Passage II

Tejano Music and Its Meadowlark

One of the liveliest folk music forms to develop in the twentieth century is Tejano music. Also known as Tex-Mex or border music because of it’s having origins on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border, this form combines elements from Spanish, German, and English musical traditions.

In the late nineteenth century, German immigrants to south Texas and northern Mexico brought with them their dance music (18) and the button accordion. The music and the instrument were adopted by musicians in that region, who began to use the accordion, in their own dance music, huapangos and rancheras. At the same time, the Spanish and English folk ballad traditions took root in Tejano music in the form of corridos, narrative songs of bravery, romance, and tragedy set in the towns and ranches of the region. Eventually, a unique musical style developed; based on duet singing and an instrumentation of accordion, drums, upright bass, and bajo sexto, the Spanish twelve-string bass guitar. It was conjunto and became the heart of Tejano music.

[1] The first Tejano musician to gain star status was Lydia Mendoza. [2] She was born in Mexico in 1916, but her family soon immigrated to the United States. [3] The Mendoza family made their living working alternately as field hands and they were touring musicians. [4] Mendoza learned the words to many of her songs from bubble gum wrappers, where music publishers had song lyrics printed in the hope of making them popular. (24) [5] In 1928 in San Antonio, Texas, where Mendoza and her family made their first recording. [6] Her clear and expressive singing style soon gained her widespread popularity in the Spanish-speaking regions of North and South America. (27)