VWB - Verlag fr Wissenschaft und Bildung

Marimbas of Guatemala: The African Connection

Author(s): Linda L. O'Brien
Source: The World of Music, Vol. 24, No. 2, Latin America (1982), pp. 99-104
Published by: VWB - Verlag fr Wissenschaft und Bildung
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43560828
Accessed: 16-10-2017 22:35 UTC

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms

VWB - Verlag fr Wissenschaft und Bildung is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

preserve and extend access to The World of Music

This content downloaded from 143.107.95.177 on Mon, 16 Oct 2017 22:35:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Linda L. O'Brien

Marimbas of Guatemala: The African Connection

The African origin of the Guatemalan marimba is a theory that has been
widely accepted for some time, although its exact provenance has not yet
been discovered. It is based on the total lack of archaeological evidence
for its existence among the pre-Columbian Maya, and on the similarity of
its construction to that of the xylophones of Central Africa. In the tiny, re
mote village of San Marcos la Laguna in Guatemala, I was fortunate to b
able to record marimba music which still retains a number of features of
African musical style.
San Marcos la Laguna is perched on the bluffs overlooking the northwe-
stern shore of Lake Atitln. About 250 Cakchiquel and Tzutuhil Indians live
there, branches of the Maya-Quich family. The village lies about three
hours on footpath from the nearest town, and two hours by canoe. It can
be approached only by a strenuous thirty-minute climb up the side of the
bluff by a rough, rocky path. It is almost wholly unvisited by tourists.
The town possesses two marimbas de tecomates (gourd marimbas), as
they continue to be called, although the old gourds have now been repla-
ced by wooden box resonators called cajones. These marimbas are xylo-
phones constructed of wooden keys or percussion plates suspended abo-
ve a four-legged trapezoidal framework by means of cords which pass
through threading pins and through each key. Originally a gourd resona-
tor was suspended beneath each key on a small stick which passed
through it. Near the base of each gourd is a small hole surrounded by a
ring of wax which secures the very thin membrane of pig intestine which
produces a mirliton buzz when the key above it is struck with a mallet tip-
ped with a ball of raw rubber.
Many such marimbas now standing on four legs were originally marim-
bas de arco, which lack legs and are carried by means of a strap which
passes around the player's shoulders. The keyboard is kept from touching
the player's body by an arched branch which is attached to the ends of the
keyboard. The twenty-four keys are tuned to the major diatonic scale; in
San Marcos la Laguna they range from G4 to B5.

99

This content downloaded from 143.107.95.177 on Mon, 16 Oct 2017 22:35:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Marimba and mirliton flute players from San Marcos la Laguna

Although the African xylophone identical to the marimba has not yet
been identified, research points clearly to the Central African origin of the
instrument, probably among Bantu groups. The Aruwimi, Bangala and
Kwango people have marimbas in which long gourds are suspended by
means of sticks which pass through each one near the top. Each has a mir- :
I ton buzzer near the bottom of the gourd which is stuck on with a wax
ring. The arcs, mallets and manner of stringing the keys are also similar to
the Guatemalan. Some have no pegs between the keys, and none from this
region has pegs between every key as in Guatemala. It is from this region
that the word marimba comes.

100

This content downloaded from 143.107.95.177 on Mon, 16 Oct 2017 22:35:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 To the Guatemalan Indian, the marimba is an instrument originated from
his ancestors, the "wise, old ones", the Nawales, at the beginning of time.
The instrument, which is called k'jom, and its music, are a sacred heritage,
and its playing is part of a cycle of rituals established by the ancestors to
ensure the harmony of the cosmos and the wellbeing of the people. The
music which I was able to record in 1972 belongs to the Deer Dance. It in-
cludes six pieces by solo marimba, played by S. Sacach, and twelve pieces
by marimba and mirliton flute, played by Juan Posul Rocch and Jos Ve-
lasco Quiacayn. The Deer Dance was then rarely performed in San Mar-
cos, and on a return visit in 1976 I found the marimba and flute of the se-
cond ensemble had been sold. The explanation was that the musicians

A Guatemalan gourd marimba

101

This content downloaded from 143.107.95.177 on Mon, 16 Oct 2017 22:35:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
had been converted to evangelismo, a general name for the evangelical
protestant churches, and were forbidden to participate in the old customs.
The similarity of the musical style of these pieces to that of African xylo-
phone music was explored in collaboration with ethnomusicologist Mary
Seavoy, who recognized in them features similar to the marimba music of
the Sissala, who now live in Ghana, having migrated from farther south in
Africa during the last century. Their music displays characteristics of Cen-
tral African style. Most striking is the similarity of form of Sissala and San
Marcos pieces. Both begin with a section in free rhythm which explores to-
nic and dominant tonalities, followed by a measured section which is the
central part of the piece. In both traditions the introductory section can co-

Manner of suspending the gourds of a Guatemalan gourd marimba

102

This content downloaded from 143.107.95.177 on Mon, 16 Oct 2017 22:35:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
me in again at any of several fixed points. In both, also, the measured sec-
tion can be notated in 6/8 meter. Two harmonic levels alternate in the left
hand, executed in a triadic ostinato, in which the octave and the fifth are
stable. The conclusion of one of the pieces from San Marcos contains two
phrases which are identical to the standard Sissala cadence.
The marimba and mirliton flute ensemble from San Marcos la Laguna is
heretofore undocumented in Guatemala The flute is a very unusual instru-
ment, a six-hole transverse flute of bamboo in which the end nearest the
aperture is surrounded by a hollow ball of black beeswax which has a
small hole in the centre covered by a mirliton of pig intestine. Frequently a
set of rattlesnake rattles is dropped into this cavity before playing. This flu-
te plays in heterophonic fashion with the marimba melody, following it
slightly late, within its limited range of G4 to G5. Flutes of this type are
known in southern Guinea, and mirliton flute and marimba ensembles
exist in the Cameroons.

It is to be hoped that the encroachment of modern civilization will not

altogether obliterate centuries-old musical traditions such as that so re-
cently to be heard in San Marcos la Laguna, which may hold the key to un-
derstanding threads of history otherwise forgotten.

103

This content downloaded from 143.107.95.177 on Mon, 16 Oct 2017 22:35:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Linda L. O'Brien

Marimbas aus Guatemala: die Beziehung zu Afrika

(Kurzfassung)

Die Theorie vom afrikanischen Ursprung

sitz der Cakchiquel- und Tzutuhil-Indianer
der Marimba Guatemalas ist weithin aner- von San Marcos la Laguna gleichen bis in
kannt. Sie sttzt sich zum einen auf das Feh- bauliche Einzelheiten den Marimbas in Zen-
len eines archologischen Nachweises fr tral-Afrika. Diese Marimbas werden beim ri-
das Vorkommen von Marimbas in den Zeug- tuellen Hirsch-Tanz gebraucht; man hlt sie
nissen der prkolumbianischen Maya, zum fr das Werk der Ahnen vom Anbeginn der
anderen auf die hnlichkeit der guatemali- Zeit.
schen Marimba mit afrikanischen Modellen.
Mit der Marimba- Musik von San Marcos la In Form und Stil der Musik zum Hirsch-
Laguna, einem kleinen Dorf im Hochland Tanz zeigt sich eine groe hnlichkeit mit
bestimmten afrikanischen Marimba- Stilen.
von Guatemala, erhlt diese Beweisfhrung
eine neue und weitere Dimension - die der Die Tatsache, da eine Mirliton-Flte als Be-
musikalischen Kontinuitt. gleitinstrument zum Ensemble gehrt, un-
terstreicht einmal mehr die Beziehung zu
Zwei Kalebassen -Marimbas aus dem Be- Afrika.

Linda L. O'Brien
Les marimbas du Guatemala:
parent avec les marimbas d'Afrique
(rsum)

La thorie de l'origine africaine des ma- l'on trouve chez les Indiens Cakchiquel et les
rimbas du Guatemala est largement admise. Tzutuhil de San Marcos la Laguna ressemb-
Cette thorie part du fait qu'il n'existe paslent,
de de par les dtails de leur confection,
preuves archologiques attestant l'existence aux marimbas d'Afrique centrale. Ces instru-
de marimbas chez les Mayas de l'poque ments sont utiliss pour la danse rituelle du
prcolombienne, et elle se fonde galement cerf, et les indignes en attribuent la cra-
sur les similitudes des instruments avec des tion leurs anctres, l'origine des temps.
modles africains. La musique de marimba
d'un petit village des hauts plateaux du Gua- On peut constater dans le style et la forme
temala, San Marcos la Laguna, apporte une ces danses des similitudes marques
de
dimension nouvelle et complmentaire avec certains types de musique de marimba
cette thorie: celle de la continuit musicale.africaine. En outre, la prsence d'un mirliton
dans ces ensembles ajoute du poids la
Deux types de marimbas en courge, que
thorie des origines africaines.

104

This content downloaded from 143.107.95.177 on Mon, 16 Oct 2017 22:35:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms