Music

Guatemalan culture comes to life with sound throughout the six weeks of lent, especially during Semana Santa, when celebration processions are at their height. Groups of people are accompanied by somber wind and percussion music as they drag heavy floats around the town. Usually, there are also lots of crosses, costumes, and incense.

The Maya played a range of wind and percussion instruments, according to what is known about their music. The wind instruments, which mostly comprised of whistles and ocarinas, a miniature flute, were fashioned of cane or bone. Wooden drums covered in deer hides, rattles, and guiros—open-ended gourds that can be stroked to produce a ratcheting sound—were among the percussion instruments used.

The marimba is the musical instrument most associated with Guatemala. The existence of marimbas is first recorded in the late 17th century in what is now Antigua. These resemble huge xylophones in appearance, although they are primarily made of wood. Diatonic wooden bar rows are struck with mallets by several players, typically three or four.