Music History 101 - Aztecs Aztec Music Mexicas (Mesheekas) or better known as Aztecs, dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to 16th centuries. To understand Aztec music first of all, we can’t know for sure how exactly was their music. Unfortunately, there is no written music but we have tons of Aztec instruments, so we know their scales as well as the purposes of music, which were depicted in codexes that documented how life was on the Aztec civilization. The Aztecs saw their instruments as magic objects with a soul, an animistic approach to them. “When the Gods died in Teotihuacan, the priests wandered aimlessly. Tezcatlipoca asked a devotee to go to the house of the sun to obtain singers and music instruments to honor him. The turtle, the whale and the mermaid would make a bridge to wherever his devotee passed. He reached the house of the Sun. But the sun had warned his people and servants to ignore the chant given to the devotee by Tezcatlipoca, under the threat of being expelled to earth. But Huehuetl (Ue-Ue-tool) and Teponaztli couldn’t resist, and because they answered the call they were expelled from the sun’s house to earth in the form of musical instruments to raise their chants to the sun’s house. Since then men have known music.” This myth is found on Fray Juan de Torquemada’s (Torkemada) Monarquía (Monarchy-A) Indiana. The Teponaztli is a type of slit drum made of hollow hardwood logs with 2 slits on the topside “H” shaped. And played with rubber-head wood mallets. These drums ranged in size from about 30 cm to 1.2 metres long. The tongues have different lengths and sometime carved into different thicknesses so they produce 2 different pitches, near a mayor third or perfect fourth apart. In addition to dances, teponaztlis were used to accompanied poetry readings: the notations for the sounds of the drum beats even at times appear within the poetry itself Each drum pattern is written using four syllables: To, Ko, Ti (tee), Ki (kee) The Huehuetl was used during festivals such as warrior gatherings. The drum is made from hollowed tree trunks and came in different sizes. Carvings of animals, faces or warriors were often carved into the base of the drum. The skin used was mainly from ocelots. They were used in battle. In the “Sad Night”, where the aztecs defeated Hernan Cortez in a battle, they used Huehuetls placed on the ground to transmite the instruments vibrations through the ground to intimidate the spanish soldiers. This ended in a massacre for the spanish army and the flee to Tlaxcala. Among other common instruments used by Aztecs we can find: The Tlapitzo: A seashell used as a horn associated with the god Tlaloc. Some archaic animal-shaped whistles, ocarinas such as the Tlapizcali with pentaphonic scales, whistling jars with water and bone scrapers Artistic education was imparted in several types of schools such as the Calmecac, a school for noble men where they learned astronomy, religion, sciences, philosophy and music. Cuicacalli, which was a musical and religious school together with the Mixcoacalli (house of the clouded snake) also a school for chants and dances. And some important prehispanic musicians were: Tecayuluatzi, Napuc-tan, Mayan priest mentioned in the sacred book Chilam Balam, Tequanitzin and Tlacahuepan and undoubtedly the best- known composer, Nezahualcoyotl, king of Texcoco, it is said he wrote more than 70 songs. The purposes of music in the Aztec culture were for historic communication ,delivering information and for creating a national identity. The repertoire for this purposes were devotional chants, established calendarized chants, and new chants for historic and military feats as well for religious rites and feasts. In conclusion, the Aztecs as any other prehispanic cultures in what is today modern Mexico were quite rich in traditions, architecture, poetry, salubrity, warfare and gave music a very important place in their education and religion as well as a way of life. Ironically modern Mexican music has more in common with European styles such as the waltz, the polka and polish mazurkas or composers such as Beethoven or Chopin. Nevertheless Mexicans have combined European influences with their prehispanic roots to create an even more rich and beautiful culture worth to know and admire. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H-2fX9dFXg

Las culturas del México antiguo fueron maestros en las artes y las ciencias. Las chinampas utilizadas en la cuenca del valle de México han sido objeto de estudio por su eficiencia y como símbolo de la maestría de los mexicanos. Hoy aprenderás todo sobre las chinampas, pero primero suscríbete a ArtCore Channel, da le like y activa la campanilla de notificaciones, esto nos ayuda mucho para que sigamos haciendo el contenido que a ti más te gusta. Recuerda que puedes ser nuestro mecenas en patreon y ver contenido exclusivo y sin censura. Hoy presentamos: Las Chinampas en la cuenca de México. ¡Gracias por tus comentarios! Te recomendamos que te suscribas para que sigas aprendiendo de arte, cultura e historia. Recuerda que es gratis, podrás ver cientos de videos, así que ve por tus palomitas y siéntate a disfrutar con nosotros. Puedes ser nuestro mecenas y donar algo. Activa la campanita de notificaciones. Te agradecemos tu visita y tus comentarios. ¡SE NUESTRO MECENAS EN PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/ArtCoreChannel SÍGUENOS EN NUESTRO BLOG PARA LA VERSIÓN ESCRITA DE NUESTROS VIDEOS https://artcorechannel.blogspot.com/ FUENTES: Revista Arqueología Mexicana Núm. 184 Las Chinampas de la Cuenca de México. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y12wCqr4hMw