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The Marimba Music of Guatemala

guatemala marimba In Guatemala, marimba music can be seen and heard everywhere, even in the remotest corners of the country. The marimba is, in fact, the national instrument of Guatemala, and has been an important part of holiday celebrations for hundreds of years. The earliest version of the instrument was probably the arch marimba, which came from West Africa. Afro-Caribbean slaves could have introduced this marimba to Guatemala as early as 1550. This primitave instrument played a simple pentatonic or diatonic scale and had a range of less than two ocataves.

In 1894 Julián Paniagua Martinez and Sebastián Hurtado developed the first chromatic marimba, which would have a scale exactly like the piano. Now, for the first time, modern European style music could be played on this new marimba. A large collection of modern dance pieces were composed by marimba players and composers such as Domingo Bethancourt (1906-82), the Ovalle brothers, the Hurtado brothers, as well as the famous Mariano Valverde (1884-1956), Wotzbeli Aguilar (1897-1940) and Belarmino Molina (1879-1950). Marimba design and manufacture underwent other improvements as well. Primative gourd resonators were replaced with accurately tuned wooden box resonators. Bars and resonators were now encased in magnificent carved frames. Compare the photo below of a traditional arch marimba with the photo of a modern marimba (above, to the right).

Traditional Arch Marimba from Africa

A distinguishing feature of the modern Guatemalan marimba is it's size and range. It is built to accomodate three or four musicians at once. Each player has a specified area and register to play, much like a choir has bass, tenor, alto, and soprano parts. A typical marimba band usually consists of a marimba for three players, another marimba for four players, a drum kit, a string bass, and sometimes one or two saxophones.

The marimba is the principal and most important instrument in Guatemalan folk music, which is influenced by the music of Spain and West Africa. The marimba is also used to perform many other styles of music, including classical music and modern international popular music. If you are interested in obtaining a recording of this wonderful music there are some suggestions below. Hover your mouse over the album title and detailed information will appear. It's magic!

Before you leave be sure to view an entertaining clip from YouTube of a marimba band performing: Guatemala Marimba Band on YouTube.com