Mariachi: Primary Lesson
Title: Mariachi Mania
Arizona State Standards:
- Reading: Strand 1-Concept 6 (apply reading strategies) Strand 2-Concept 1 (identify facts and main ideas, author’s purpose) Strand 3-Concepts 1 (analyze non-fiction) Strand 2 – Concept 2 (recognize historical and cultural perspectives)
- Writing: Creative Writing: Strand 2-Concepts 1,2 & 4, Strand 3-Concept 1 (Grade1) Strand 1-Concept 2, Strand 2 Concepts 1,2, & 4, Strand 3-Concept 1 (Grade 2) Strand 1-Concept2, Strand 2-Concepts 1,2 & 4, Strand 3-Concept 2 (Grade 3) Strand 3-Concept 1. Writing Process: Strand 1- Concepts 1-5, Strand 2-Concept 6 (Grades1-2) Strand 1-Concepts 1 & 3-5, Strand 2 Concepts 1 & 6. Gather & Report Information: Strand 2-Concpet 1-2, Strand 3-Concept 2-3 (Grade 1) Strand 1-Concept 2, Strand 2-Concepts 1-2, Strand 3 Concepts 2-3 (Grade 2) Strand 2-Concepts 1-2 (Grade 3).
- Listening and Speaking: LS-F1 and LS-F3 (shares, presents, participates in activities)
- History: 1SS-F2 (knowledge of past & present) 1SS-E1(research tools)
- Civics and Government: 2SS-F1 (multiculturalism)
- Geography: 3SS-R1 (concept of location)
- Arts: 1AM-R1 (songs) 1AM-R2 (rhythm) 1AM-R6 (instruments) 1AM-R7
(Respect for personal work and work of others) 1AV-R1/F2 (use
of art materials) 1AV-R2/E1/3AV-R2 (communicate through art) 1AV-R3
(art symbolism) 1AM-R6/3AV-R4 (art appreciation) 2AV-R2 (art &
culture)
Goals & Objectives:
- Discuss the importance of music
- Identify mariachi music
- Identify and describe the instruments of a mariachi band
- Play the beats of the most popular mariachi song form: the Canción Ranchera.
- Interpret the Cancion-Ranchera, ‘El Rey’.
Length of lesson: Three one-hour periods/ or two block periods
Materials & Preparation:
- paper/ crayons
- recordings of mariachi music (see discography)
- recording of mariachi song ‘El Rey’ by Pedro Infante
- recordings of a variety of songs/music
- pictures of the vihuela and guitarrón. If possible,
use actual instruments.
Lesson
First Period
- Have mariachi music playing as students enter the room. As warm-up ask them to discuss in pairs why they think music is important to us. Is there any kind of music or a song that makes you feel good? Is it the words you like or the music or both? Play some fragments of different songs to the students. After each fragment, ask students how that song makes them feel, what it makes them think about, or what memories it brings to them.
- Play a mariachi tune and ask them the same question. Do they know what kind of music it is? Ask students to get up and move with them to the music. Do a march around the class to the beat of the song.
- Ask students, where do they think Mariachi music is from? Discuss with them how it is from Mexico but that people love it so much it has spread all around the world. For example, Tucson is famous for its mariachi music.
- Is the song in English or in Spanish? Why, even though we don’t understand the words, does this music make us feel energetic and happy? Discuss with students why they think mariachi songs are so popular everywhere, but can be especially meaningful for Mexican-Americans.
- Ask students to try to identify the instruments they hear. List all students’ answers on the board.
- Show students pictures of mariachi bands, preferably print out different posters from Tucson’s International Mariachi Conferences (available on the Web. See list of suggested resources). How many musicians can they see? What instruments can they identify? Are there any instruments written on the board that they do not see in the picture? Scratch them off. What about instruments they see on the picture but are not on the board? Add them. Point at the vihuela (small guitar) and the guitarrón (big guitar). If possible have both instruments in the class so that students can experience them first hand.
- Students draw a picture that represents mariachi music. The
only requirement is that it must include all the instruments traditionally
present in a mariachi band.
Second Period
- Play the mariachi ‘El Rey’ as students walk in the class. How does it make them feel? Can they try to do the beat of the song on their desks and with their feet? Let them try
- ‘El Rey’ is an example of a mariachi song form that is called Canción Ranchera. Most times we just call these songs ‘rancheras’. This is the equivalent of the country western songs found in the United States. The singer has to express the emotion of the lyrics and often they are very dramatic! The beat is sort of like a Waltz, three beats, equally distant from one another but the first one stronger that the following two. Do the rhythm with them. What instruments can they hear?
- Explain to students that the lyrics of ‘El Rey’ are sad and funny at the same time. The singer is a man who has lost everything, love, friends, money, everything, but he is still convinced he is a king and that makes him feel better. Divide the class into groups and tell them to try to represent the story of this man who thinks he is a king. In the song nothing happens to him, just that. Ask students to invent an end to the story.
Closure
- Students act their performances (see above paragraph). Students can bring tortilla chips and some mild salsa and/or avocado dip to celebrate the final performances. Talk to them about how these foods are like Mariachi and show Tucson’s shared history with Mexico.
Evaluation
- Assess student participation throughout the lesson. Grade their
paintings and their skits with Spanish words: ¡Bien! (good!),
¡Muy Bien! (Very good) ¡Viva!
¡Bravo! (hurray!), ¡Excelente!, ¡Magnífico!, etc.
Extensions
- Bring a mariachi group to class so that students can interview the musicians.
- Print out various examples of the posters for the Tucson International Mariachi Conference and ask students to design a poster for the next conference. Have a contest in class. The posters must show why mariachi music is so important in many parts of the United States, including Tucson.
- Cooperate with the music teacher and the Spanish teacher at
the school so that students can perform the chorus of a famous
mariachi song.