Exploring Mexican Trumpets in Country Music

An interesting feature of some country music in the 50s and 60s was the appearance of Mexican trumpets. If you listen to songs such as El Paso by Marty Robbins and Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash, you'll know what I mean.

Trumpet Harmony

This style usually has two trumpets playing in harmony, either a third or a sixth apart.

• If you happen to play one of these songs, the chances are you're not going to have two trumpets in the band.
• Therefore, you will be required to sound like two trumpets, which can be quite fun.
• This feel will also work in a lot of other songs.

The Scale of Sixths

One important concept to understand is the scale of sixths.

• For the key of G, the scale starts on G with the B below it.
• As the upper scale goes up, the lower scale goes up at the same time.

It will sound like this, both going up and coming down.

If you spend a few weeks learning this scale and memorizing it, you'll find it extremely useful for harmonizing without needing to think about it.

• Once your fingers know where to go, if you play a melody, your fingers will automatically know how to put the harmony in.
• This makes it really worth spending time on.

Triplets and Full Sound

When it comes to Mexican trumpets, my knowledge of mariachi might be quite limited, but I believe there are a lot of triplets involved.

• What we get is a big, full sound that is easier to achieve than it seems, provided you've mastered those double stops in the scale of sixths.

Assignment

Let's hear that with the backing for your assignment.

Try working out a similar trumpet part for:

• Red River Valley
• Yellow Rose of Texas