What's that song on the radio?

For this weeks blog I wanted to explore the world of border music. I’m not knowledgeable in any style of music that emanates from the border, and I think most Americans assume Spanish music is all the same. There is a rich and diverse gamut of music that hails from Mexico and influences the American Southwest. I recently became interested in the tejano and conjunto styles because of their combination of the guitar and the accordion…that’s right, the accordion.

The history of tejano and conjunto music begins as far back as the late 1800s; the Mexican people living in Southern Texas and Northern Mexico were fusing together the lively diatonic accordion with the Spanish guitar, or bajo sexto (a 12-string bass guitar). Still in its infancy until the 1930s, tejano and conjunto music exploded along the border because of the radio industry’s popularization of this style to the Mexican-American people.

The styles used to be considered music of the poor migrant worker but today they are known nationally and internationally. Rooted in the basic four piece ensemble – accordion, bajo sexto, bass and drums – major artists have popularized tejano and conjunto music by adding new variations. Some changes include: two accordions, added keyboards, synthesizers, chromatic accordions, saxophones, percussion, and substitution of guitars for bajo sextos. Vocal styles also vary widely, from solos to very complex three and four-part harmonies.



A major figure (or father of this style) in the advancement of tejano and conjunto music was Narciso Martínez, or the Hurricane of the Valley. He is responsible for the standardization of the accordion-bajo combination. A new generation of tejano and conjunto artists erupted after World War II and included the influential Valerio Longoria and Paulino Bernal. Longoria introduced the modern trap-drum set a while Bernal added three-part vocals and his music is hailed as the greatest in the history of the style.

Gaining popularity again in the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s, tejano and conjunto music continues to gain new audiences of upwardly mobile Mexican-Americans with strong connections to their cultural roots. These styles remain wildly popular today with radio stations devoted to publicizing tejano and conjunto music.

I enjoyed the history of this border intensive music and recommend people check out some of the more popular artists listed in this blog.

Here is a clip of Valerio Longoria:



And here is a clip of Paulino Bernal: