Tejano music is a musical genre that originated in Texas among the state’s Hispanic population. It’s also known as Tex-Mex, and it’s often referred to as Texan or Spanish-Texan, and it represents the region’s musical sound. From mariachis and bandas to accordions and string bands, it covers the gamut of Mexican and Spanish-inspired sounds.
With modern orchestras, fiddlers, and falsetto singers, this music evokes regional and class variations of traditional Spanish music. It combines Texas folk, country, rock, and blues to create a sound that is uniquely “Tex-Mex.” Mexicans settled north of the Rio Grande in Texas, and the music got its name and sound from the blending of cultures.
Tejano music, like most music from around the world, incorporates a variety of styles. It uses the flute, guitar, drums, and accordion to create various band, instrument, singer, and sound compositions. The bajo sexto, a Spanish 12-string bass guitar, is a popular instrument that has played a significant role in the rise of this genre. Tejano began with a Spanish folk sound, then evolved into polkas and waltzes, orchestras, and, since the 1980s, keyboards and pop and rock influences of American popular sounds.
Conjunto is the most popular of the three main types of Tejano music. Narcisco Martinez created and defined Conjunto music in the 1930s, when he introduced the accordion to the Tejano sound and combined it with a bajo sexto and a drum to create Conjunto. The orchestral style adds a brass section, as well as an electric guitar and synthesizer. Modern Tejano, the third type, combines the other two types and adds a more modern sound with a heavy emphasis on the synthesizer.
This genre dates back to 1745, when Spanish settlers first arrived in the Rio Grande Valley. It began incorporating original songs into a variety of folk and traditional music in the 1850s, after incorporating European sounds. The songs often had a folk lyric feel to them, with themes of hard times, love, and class struggles. Major record labels, such as Columbia, began selling recordings in the 1920s. Tejano music grew in popularity from the 1920s to the 1970s, when it became established as a major musical sound with “rock style” fans, thanks to promotion, distribution, and the establishment of Tex-Mex record labels.
In the late twentieth century, English became more prevalent in songs, and the music began to take on an American country and rock sound. Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, La Mafia, La Sombra, Patsy Torres, and Selena helped it gain popularity. Tejano music is popular all over the world, and it has been a vital sound in the area where it originated since the 1920s.