with a tortoise shell or shell. It is percutado by drumsticks, or also scraped by a deer crow on its convex part.
Formerly it was used in celebrations of deaths, in some religious rite, or in a celebration realized in honor to the gods. Also, it was used to deposit an extra wooden box of resonance underneath the ayote, to amplify its sound when being executed.
4- Chinchin
The chinchín, maraca or rattle, is a hollow aboriginal percussion instrument, made of wood, to which are added seeds, grains and cereals, which produce the sound when shaken.
In particular, the rattle is built with the fruit of the tree called the morro or, in its defect, with a zucchini. It is believed that chinchines in Guatemala were first used during pre-Columbian times.
In its beginnings, they were painted black, but currently can be found in various colors such as red and yellow. They also have beautiful decorations on the outside of the zucchini or fruit. They are commonly executed during Christmas celebrations.
5- Tunkul
It is a drum, built with a hollowed horizontal trunk of wood (mahogany, cedar), and with a patch of deer or jaguar leather added over the top. He is pierced by two sticks. They were also built with mud.
It is one of the instruments most used by Mayan civilizations, and to this day, several indigenous people throughout Guatemala, use it for different types of festivities. At the top there are two tabs for bass and treble sounds.
6- Ocarina
It is a wind instrument, colloquially called a whistle or whistle, made of clay or bones. Currently they are manufactured with different materials ranging from wood and ceramic, to plastic.
The ocarina, also comes from the Mayan culture. They were used by the Aborigines of the Mesoamerican peoples , Not only to execute them as musical instruments, but also were used during the hunt. There are several types of ocarinas, here are some examples:
- Transverse: classic ocarina, rounded shape.
- In line: small and compact, with more holes.
- Pendants: English and others of Inca origin. They differed in that the first have between four and six holes, are small and manageable, while the Inca have up to eight holes and are of a larger size than the English.
- Multi-chamber: get more harmonic recording than the rest of the ocarinas.
- Ocarinas with keys: built since the late 1800s.
The forms of the ocarinas are very diverse, since some can have human forms, some with animal forms. They also vary in sizes. There can be simple, double and even triple.
Finally, this musical instrument, was also used in symphonic and poetic mode by different Artists over time.
References
- The Behlanjeh, the national musical instrument of the Mandingos." Royal Commonwealth Society Library. Cambridge University Library. University of Cambridge. November 5, 2004. Retrieved on April 26, 2008.
- "Nicaragua Information". World InfoZone . Retrieved December 17, 2007. The marimba, an instrument similar to a xylophone, is the national instrument.
- "The Harp: A Latin American Reinvention". July 6, 2001 . Recovered he 17 of December , 2007 . In Paraguay, (the harp) became the national instrument.
- Graham, Richard (Spring-Summer 1991). "Technology and Culture Change: The Development of the"Berimbau"in Colonial Brazil."Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana. University of Texas Press
- Autochthonous instruments. Recovered from vosytuguatechula.jimdo.com.
- Autochthonous instruments of Guatemala. Retrieved from knownguate2012.blogspot.com.ar.