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A Journey Through La Huasteca

La Huasteca is located in the northeastern of the Golf of Mexico, which is a region with a warm-humid climate, surrounded by mountains and rivers across the land. This region reaches parts of six states which are: SLP, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Tamahulipas, Puebla, and Queretaro.

Before the Spanish conquest, the Huasteca was inhabited by different ethnic Mayan groups who came from the Southside and occupied the region. They were able to share their culture and live in a close relationship with their music. The most important ethnic groups are: the teneek, huastecos, totonacos, and tepehuas, and all of them speak different native languages.

After the conquest, the Spanish carried with them some string instruments which the indigenous learned how to play and also, how to build them in a particular way taking some traits and adaptations from the region.

The music from la Huasteca is called “son huasteco” and it is shared by mestizos and indigenous people from the region. Nevertheless, there are also other traditional styles which are played in the community festivities such as carnivals during holy week, and the traditional fiesta of the day of the dead which is called “Xantolo”.

On the other hand, there is also the music of “del costumbre,” that differentiates the indigenous from the mestizos and has a religious and divine purpose. This music has many forms and variations, and the instrumentation varies between different ethnic groups. There are songs only for religious purposes, and others for everything else referring to men’s mundane activities.

There are three instruments that form part of the traditional trio from la Huasteca: the jarana, which is a five-string small guitar with a percussive and high pitch sound, the huapanguera, which is bigger and thicker with mainly 3 double and 2 single strings, that produces a deep and bassy pitch that complements the spectrum of the sound, and the violin, which is the lead instrument due to the technical complexity of the music and the ability of improvisation, characteristic that is also required for the singers.