2006年VOA标准英语-Youth 'Boot Camp' Teaches Mariachi Music

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
17 April 2006
 
The mariachi music of Mexico is flourishing in the United States, where Mexican-American youngsters are keeping alive the sounds of their homeland. A three-day conference is helping¹ young musicians refine their skills.

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Rodri Rodriguez
  
  

Rodri Rodriguez, founder² and chairman of the Mariachi USA Foundation, says mariachi is a central part of the culture of Mexico.

"Mariachi music could be compared to what country music is the United States, or even jazz," she explains. "It is the backbone³ of the music of Mexico. And anyone that's gone to a Mexican restaurant, or gone on vacation to Mexico, is very aware of what the music is."

Mariachi originated in the 19th century in the Mexican state of Jalisco, and was brought to the United States by immigrants. Ms. Rodriguez created her foundation 16 years ago, and this year, the organization is providing intensive, special instruction.

"We decided⁴ to do a three-day conference, and that conference encompasses⁵ all the different instrumentation, instruction, showmanship, technique. And we're calling it a boot camp of sorts because it's pure, unadulterated mariachi music," she explains.

 
Mariachi students 
  
Working with professional teachers, the teenaged students practice their mariachi instruments, which include violins.

And trumpets⁶, and guitar, as well as a small guitar known as the vihuela, and a bass⁷ instrument called the guitarron.

Fourteen-year-old Daisy Munoz, a violinist, says she likes many types of music, including pop and hip-hop, but mariachi is part of her Mexican heritage.

"It's really important for my family, the music. Other generations of my family have been mariachis, so it's really interesting for me too," she says.

Valentino Tril has brought two of his children for instruction. They already play at parties and weddings on weekends as part of a family mariachi band. He says the music is perfect for any kind of celebration.

"Oh yeah. Everybody loves mariachi. It's fun to have mariachi," he says.
 

Rolando San Miguel
  
  
In parts of the U.S. southwest, mariachi is taught in the music curriculum in schools. Rolando San Miguel is a mariachi instructor⁸ at a middle school in San Antonio, Texas.

"We teach mariachi six periods a day at the junior high, and there are many schools that have it in their system already, maybe 2,000 schools. It's huge," he says.

He says mariachi instruction helps students in other areas.

"We stress grades and character overall. We build their character, and after that, then we build musicians," he says. "We tell them to be there on a Sunday morning, we want you at four o'clock in the morning, they'll be there for us. They just love it."

Rodri Rodriguez says some students at the Los Angeles "boot camp" are third-generation Mexican Americans who speak little or no Spanish. They are even further removed from the origins of the music on Mexican farms and ranches¹⁰. Still, she says, they feel the emotion of the music.

"So you could be singing a song and be teary-eyed about it, and when you find out what the lyrics¹¹ mean, my horse died on the ranch⁹ and now I have to buy three extra cows," he laughs.

It all leads up to a youth performance at the Mariachi USA Festival, the biggest mariachi event in the United States. It will be held in Los Angeles June 24.

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 encompasses   

v.围绕( encompass的第三人称单数 )；包围；包含；包括

参考例句：

• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。
• Its conservation law encompasses both its magnitude and its direction. 它的守恒定律包括大小和方向两方面。 来自辞典例句

6 trumpets   

喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花

参考例句：

• A wreath was laid on the monument to a fanfare of trumpets. 在响亮的号角声中花圈被献在纪念碑前。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

7 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

8 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

9 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

10 ranches   

大农场， （兼种果树，养鸡等的）大牧场( ranch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They hauled feedlot manure from the ranches to fertilize their fields. 他们从牧场的饲养场拖走肥料去肥田。
• Many abandoned ranches are purchased or leased by other poultrymen. 许多被放弃的牧场会由其他家禽监主收买或租用。

11 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。