Maracas

Maracas

My friend Sid Brown is using Maracas in his performances. Sid likes to give the entire audience maracas and everyone shakes together. What fun!

Below is more about this ancient instrument. Some info states that Maracas originated in Morocco while others claimed South American and Caribbean origin. The excerpt below seems to make the most sense. I highlighted in bold a couple points below that were insightful.



Percussion instruments, especially drums, existed as long ago as the Stone Age. Maracas may have originated among several ancient civilizations at almost the same time. African tribes are known to have played drums and a wide variety of rattles and similar instruments from the traditions that have been carried down through the ages. South Pacific Islanders also developed a wide range of rattles by using plants that produced gourd-like seed pods; rattles without handles were even made from coconuts that had been dried out. In South America, maracas linked music and magic because witch doctors used maracas as symbols of supernatural beings; the gourds represented the heads of the spirits, and the witch doctor shook the gourds to summon them.

Just as maracas are essential to today's Latin and South American ensembles, the history of the maracas is best traced through the artwork of pre-Columbian Indians, especially the tribes in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Paraguay. The word maraca is believed to have been given to the instrument by the Araucanian people of central Chile. It is used for all gourd rattles although some also have more specific names. In the region of West Africa along the Atlantic Ocean called Guinea, native people tell the legend of a goddess making a maraca by sealing white pebbles in a calabash, a hard gourd that is also shaped into cooking utensils. Natives of the Congo in Africa and the Hopi Indians in America share the tradition of using turtle shells and baskets for rattles; when settlers brought European goods to America, native Americans collected empty shell cartridges, metal spice boxes, and cans to make rattles. More here.


Although a simple instrument, the method of playing the maracas is not obvious. The seeds must travel some distance before they hit the leather, wood, or plastic, so the player must anticipate the rhythm. More here.

How to Teach Kids to Play the Maracas.


Joropo style maraca solo by Jerry Leake.


Lalo Rodriguez playing Maracas in the great pianist Eddie Palmieri’s band.