The guitarrón (literally "large guitar" in Spanish, the suffix "-ón" denoting "large") is a very large, deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic bass played in mariachi bands. Although obviously similar to the guitar, it is not a derivative of that instrument, but was independently developed from the sixteenth-century Spanish bajo de uña. It achieves audibility by its great size, and does not require electric amplification for performances in small venues. The guitarrón is fretless, the strings are heavy gauge, and the action is high, so that quite a bit of left hand strength is required. The guitarrón is played by plucking always double string (one octave between), which is facilitated by the unusual tuning of A D G C E A with the high A lowered an octave putting it just one octave above the low A. The guitarrón was the inspiration behind Ernie Ball's development of the first modern acoustic bass guitar, released on the market in 1972.
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Traditional uses
The guitarrón is used in Mexican Mariachi groups, which usually consist of at least two violins, two trumpets, one Spanish guitar, and a vihuela (a high-pitched, five-string guitar), in addition to the guitarrón. Some larger Mariachi groups have more than twenty musicians. The original Mariachi were Mexican street musicians or buskers, but now most Mariachi musicians work in the mainstream entertainment industry.
Non-traditional uses
- The guitarrón is played by Roy Estrada on the 1966 Mothers of Invention album Freak Out!.
- Randy Meisner of The Eagles also plays the guitarrón on the track "New Kid In Town" from the album Hotel California (1976).
- Another American player using the guitarrón in a non-traditional context is Aaron Goldsmith formerly of the New York-based multicultural acoustic ensemble Luminescent Orchestrii; he uses a modified guitarrón with an elongated neck that allows him to play more melodically.
- The guitarrón was a defining element of the 1980s Scottish folk-pop band Fairground Attraction.
See also
External links
- Rhythm Band Instruments - Seller of guitarróns and other mariachi instruments
- Music sheets for guitarron and other mariachi instruments http://musicaldots.com/
