Guitarrón mexicano

See also: Guitarrón Chileno

A close-up of a guitarrón being played.

A guitarrón player in a mariachi band.

A Mexican guitarrón player in a traditional mariachi band.

The guitarrón mexicano (literally "Mexican large guitar" in Spanish, the suffix "-ón" denoting "large") or Mexican guitarron, is a very large, deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic bass played traditionally in mariachi groups. Although obviously similar to the guitar, it is not a derivative of that instrument, but was independently developed from the sixteenth-century Spanish bajo de uña. It achieves audibility by its great size, and does not require electric amplification for performances in small venues. The guitarrón is fretless with heavy gauge strings, most commonly nylon for the high three and metal for the low three. The guitarrón is usually played by doubling notes at the octave, which is facilitated by the unusual tuning of A D G C E A. Sometimes the high A is lowered an octave putting it one octave above the low A.

The guitarrón was the inspiration behind Ernie Ball's development of the first modern acoustic bass guitar, released on the market in 1972.

Usage

Traditional uses

The guitarrón is used in Mexican Mariachi groups, which usually consist of at least two violins, two trumpets, one Spanish guitar, and a vihuela (a high-pitched, five-string guitar-type instrument), and the guitarrón. A strap is usually used to keep the instrument up and playable. The guitarrón is used in the Mariachi group to keep the other instruments on beat and together. Guitarrón players have need for good left-hand strength to stop the heavy gauge nylon strings of the instrument.

Non-traditional uses

• The guitarrón is played by Roy Estrada on the 1966 Mothers of Invention album Freak Out!.

• Randy Meisner of the Eagles also plays the guitarrón on the track "New Kid In Town" from the album Hotel California (1976), although in the credits the instrument is referred to as “guitarone”.

• One American player using the guitarrón in a non-traditional context is Aaron Goldsmith, formerly of the New York-based multicultural acoustic ensemble Luminescent Orchestrii; he uses a modified guitarrón with an elongated neck that allows him to play melodically.

• Another American innovator, Jason Krivo Flores, uses the traditionally tuned Mexican guitarrón in the groups Vagabond Opera (www.vagabondopera.com) and Saloon Ensemble.He can also be heard on Hunter Payes' recording "Dualities Dillemma" where he played guitarrón on the title track. He has also performed with the 1920's Jazz group Trashcan Joe.

• The guitarrón was a defining element of the 1980s Scottish folk-pop band Fairground Attraction, played by member Simon Edwards.

Design

• The back of the guitarrón is made of two pieces of wood that are set at an angle making the back shaped like a V. This design feature increases the width and overall size of the instrument.

History

The first guitarrón strings were made of animal intestines.

See also

• Acoustic bass guitar
• Bass guitar
• Mariachi

External links

• Music sheets for guitarrón and other mariachi instruments http://musicaldots.com/