Guitarron
The heartbeat of the modern mariachi group is the Guitarron. The guitarron is a very large guitar-like instrument with a short neck, six strings, no frets on the fingerboard and a belly in the back. The guitarron appeared during the 1800’s and 4 and 5 string versions also existed.
The guitarron is played two strings in occtave like the harp which gives a similar sound; The guitarron has come to replace the harp due to its’ portability and louder tone. The modern guitarron is tuned to A-D-G-C-E-A with a range of about an octave and 1/2. The function of this chordophone in the mariachi group is to provide the bass line and to cue chord progressions.