The music of Guatemala is diverse. Music is played all over the country. Towns also have wind and percussion bands that play during the lent and Easter-week processions as well as on other occasions. The marimba is an important instrument in Guatemalan traditional songs. The oldest documented use of marimba in the Americas dates to 1680 during celebrations at Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala.
Guatemala also has an almost five-century-old tradition of art music, spanning from the first liturgical chant and polyphony introduced in 1524 to contemporary art music. Much of the music composed in Guatemala from the 16th century to the 19th century has only recently been unearthed by scholars and is being revived by performers.
Mayan music Much of what is known about how the ancient Mayans created and played music comes from the iconography that is preserved in the ceremonial pieces of mural art, or codices. One example is found in the ancient Maya archaeological site of Bonampak, Mexico, where there are walls showing artwork of a group of Mayan warriors playing long trumpets, as portrayed in the Mayan theatrical play Rabinal Achí.
Many kinds of instruments were used, but they essentially broke down into two categories, being wind instruments (aerophones) and percussion instruments (idiophones). The wind instrument family consisted of cane and bone flutes, different types of whistles, ocarinas of various designs, and other sibilant vessels. For percussion instruments, the Mayans crafted wooden drums with membranes made from the hides of deer or jaguar. They also made rattles, güiros, and other idiophones using the shells of snails and tortoises. One of these percussion instruments called the “tunkul” (or sometimes just “tun”) is still seen in Guatemala today. It is made from a hollow tree trunk with an H-shaped incision whose resulting tongues are hit with rudimentary drumsticks.
The music the Mayans played was performed and danced to during festivities and rituals, usually in celebration of (or to communicate with) the gods that they worshiped. It appears that each god had their date or holiday, with its accompanying ceremonies and special music.
Marimba
The marimba's first documentary evidence of existence comes from an account in front of the cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala, present-day Antigua Guatemala, in 1680. Later, historian Juan Domingo Juarros mentioned and described it in his Compendium of the History of Guatemala. The instrument may be probably much older, as an attempt at recreating an older West African instrument, and could have been introduced by Afro-Caribbean slaves as early as 1550.
By the early 20th century, wooden box resonators had replaced the gourd resonators. Modern marimba bands include a smaller marimba for three players, a larger marimba for four players, plus a drum kit or other percussion and a string bass. Some bands have occasionally employed one or two saxophones, as well as one or two trumpets and a trombone.
Much of the older repertoire of salon music was learned and adopted by the marimba bands, while a sizable amount of new dance pieces was newly composed for the marimba by such composers and marimba players as Domingo Bethancourt (1906–82), the Ovalle brothers, the Hurtado brothers, as well as the famous Mariano Valverde (1884–1956), Wotzbelí Aguilar (1897–1940) and Belarmino Molina (1879–1950), to name but a few. Singer Paco Pérez (1917–1951) was catapulted to fame with his waltz "Luna de Xelajú", one of the best-known marimba pieces which is regarded by many Guatemalans as a sort of unofficial national anthem.
Types of marimbas
Marimba de Tecomates
This musical instrument is from Chichicastenango and it is made of palo de hormigo, a type of wood used for marimba manufacture, and pumpkins (tecomates). This type of marimba is played by a single person who is requested to liven up concerts of the brotherhood from Chichicastenango. Marimbas have many sizes and shapes and that is what makes this instrument so unique.
Marimba Simple
The soundboards of the marimba simple are made of wood such as cedar or cypress. It is tuned according to the key, and with a membrane glued with wax at the lower end, which allows the “charlco” (marimba stick) to facilitate the prolongation of the sound. The construction of the first marimba was diatonic, related to a key, and because it is easy to play it was called Marimba Simple. Sometimes the performers want a different sound so to get a “flattened” sound, the performers would stick a small ball of wax at one end of the keyboard, which flattens the sound down by a half tone. To marimba players this technique is called “transport”, and it is very common to see this technique applied to the marimba simple.
Arch or Ring Marimba
The arch marimba was probably the first, followed by a simple instrument with a diatonic row of wood bars played with mallets, with gourd resonators, placed on a wooden a stand. In 1894 came a major breakthrough when Julián Paniagua Martínez and Sebastián Hurtado developed the chromatic marimba by adding to the diatonic row of sound bars, comparable to the white keys of the piano, a second row equivalent to the black keys.
Marimba concert
The marimba concert is played by several musicians at a time. It was created when the Directorate General of Culture and Fine Arts belonged to the Ministry of Education. Master Lester Godinez was its first music director and Professor Ruben Alfonso Ramirez served as Director General of the administrative unit authorized for operation as of May 1, 1979. Its co-founders were Otoniel Godinez (assistant director), Alfonso Bautista Vasquez, Roberto Garcia, Gérman Amilcar Corzo, Manuel Toribio, Fidel Funes, Mario Bautista Vásquez and Erick Godoy Cámbara.
Chromatic Marimba
Chromatic Marimba is the standard marimba known worldwide. Developed in the southeast of Mexico and Guatemala inspired by the science of the marimba simple. It has the same functionality as the marimba simple but the difference is the chromaticism that this instrument has. This marimba is chromatic because you can have all 12 notes of the scale.
Marimba Cuache or Marimba Doble
This marimba was built with a double keyboard, one larger than the other representing the basic idea of the piano keys. It is very versatile to play and 3 or 4 performers can play it at the same time. This gives the performance more color and the whole spectrum of the high, mid and low register is used throughout the performance.
Lord Sebastian Hurtado, a native of Quetzaltenango, was the first person to build a marimba with a double keyboard, capable of producing chromatic scales around the beginning of the 20th century. Its construction was a suggestion of the musician Julian Paniagua Martinez. The first concert featuring a marimba doble in the City of Guatemala was in the year 1899, on the birthday of President Manuel Estrada Cabrera, where the Hurtado brothers gave a show for the president and all were very pleased with the result and versatility of the performance.
Marimba grande
The marimba grande is the larger of the two keyboards that make up the double marimba (marimba doble). It reflects the representative style in the construction of instruments from Guatemala. It is fully hand-made and the variety of wood they use gives this marimba a warm sound. Although over time, builders have added some metal support reinforcements to the structure of the marimba to make it more durable and stable. This instrument has a range of six octaves, from F-sharp to B-natural. The bars range in size from 5 inches x 3 / 4 to 15 x 3 inches. The instrument is 8.3 feet long and 9 inches wide at the lower end.
Caribbean and Tropical music During the mid‑20th century, Caribbean and tropical music genres spread widely across Central America, significantly influencing popular taste in countries like Guatemala. Radio broadcasts, television, migration, port‑city trade, and touring orchestras brought sounds from the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Colombia into everyday life. Dance styles such as salsa (promoted by Fania Records), soca, cumbia (by Aniceto Molina), punta, and merengue (led by Wilfrido Vargas) quickly became part of Guatemala’s music scene, blending with local traditions and inspiring the formation of domestic bands.
Punta and the Garifuna Community
Punta, a lively music and dance style, comes from the Garifuna community along the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Known for its fast drum rhythms, and call-and-response singing. Punta has been an important way for the Garifuna people to preserve their culture and traditions. By 1978, Punta Rock emerged, blending traditional Punta with modern instruments like electric guitars and keyboards, bringing the music to a wider audience. The genre gained international attention with hits like “Sopa de Caracol”, by neighboring Belizean artist Hernan “Chico" Ramos , which introduced Punta rhythms to listeners around the world and inspired many Guatemalan musicians to incorporate them into popular music.
Merengue and Soca
By the late 1970's, Merengue, brought to Central America from the Dominican Republic, quickly became a major influence in Guatemala’s tropical music scene. Its lively, danceable rhythms blended naturally with Soca, a fast-paced genre originating in Trinidad and Tobago, producing a fusion that energized parties and festivals across the country. This combination inspired the formation of several Guatemalan bands, including Grupo Rana, La Gran Familia, FM de Zacapa, and Tormenta, who incorporated Soca’s syncopated beats into Merengue frameworks. Notably, Grupo Rana maintained direct ties with Dominican Merengue legend Wilfrido Vargas, creator of the iconic group Las Chicas del Can. Most of these bands released their music through DIDECA, S.A. (Discos de Centroamérica, S.A.), a Guatemalan record company credited primarily with manufacturing and distribution. DIDECA operated a widespread Central American network of affiliated companies, ensuring that tropical music reached audiences across the region. Additionally, the beloved Guatemalan waltz "Luna de Xelajú," composed by Paco Pérez in 1944, was later covered by Grupo Rana and transformed into a famous merengue hit, which would subsequently be recorded by Wilfrido Vargas on his 1987 album El Baile, as well as another Grupo Rana hit, "Socaribe," which he included on his 1989 album Animation.
Salsa
Salsa also played a central role in Guatemala’s musical landscape, guided by domestic bands such as Ensamble Latino. These groups drew inspiration from Colombian ensembles like Grupo Niche, neighboring Nicaraguan salsa artist Luis Enrique, and groups such as Adolescent's Orquesta, as well as international labels like Fania Records, which helped circulate salsa throughout Latin America. Puerto Rican salsa singer Willie González was also a major inspiration for the group’s romantic and melodic approach. Ensamble Latino solidified its presence through a steady run of releases under DIDECA, S.A, beginning with Salsa Y Sabor (1989), followed by La Maxima Expresion De La Salsa (1990), La Generacion De La Salsa (1991), and Con Salsa Si (1992). Guatemalan salsa bands adapted these diverse influences to local tastes, creating vibrant performances that blended traditional tropical rhythms with the syncopated, horn-driven energy of Caribbean salsa.
European classical music tradition
The field of music, otherwise known as "classical music", includes various musical styles such as Renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, 20th-century music, and post-modern music. Guatemala was one of the first regions of the New World to be exposed to European music. The Spanish missionaries and clergy introduced Flemish and Spanish liturgical music during the early 16th century as part of the Roman Catholic rite.