is a family of Mexican music styles. The word likely derives from the

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

word that literally means 'on top of the wood', alluding to a wooden platform on which dancers perform dance steps. It is interpreted in different forms, the most common being the classic interpreted by a trio of musicians (); the interpreted by a group (); and the , which can be performed by a large group of musicians.

()

The classical brings together a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

, a and a . The classical is characterized by a complex rhythmic structure mixing duple and

triple metre Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 (compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , , ...

s which reflect the intricate steps of the dance. When the players sing (in a duet, in a falsetto tone), the violin stops, and the (the rhythm provided by heels hitting the floor) softens. The is danced by men and women as couples. A very popular is , in which two singers alternate pert and funny repartées.

Huapango arribeño or son arribeño is a style of music played in the "zona media" region (part of San Luis Potosi, Queretaro and
Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...
). Traditionally it is played using four instruments (jarana huasteca, huapanguera and two violins). The lyrics are mostly improvised and sung in the style of ''décimas'', or versed poems.
Guillermo Velázquez Guillermo Velázquez (born 1948) is a Mexican musician from Xichú Xichú is a Mexican city (and municipality) located in the Northeast region of the state of Guanajuato. The municipality is entirely within the Sierra Gorda range and has an area ...
is a popular musician of the style.

The is a fast dance piece in . This dance style and rhythm was included in early . It is performed by (northern groups). The instrumentation of this type of ensemble consists of
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
, ,
double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
,
drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
and
saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
.

The in has alternating rhythmic patterns similar to the . Both major and minor keys are used. One of the distinctive characteristics is the use of a
falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...
by the vocalist. Another characteristic is the use of busy violin passages for the musical introductions and interludes. Famous songs include "" and "".

by Moncayo

The is classical piece composed by

José Pablo Moncayo José Pablo Moncayo García (June 29, 1912 – June 16, 1958) was a Mexican pianist, percussionist, music teacher, composer and conductor. "As composer, José Pablo Moncayo represents one of the most important legacies of the Mexican national ...

using as inspiration several

son jarocho Son jarocho ("Veracruz Sound") is a regional folk musical style of Mexican Son from Veracruz, a Mexican state along the Gulf of Mexico. It evolved over the last two and a half centuries along the coastal portions of southern Tamaulipas state an ...

songs. The song is not inspired by Huapango music, but probably is more related to the origin of the word, which refers to dancing on wooden pallets.

()

by Moncayo

See also