There are many styles of music coming out of Mexico right now, each with their own style of hat. Luckily we had Jazmin explain it all to us.

Banda – has all the brass, your string instruments, your wind instruments – like you were playing with a full band. It includes everything and it’s a little bit more. La Banda el Recodo – that would be one of the most popular bands in the genre.

Norteno - you have your drums, your drum set, your accordion, the guitar, but no piano.  A bajo sexto (sp) which is a 12 string guitar but it has like a different sound, more like a let’s see…it just sounds a little bit more deep sound, the 12 string.  And it also uses an alto saxophone.  The tempo is very upbeat. It’s very rhythmic.  That would be a band like Primavera.

Duranguese – would be Jazmin Lopez!  It’s only drums, bass drum, piano and saxophones. Most Durangueses have like two or three keyboard players, no bass guitar because the bass is played on the keyboard, and the harmony is played on the keyboard as well. No guitar, no accordion. Some people have called it circus music because it’s very, very fast tempo, but it doesn’t have the typical instruments of other bands.

Mariachi - is of course trumpets. You have your string instruments, your violins, some people have the harp, the violins, your guitars, and the trumpets. Some people have trombones. And the little chelas. It’s all acoustic instruments and that’s pretty much what it is.

The typical hat is your cowboy hat.  That is universal and it will go with anything, but it depends – depending on the genre how you shape your hat.  For the regular Norteno it’s a little crested, but the Duranguese, that’s like freaking wearing like a taco hat. Banda – they don’t use hats.

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