Rob's Fieldnotes from Nov. 14
Nov. 14 Fieldnotes
Today I visited Cavazos Middle School again to sit in on the Mariachi class. My guitar skills have been improving slowly and I was able to make it through “Faliz Navidad” with them today. I arrived a few minutes before class started and E.C. let me go on in to find a seat on stage. The group has an upcoming performance on Dec. 8 so they have been rehearsing with their concert set-up on stage. They are again set up in an arch with two rows but E.C. rearranged them so the trumpets were on the end of the back row and violins and Vihuelas in the front row. Also, E.C. put the Guitarons in the middle of the back row to have the “bass in the center of the group” as E.C. put it. The guitars were spread out a little bit, split on either side of the Guitarons.
After the students came in, E.C. rehearsed some of the harder tunes such as “La Valentina” and “De Colores.” I just sat out on these tunes because I don’t have all the chords or strumming patterns down yet. “De Colores” happens to have lyrics so I tried singing along with them. One thing I found interesting is that none of the students sang loudly so it sounded very thin and empty. E.C. had to get on to them several times about singing out, especially the boys. From my experiences with professional Mariachi bands, singing is a very important aspect of performance where everyone fully participates. At Cavazos, even though singing is incorporated, it isn’t stressed as much as I think it might be in other groups.
We then rehearsed my favorite tune (mainly because it’s the only one I can play straight down), “Feliz Navidad.” I tried singing and playing but it didn’t work out so much so I just focused on getting all the chords this time. It was kind of cool both last time and today how the students sitting next to me would move their stand so I could look on, or when I got off, they would point to where we were in the music. Also, they had changed the strumming pattern in the closing section of it last week, but we ended, E.C. was kind enough to explain to me what it was during class. He said they changed it to a down-down-up-down-down-up-down-up pattern which was a more traditional “son” pattern.
They then went on to rehearse “Cielito Lindo” and “Volver Volver” which are two of the tunes they are learning by “Rote.” I again had to sit out due to the lack of familiarity to the pieces but tried singing along just to stay engaged.
Most of the lyrics were sung in thirds- the boys on bottom and girls on top. Many of the girls struggled hearing the harmony but still did a good job of trying to sing out.
During the rehearsal, E.C. talked about how all the songs needed to be memorized for their upcoming concert. He later changed this to just apply to the chordal accompaniment and that the melody instruments would not have to have everything memorized because “the notes of the song melodies are harder to memorize than chords.” I began to wonder what other performance practices they group might incorporate for their concert. Such as, will they be standing or sitting like they have been in rehearsal; or will E.C. be playing/singing along like he does in rehearsal?
After the class ended, I asked E.C. a couple more of my groups interview questions. I asked about how Mariachi came to Lubbock and he responded that “It migrated with the people with Mexican background and that many of the early settlers were Mexican ranchers.” Also I asked if he could think of any common words or phrases used in Mariachi. I think he misunderstood my question to be specifically song lyrics, so next time I go out there I have to try to re-word my question. I also asked if there is any historical aspects of Mariachi that he tries to emphasize to his students. He said the he usually stays away from it but there is a really good short background on the music in the method book.
Today I visited Cavazos Middle School again to sit in on the Mariachi class. My guitar skills have been improving slowly and I was able to make it through “Faliz Navidad” with them today. I arrived a few minutes before class started and E.C. let me go on in to find a seat on stage. The group has an upcoming performance on Dec. 8 so they have been rehearsing with their concert set-up on stage. They are again set up in an arch with two rows but E.C. rearranged them so the trumpets were on the end of the back row and violins and Vihuelas in the front row. Also, E.C. put the Guitarons in the middle of the back row to have the “bass in the center of the group” as E.C. put it. The guitars were spread out a little bit, split on either side of the Guitarons.
After the students came in, E.C. rehearsed some of the harder tunes such as “La Valentina” and “De Colores.” I just sat out on these tunes because I don’t have all the chords or strumming patterns down yet. “De Colores” happens to have lyrics so I tried singing along with them. One thing I found interesting is that none of the students sang loudly so it sounded very thin and empty. E.C. had to get on to them several times about singing out, especially the boys. From my experiences with professional Mariachi bands, singing is a very important aspect of performance where everyone fully participates. At Cavazos, even though singing is incorporated, it isn’t stressed as much as I think it might be in other groups.
We then rehearsed my favorite tune (mainly because it’s the only one I can play straight down), “Feliz Navidad.” I tried singing and playing but it didn’t work out so much so I just focused on getting all the chords this time. It was kind of cool both last time and today how the students sitting next to me would move their stand so I could look on, or when I got off, they would point to where we were in the music. Also, they had changed the strumming pattern in the closing section of it last week, but we ended, E.C. was kind enough to explain to me what it was during class. He said they changed it to a down-down-up-down-down-up-down-up pattern which was a more traditional “son” pattern.
They then went on to rehearse “Cielito Lindo” and “Volver Volver” which are two of the tunes they are learning by “Rote.” I again had to sit out due to the lack of familiarity to the pieces but tried singing along just to stay engaged.
Most of the lyrics were sung in thirds- the boys on bottom and girls on top. Many of the girls struggled hearing the harmony but still did a good job of trying to sing out.
During the rehearsal, E.C. talked about how all the songs needed to be memorized for their upcoming concert. He later changed this to just apply to the chordal accompaniment and that the melody instruments would not have to have everything memorized because “the notes of the song melodies are harder to memorize than chords.” I began to wonder what other performance practices they group might incorporate for their concert. Such as, will they be standing or sitting like they have been in rehearsal; or will E.C. be playing/singing along like he does in rehearsal?
After the class ended, I asked E.C. a couple more of my groups interview questions. I asked about how Mariachi came to Lubbock and he responded that “It migrated with the people with Mexican background and that many of the early settlers were Mexican ranchers.” Also I asked if he could think of any common words or phrases used in Mariachi. I think he misunderstood my question to be specifically song lyrics, so next time I go out there I have to try to re-word my question. I also asked if there is any historical aspects of Mariachi that he tries to emphasize to his students. He said the he usually stays away from it but there is a really good short background on the music in the method book.
posted by Rob Grote at 5:46 PM
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