Steve PMHMexico is one of the most musically rich countries in the world. To this day, traditional Mexican music is immensely popular and is enjoyed by citizens of all ages and statuses. It’s almost always a part of Mexican celebration, whether big or small.
In this article, we discuss 17 types of Mexican music that made an impact on Mexican history.
1. Northern Mexican Folk Music
Northern Mexican folk music, or simply Norteño, is a genre of traditional folk music that was influenced by Polish, German, and Czech immigrants from Northern Mexico in the mid-1800s.
The instruments used in Northern Mexican folk music include the accordion, the bajo sexto, the snare drum, and the tuba, with the accordion being the most frequently used.
Northern Mexican folk music comes with a myriad of subgenres, such as:
Ranchera
Ranchera, also known as canción ranchera, came before the years of the Mexican Revolution. It’s closely associated with Jalisco’s Mariachi bands and is played in virtually every regional music style in Mexico.
The term ranchera was derived from the word rancho, meaning ranch. Known for its traditional themes of patriotism, drama, love, and passion, ranchera highlights the beauty and simplicity of life in the countryside of rural Mexico.
Ranchera is played in three different tempos; 2/4 (ranchera lenta), 3/5 (ranchera valseada), and 4/4 (bolero ranchero).
Corrido
The corrido is a traditional Mexican ballad that tells the story of oppression, the vaquero lifestyle, battle victories and losses, and other socially relevant topics. It’s a product of time, culture, conflict, and freedom.
Corridos were immensely popular in the 20th century, particularly during the Mexican Revolutions and the Southwestern American frontier.
It started off as recited poems or verses, memorized and told along with campfires and trails. Music followed shortly after, joined by a guitar and/or other stringed instruments.
Corridos are divided into two subcategories: narcocorridos and trapcorridos.
Narcocorridos, or “drug ballads,” feature themes of drug smuggling, poverty, crime, corruption, violence, and murder.
Trapcorridos are influenced by Southern Californian hip-hop, featuring tales of heroes, love, bandits, and gangsters.
Banda
Banda music imitated music performed by military bands during the Second Mexican Empire in the 1860s.
It’s performed in large groups with an array of wind instruments, particularly saxophones, trombones, and clarinets. Cymbals and bass drums are also used but played separately.
Huapango
Huapango derives from the word cuauhpanco, meaning “on top of the wood.” It alludes to the wooden platform on which dancers perform the zapateado, which is akin to tap dance.
The classic three-man huapango is called trio huasteco. Each performer plays one of three instruments, whether it be a violin, a jarana huasteca, or a huapanguera. The latter two instruments are Mexican guitars with 5 and 8 strings respectively.
2. Central Mexican Folk Music
Central Mexican folk music is strongly influenced by Spanish folk songs and ballads. This mostly includes traditional folk songs that originated from San Miguel de Allende, Zacatecas, and Guanajuato.
The instruments used in Central Mexican folk music include violins, guitars, guitarróns (big Mexican guitars), trumpets, and vihuelas (lute-like instruments from Spain). Its lyrics feature themes of love, politics, death, country life, and revolutionary heroes.
Two of the most characteristic styles of Central Mexican folk music include the Mariachi and the Tamborazo Zacatecano.
Mariachi
Mariachi is a subgenre of Central Mexican folk music with stylistic origins of son jalisciense and son planeco. It dates back to the 18th century and evolved in the countryside of Central and Western Mexico.
Mariachi groups of the 21st century consist of as many as eight violinists, two trumpeters, and at least one guitarist. It likewise includes at least one high-pitched vihuela and a guitarrón. The players in the mariachi group all take turns singing and doing backup vocals.
Tamborazo Zacatecano
The Tamborazo Zacatecano, literally “drum-beat from Zacatecas,” is a traditional folk subgenre that originated in the city of Villanueva.
Songs of Tamborazo Zacatecano are typically played with two saxophones, two trumpets, and the bass drum. It’s quite similar to traditional brass Banda, except instead of clarinets, it uses saxophones. It also uses the drum consistently rather than dispersed throughout the song.
3. Southern Mexican Folk Music
Southern Mexican folk music was influenced by a variety of cultures because Southern Mexico—particularly Acapulco and Veracruz—functioned as an entryway for immigrants across the globe.
For this reason, Southern Mexican folk music features European, African, South American, and Asian characterizations. The most common musical instruments used in this genre are the harp, the jarana jarocha, the marímbula, and the classical guitar.
Some of the most popular folk music in Southern Mexico include Chilena, Pirekua, Son Jarocho, Jarana Yucateca, and Bolero.
Chilena
Chilena is a Mexican folk genre with Chilean origin, hence the name.
It’s mostly influenced by a Chilean dance called cueca, which was brought to Mexico by Chilean sailors in 1822 and by Chilean immigrants between 1848 and 1855. Today, Chilena is performed in the Costa Chica regions in Guerrero and Oaxaca.
Originally, Chilena was performed with string ensembles like violins and harps. In the mid-1900s, however, popular Mexican trios dropped the violins and replaced them with guitars and requintos.
Pirekua
Pirekua is a music genre that originated from the Purépecha people of Michoacán, Mexico. It’s influenced by European, African, and indigenous American music, and features lyrical themes of religion, history, and social and political thought.
The Pirekua ensemble usually includes two or three guitars, wind and stringed instruments, and a small brass band. It’s performed with a gentle, soft rhythm in sones (3/8 time) or abajeños (6/8 time).
Son Jarocho
Son jarocho, literally meaning “Veracruz Sound,” is a fusion between Spanish and African music. It originated from the state of Veracruz and evolved during the Spanish colonial era.
Son jarocho focuses on lyrical themes of love, cattle breeding, and nature. It’s usually performed by an ensemble of instruments collectively called conjunto jarocho.
Instruments associated with this style of folk music include the following:
- Jarana jarocha
- Arpa jarocha
- Requinto jarocho
- Leona
- Pandero
- Quijada
- marimbol,
- Güiro
- Peruvian cajón
Jarana Yucateca
The Jarana Yucateca is a musical form and dance that originates from the Yucatan Peninsula in Southeastern Mexico, hence the name.
Traditionally, the Jarana Yucateca is played in two metrics: 6 por 8 (6/8 time) and 3 por 4 (3/4 time).
It’s performed with a wind band ensemble and a group of paired dances. The footwork of both pairs is consistent without any distinguishing steps, regardless of the genre.
Bolero
Bolero originated in eastern Cuba as a part of the trova tradition, a Cuban popular music from the 19th century. Its lyrical themes focus on love, virtue, and peace.
Bolero reached Puerto Rico and Mexico in the early 20th century, where it was popularized by radio stations in 1915. It’s an essentiant part of the trova yucateca movement in Yucatán.
Some of the bolero’s leading Mexican composers include María Grever and Agustín Lara, who helped expand the genre in Agustín Lara North and South America during the 30s and 40s.
Other popular artists include Alicia Villarreal, Los Yonics, Los Bukis, and Los Temerarios.
4. Mexican Pop
Like most countries, Mexico has its own version of pop music. In the 1960s and 1970s, Mexican pop music consisted of the Spanish versions of English rock-n-roll hits, particularly those by Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra, and Paul Anka.
Before the mid-1990s, Mexican pop was limited to Latin America.
Mexican artists only started receiving mainstream USA audiences thanks to Luis Miguel, Paulina Rubio’s, Angélica María in the early 2000s.
5. Mexican Rock
Like the US, the Mexican rock movement started in the late 40s and the early 60s. It was one of the most rapidly booming genres at the time, second only to traditional folk music.
True to the country’s roots, Mexican Rock combines elements of traditional Mexican stories and instruments in its songs.
Rock en español—rock music that features Spanish vocals—remains extremely popular in Mexico. It’s so popular that it actually surpassed other cultural interpretations of rock-n-roll, including American and British rock.
The Los Nómadas, literally “The Nomads,” was one of the first ethnically integrated Mexican rock-n-roll bands of the 50s.
Zane Ashton, the son of movie actress Lupe Mayorga, was another popular Mexican rock artist. He was put in the limelight when he began playing lead guitar and arranging music for popular rock-n-roll artists such as Elvis Presley and Nina Simone.
Alejandra Guzmán deserves a spot on this list, as well. To this day, she’s among the most popular Mexican rock artists in the country.
Throughout her career, she’s sold over 10 million albums across the globe. Her singles were in Mexico’s top 10 hits for weeks. For this reason, she was given the title La Reina del Rock or The Queen of Rock.
6. Chicano Rock
Chicano Rock is a subgenre of rock defined by the ethnicity of its performers.
Songs of this genre are performed by Mexican American groups or feature themes of Chicano culture.
To an extent, Chicano rock doesn’t refer to a single style of rock. In fact, it covers quite a wide range of approaches.
The earliest forms of Chicano rock were performed by Mexican Americans that lived in Southern California and East Los Angeles. Their songs followed the traditional “style” of rock-n-roll, with roots of R&B and jazz.
Later, Chicano rock began incorporating other musical styles into the genre, including blues, soul music, salsa music, jazz, and Latin music.
Some of the earliest Chicano artists include Sapo, Tierra, El Chicano, War, and Malo.
7. Chicano Rap
Like Chicano rock, Chicano rap is a subgenre of Mexican rap that focuses on Chicano or Southwest Mexican American culture. It’s typically performed by musicians and rappers of Mexican descent.
Former electro musician Kid Frost was the first widely recognized Chicano rap musician in both the US and Mexico. His 1990 album “Hispanic Causing Panic” brought national attention to Chicano rappers living on the West Coast.
Chicano rap is quite similar to American rap, except it features acoustic guitars playing Spanish melodies and Mexican regional music beats. Lyrical themes are heavily influenced by Mexican and Chicano culture living in the US.
Today, some of the world’s most popular Chicano rappers include Lil Rob of San Diego and Serio of Los Angeles.
8. Mexican Ska
Ska, a style of fast music with a strong offbeat sound, originated in Jamaica in the late 50s. It features elements of calypso, Caribbean mento, jazz, and rhythm and blues (R&B). It’s widely believed to be the predecessor of reggae and rocksteady.
Although ska has been around since the 50s, it only entered Mexico in the 1960s.
Los Matemáticos and the Orquestra de Pablo Beltrán Ruíz were the earliest pioneers of Mexican ska, both of which recorded original ska tunes and covers of Jamaican hits.
In the 1980s, ska received national attention when Kenny y Los Eléctricos and Ritmo Peligroso incorporated ska into their post-punk records.
Although it peaked in popularity in the early 2000s, ska is still one of the most popular genres in Mexico.
Notable Mexican ska bands include Maldita Vecindad, Tijuana No!, Control Machete, Panteón Rococó, and Inspector.
9. Onda Grupera
Onda grupera, or simply grupera, is a genre of Mexican popular music. It borrows characteristics from traditional Mexican folk music, particularly that of norteño, ranchera, and cumbia.
With roots in Mexican rock groups of the 1960s, grupera is almost always performed with electric guitars, drums, and keyboards. Most bands specialize in slow ballads and songs that are traditionally sung with mariachi.
Although grupera reached its peak popularity in the1980s, it still continued to flourish throughout the 1990s. Today, grupera is still recognized in Latin music awards ceremonies like the Latin Grammy Awards and Lo Nuestro.
10. Tejano
Tejano music, often referred to as Tex-Mex music, is a fusion between American and Mexican music styles. It has stylistic origins of pop, rock, blues, country, grupera, mariachi, and norteño.
Traditionally, Tejano music combines dance rhythms from German and Czech genres—particularly waltz and polka—with Mexican-Spanish vocal styles. It’s typically played in small groups with instruments like the guitar, the bajo sexto, and the accordion.
Tejano’s evolution began in northern Mexico, which is why many believe it’s a variation of norteño. However, music experts say that Tejano is a completely separate genre that was merely inspired by norteño.
Thanks to the explosive popularity of Mexican-American singer Selena in the late 20th-century, Tejano reached a large global audience. For this reason, Selena was given the title, “The Queen of Tejano.”
Other notable Tejano artists include Ram Herrera, Elsa García, David Lee Garxa, and Esteban “Steve” Jordan.
11. Mexican Cumbia
Cumbia is a type of musical rhythm and folk dance that originated from Columbia. When Colombian singers emigrated to Mexico in the 1940s, they brought the Cumbrian music with them, thus creating the genre Mexican Cumbia.
At the time, almost all Colombian singers in Mexico worked with Rafael de Paz, a Mexican orchestra director.
Rafael de Paz and his orchestra recorded the first ever Mexican cumbia, “La Cumbia Cienaguera,” in the 1950s. Later, he released other hits such as “Caprichito,” “Nochebuena,” and “Mi gallo tuerto.”
Following the release of Rafael de Paz’s singles, the genre received national attention and later became popular.
In Mexico, people who dance to Cumbia music are called “Chilangos,” which basically means “people born in the main district.”
12. Mexican Opera
Mexico has produced its fair share of opera music. In fact, it’s one of the oldest classical genres in the country.
“La Parténope” was the first known opera composition written by a Mexican-born composer. Manuel de Zumaya’s La Parténope was performed in 1711 in the Viceroy’s Palace in Mexico City before a private audience.
Manuel Arenzana was the first Mexican composer who had his operas publicly staged, however. His work, “Maestro de Capilla,” was performed at Puebla Cathedral from 1792 to 1821.
“El extrangero” and “Los dos ribales en amore” were performed at Teatro Coliseo from 1805 to 1806.
The first Mexican opera seria was composed in 1845 by Paniagua entitled “Catalina de Guisa.” It premiered in 1856.
The opera compositions of the early 1800s in Mexico were greatly inspired by European opera, with Italian opera being its main focus in both style and subject matter.
However, elements of Mexican nationalism began to appear in the late 19th century, starting with Aniceto Ortega del Villar’s “Guatimotzin” (1871).
Mexican opera is still being performed to this day in the country.
The most recent opera composition was Luciérnaga, by Gabriela Ortiz, which premiered in 2018 in Sala Miguel Covarrubias, UNAM. It was a commission for the 50th Anniversary of the 1968 Students Movement.
13. Mexican Classical Music
The classical music of Mexico dates as far back as the 16th century when the country was still a part of the Spanish colony.
The city of Puebla was the biggest center of music composition in the 1700s, primarily because the area had considerable wealth and housed Spanish nobles, many of which were enthusiastic patrons of music.
Two of the most notable Mexican composers during this period were Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla and Bernardo de Peralta Escudero.
In the 19th century, Juventino Rosas, who was a Mexican composer and violist, achieved world recognition for his waltzes.
Manuel M. Ponce was another notable figure in Mexican classical music. He was responsible for widening the repertoire of the Spanish classical guitar.
Ponce had a significant contribution to the genre. His piano and orchestral compositions were the basis of the modernist nationalism of the country.
14. Mexican Jazz
Jazz was brought to Mexico in the 1920s, but it only gained popularity in the late 1940s thanks to Cuban composer Dámaso Pérez Prado.
Dámaso Pérez Prado lived in Mexico from 1949 until his death in 1989. During that period, he wrote and produced classic hits such as “Mambo No. 5,” “Mambo No. 8,” and “Cholita Linda.” To this day, his works are played on classic radio stations in Mexico.
Other notable jazz musicians from Mexico include Eugenio Toussaint, Juan García Esquivel, and Rafael Méndez.
Antonio Sánchez, a Mexican-American jazz drummer, was also extremely popular.
15. Duranguense
Duranguense is a Regional Mexican music genre that peaked in the mid-2000s among the Mexican and the Mexican American community. It’s basically a hybrid of Tamborazo and Technobanda.
The term “Duranguense” refers to the inhabitants of the Mexican state of Durango, which is where the genre originated from.
Duranguense has been around since at least the early 1990s, starting with the Grupo Paraíso Tropical de Durango. The genre is responsible for popularizing the dance style known as Pasito Duranguense.
This musical genre uses an array of instruments, including:
- Saxophone
- Trombone
- Electronic keyboard
- Tambora
- Drum set
16. Tribal Guarachero
Tribal guarachero, also known as trival or 3Ball, is a Mexican music genre that fuses EDM (Electronic Dance Music) with traditional rhythms from regional Mexican music genres. It’s made up of cascading triplets, a 4/4 time signature, and a BPM of 140 to 280.
Tribal guarachero originated in 2000 and 2001 in lower and middle-class neighborhoods of Mexico City. It was later popularized in Monterrey, Nuevo León in 2007 and later in Mexican-American populated areas in the United States in 2008 to 2010.
The most popular trival guarachero group, which was also considered the genre’s pioneers, is 3Ball MTY.
17. Nortec
Nortec is a combination of norteño music (nor) and techno music (tec). It’s a genre of EDM that was developed in Tijuana, a city in Baja California, Mexico.
Popularized in 2001, Nortec music features hard dance beats and samples from traditional Northern Mexican music like Norteño and Banda sinaloense.
The Nortec genre was created in 1999 when Pepe Mogt began experimenting with samples of old norteño albums and banda sinaloense, merging them with analog synthesizers. He also complied tracks of isolated instruments from tambora demo recordings and re-recorded them.
He burned the songs to CD-Rs and distributed them to friends under the condition that they reuse the material to make new tracks. The rest is history, as they say.
Alongside accordions and double bass, instruments that are used in Nortec music include Mexican horns, tubas, clarinets, and pumping bass drums (tambora).
Some of the most popular Nortec artists include Nortec Collective, Terrestre, Bostich, Latinsizer, and Clorofila.
