HesterAnadil

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BlueEarOtter
@BlueEarOtter

In a mariachi there are usually 3 sections:

  • Violins
  • Trumpets
  • Armonía (lit. "Harmony" -- the rhythm section: harp, bass, vihuela, guitar)

However this is only because historically the harp was the bass instrument before the urbanization of mariachi made playing the harp in gig work hard

Harp has always straddled the line between the melody instruments and the rhythm instruments. In most mariachi music the bassline for the guitarrón is also written in the harp part, and you are expected to play the bassline the entire time you are playing the harp. In recent years, however, I've noticed that composers have by and large stopped doing this, and instead written music with just the right hand harp parts. This is because they are writing for a midi track so they can hear the play back while composing.

As a result, at least in the current group I'm in, the harp seems to have lost its place as a member of the rhythm section and has been transformed into a melody instrument. What this also means is that when doing things that require sectional rehearsal, or recording session, I'm effectively my own section:

  • Violins
  • Trumpets
  • Harp
  • Armonía

In effect, it means that I not only have the most accountability to my section (if there's a mistake in the harp, there's no question about who made it) but it also means that I need to have the most flexibility in the group when scheduling things like recording sessions. It means that on "no rehearsal -- sectional only" days I feel very out of place with the rest of the armonía. It also leads to very funny situations where sometimes I'm just not playing anything for an entire song, or where -- because I only get harp specific parts that don't include bass lines -- it looks like I only know how to play one-handed.

Anyway, just random thoughts. If you're a composer, consider how your musicians will be reading/interpreting/playing your music, what the historical context of an instrument is and what it's utilization/function in the group is, and not just how a machine plays back what you're working on


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