Which Keys For Mexican Music?

[drkato]

hola you southwest squeezers

 

i have been spending time in mexico with my C/G anglo. it seems the "street" music is often in ( i think) the key of

F, or sometimes E. i can play it, but it's not tranquillo. Are these, in fact, the most common keys? what tuning might you suggest for an anglo? or would it be better simply to learn the scales and squeeze away on my C/G?

[Marien]

Hello South West player.

 

As far as I know, used squeeze boxes for mexican are mostly tuned in GCF or EAD and sometimes in Bes Es (if there is a wind instrument in Bes).

 

It is depending on the key of the tune whether a CG concertina will be suitable. For many mex tunes a DA concertina may be more convenient. Hmmm now I think about it... Most tex mex tunes I play seem to be in D.

 

Marien

Edited September 25, 2008 by marien

[Jim Bayliss]

The most commonly used Norteno 3 row button accordion tuning is C-F-G, but it is not unusual for Norteno accordionists to use the E flat-A flat-B flat tuning. Mariachi music frequently uses the flatted keys to accomodate the wind instruments. When faced with learning a tune from ear which is outside of the normal range of my instrument, I usually learn the tune very well in my head and then mentally transpose it into the range of my instrument, using the chords on the instrument to guide me. I hope this helps.