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TucSon Jarocho: Versos to learn each other

Dr. Esteban Hernández Parra, Assistant Professor of Viola

Dr. Gabriela Ocádiz Velázquez, Assistant Professor of Music Education

School of Music, University of Arizona

3rd Bilingual Initiatives Symposium

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El Siquisirí

Divino cielo te ruego

Permiso para cantar

Permiso para cantar

En O’odham sacred land

Me preparo y luego luego

Comienzo por saludar

Comienzo por saludar

Agua, tierra, viento y fuego

Ay que si que si que no…

Traigo la brisa en la voz

Que desde otras tierras sopla

Voy a cantar una copla

Porque estoy acostumbrada

Primero a pedir licencia

Primero a pedir licencia

A donde quiera que he llegado

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Son Jarocho

Sotavento Region, Mexico

Indigenous and Afroandalúz

Centuries of oral transmission and survival

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Land-based/Land-driven

Positionality

Code-switching/Multi-musicalities

Borderlands

Land-grant and Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)

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Multi-musicalities of Son Jarocho

  • Declarar and descantar
  • Mayoreado and menoreado
  • Do - CM
  • ¡Uno!
  • Improvisación de versada
  • Tarima
    • Mnemotechnics – “Café con Pan”

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Sonoran Desert, Tucson, AZ

Communities of Practice

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Bridge and Re-connect with the University

Musical Communities

Academic Music

Son Jarocho

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Bi-musicality (Hood, 1960; Kang, 2025)

  • Academically trained musicians:
    • Tend to “correct” unfamiliar intervals and pitches.
    • Find it difficult to learn music relying on tonal memory.
    • Struggle to perceive and imitate irregular rhythmic structures, microtonal inflections, and unique ornaments.

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TucSon Jarocho, Learning Community

Culturally Responsive Musicians and Educators

Connect and re-connect with their communities in schools, university and community settings.

Sense of pride of ability to code-switch musically, verbally and pedagogically

Co-teach

In multiple ways: bi-musically, and bilingually

Co-learn

Multiple ways of knowing, being and doing

Connect and Re-connect

Son Jarocho musicians in Mexico and in the United States

Perform, present and re-envision

Teaching and learning praxis and musical performance of son jaroch

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En la Frontera…

Adaptable/Socially Responsive

Migrante y Cambiante

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La Bamba

1

Chicanx

Richie Valens, California, United States Permanence

2

Mexico

Pablo Campechano, Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz Flexibility

3

La Frontera

TucSon Jarocho, Tucson, Arizona Continuity and Change

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¡Gracias!�eshernandezparra@arizona.edugocadiz@arizona.edu��https://tucsonjarocho.weebly.com/