Maya music facts for kids
The music of the ancient Maya was a big part of their lives. We know about it from old Maya writings, Spanish texts from the 1500s, and amazing art from the Classic Period (200–900 AD). The Maya played instruments like trumpets, flutes, whistles, and drums. They used music for everything from funerals to big celebrations and other important rituals.
Even though we don't have any written Maya music left, archaeologists have found many musical instruments. They've also found paintings and carvings that show how important music was to Maya society and religion. Most of this ancient music disappeared after the Spanish arrived. However, some Maya music traditions survived and mixed with Spanish styles.
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Instruments
Archaeologists have found many ancient Maya wind instruments, called aerophones, in places like Tabasco, Campeche, and Jaina. For example, clay whistles were found in burial sites on Jaina Island. These whistles had different shaped mouthpieces, like square or round ones. Some whistles were even shaped like human faces or animals that represented Maya gods.
Besides wind and percussion instruments, the ancient Maya didn't use many other types. They didn't have stringed instruments like guitars, as these were not invented in their region. Sometimes, when important rulers died, they were buried with musical instruments. People believed these instruments would help them travel through the underworld and be reborn.
Trumpets
The Maya used different kinds of trumpets. Some were made of clay and were quite short. Wooden trumpets were much longer. A wall painting from around 775 CE at the Bonampak site in Chiapas shows two trumpeters playing together in a 12-person orchestra. Other art also shows Maya trumpeters holding their lips very tightly on the mouthpiece. This suggests they used wooden trumpets to make higher sounds. While clay trumpets became less common, wooden trumpets continued to be used. Even in 1566, a writer named Diego de Landa mentioned "long thin trumpets of hollow wood with long twisted gourds at the ends."
Flutes
The Maya played many different types of flutes. Some were similar to modern flutes, while others were quite unique. One common Maya flute had a special chamber on the side. This chamber changed the airflow, making the instrument sound more like an oboe. Another type was a tube flute that could play three notes at once, which is unusual for a wind instrument.
The Maya also played the Ocarina. This is a small, whistle-sized instrument. Depending on how they were made, ocarinas could produce five different notes using four or five holes. Some studies suggest that ocarinas were played during small religious ceremonies and burials. Larger flutes could make even more notes. The Dresden Codex, an old Maya book from the 1200s or 1300s, shows people playing drums and flutes. One image in the Dresden Codex shows the flute being used in a ritual for good harvests or giving thanks.
Percussion
Maya percussion usually included drums and rattles. Two of the three surviving ancient Maya books mention the kayum. This was a tall, upright drum with one head, often shaped like a cylinder or a kettle. It was played with bare hands. Images in the Dresden Manuscript show gods playing drums with clay frames that look like candelabras. The top of these drums was covered with animal hide. The base was filled with water, which allowed players to change the drum's sound. The Dresden Manuscript also shows a god shaking a large rattle and another playing a flute.
Large wooden drums, which the Aztecs called huehuetl, have not survived. However, many smaller, standing kettle drums have been found. These were often made of earthenware and shaped like a round jar on a stand. Sometimes, the drumhead was made from a jaguar skin. Another type of kettle drum was small and could be held under the arm. Horizontal slit-drums, called tun by the Maya and teponaztli by the Aztecs, appeared later, possibly influenced by the Toltec people. The Maya also used tortoiseshell and turtleshell drums. These were played with the hand or with a stick, like a deer antler.
Metal instruments were generally not used in Classic Maya music. The only exception was pellet-bell rattles, which were linked to the god of death. Hundreds of golden pellet-bell rattles were found in 1926 at the Sacred Well in Chichen Itza. These were brought from far away. The Dresden and Madrid manuscripts also show gods wearing jingles as decorations.
Performance and Religious Significance
Theater, dance, rituals, and even warfare were usually accompanied by music. Because of this, the musical director in Yucatán, called the holpop, was highly respected. Old Maya dictionaries have many words related to music.
The 16th-century Maya hero story, the Popol Vuh, features brothers Hun-Batz and Hun-Choven as flute players and singers. They are also seen as protectors of other arts. The Hero Twins in the story turn them into monkeys by playing the flute and drum and singing a special tune. These musical Elder Brethren are similar to the Howler Monkey Gods from the Classic period. In earlier times, the Tonsured Maize God, another god of the arts, was closely linked to a small, portable turtle drum. The god of the day Ik' (Wind) is sometimes shown as a musician shaking rattles. Drums, whether slit-drums, kettle drums, or tall wooden drums, often started musical performances with specific rhythms. As Gerónimo de Mendieta wrote about music in New Spain, "when the dancers hear that the kettle drums start, they understand by their tone the song and the dance, and then start it."
According to Cogolludo, the holpop was not only the main singer who set the tune and taught songs, but also the person who looked after the musical instruments, especially the horizontal tunkul drums. In the Rabinal Achí, a Maya dance drama from the 16th century, the director of the show and music usually plays the ancient wooden slit-drum (tun), with two trumpets playing along.
The most complete picture of a Classic period musical performance is found on the walls of a Bonampak temple room (room 1). This painting from 791 AD shows a royal dance with twelve musicians. They are divided into groups: pairs of large rattles (5 players), a tall, vertical drum (1 player), large, portable turtle drums played with sticks (3 players), long trumpets (2 players), and a rattle and ocarina (1 player). The trumpets might have started the music, with the standing drum then taking the lead.
Group dances were very sacred to the Maya. Bishop Diego de Landa described how groups of men and women danced separately and had special musical ceremonies. Landa saw a dance where two men led the steps. One threw reeds at the other for him to catch, while both performed difficult dance moves. Landa also saw a sacred war dance where up to 800 men, carrying small banners, followed complex steps perfectly together. Some of the earliest known Maya dances were part of shamanistic rituals and involved altered states of mind. Dance might have been a way to give sacred beings life and a voice through the dancer's movements and songs. Combined with music and the smell of burning offerings, dance was often seen as a direct way for supernatural forces to appear.
Mayan Music Today
You can still hear traditional Maya music today in Yucatán and Chiapas. The tunkul (a slit drum) and the bulalek (water drum) are played in Yucatán during Christian religious festivals. The Tzotzil and Tzèltal are groups of Maya people in the highlands of Chiapas. They have kept many traditional Maya dances alive, often with a mix of native and European instruments.
One dance is the danza del agua (water dance) from San Juan Chamula. It's performed at Catholic ceremonies and is accompanied by a double-headed cylindrical drum and a 12-string guitar. Other dances in this region include the yojualelvinajil, played with a harp and 12-string guitar, and the quintajimoltic, a carnival dance with a single-headed drum and a cane flute. The drum is made from a clay pot with an animal skin covering its opening.
A regional music style called jarana is played today in Yucatán. Jarana has strong European roots, with brass bands and special rhythms. Jaranas are danced to honor patron saints at Christian festivals. They are also still performed at some Maya rituals to honor ancient Maya gods, like Chaac, the Maya god of rain. Christian practices have blended with Maya rituals.
Another music style is called son de maya pax, played in Quintana Roo. It uses violins, cornets, snare drums, and bass drums. In the Guatemalan highlands, Spanish music from the Colonial period has mixed with native Maya music. This blended music is used for dance plays and Maya community events that include dance, theater, and music. There are several types of highland Guatemalan dance plays, each with a different theme like conquest, hunting, or sacrifice. Today, these events are called bailes and are performed at the town's main church during festivals honoring saints.
One of these dances is the Kʼicheʼ Warrior Dance, which dates back to the Postclassic era. This dance was a pre-battle music and dance ceremony, accompanied by flutes and drums. It's believed that flutes, drums, and shells were played during battles in the Guatemalan highlands. Other dances include the deer dance, Baile del Venado, which combines an indigenous hunting theme with Western instruments like the marimba.
