Tejano, << tay HAH noh, >> music, is the general name for a variety of styles of Hispanic folk and popular music that originated in central and southern Texas. Tejano is the Spanish word for a Texan of Mexican descent. The music is sometimes called Tex-Mex music.
Loading the player...Tejano music
The roots of Tejano music developed in the late 1800’s. It became a blend of traditional northern Mexican music and various European musical forms that were introduced by German, Czech and other immigrants who first settled in Texas in the 1800’s. These forms included the polka and the waltz. The key instrument in traditional Tejano music is the accordion. By the late 1900’s, Tejano music had expanded its sound by absorbing the influences of rock music, jazz, blues, and country music, as well as a Colombian dance music called cumbia.
A Tejano band can consist of four or more instruments. A traditional band, playing a Tejano style called conjunto, is made up of an accordion, a 12-string bass guitar called a bajo sexto, a bass, and drums. More modern Tejano bands include electronic instruments, such as synthesizers and electric guitars, as well as brass instruments.
The Texas singer Selena was the biggest Tejano music star of the 1990’s. After the singer’s highly publicized murder in 1995, the popularity of Tejano music spread to non-Hispanic listeners throughout the United States.
See also Selena .
