The History of Maracas

Series Summary

At first shake, it seems that anyone can play the maracas. However, they are deceivingly difficult. These instruments are usually played in pairs, and it can be tricky to keep a constant rhythm on them. Maracas have an old and ancient history. Deriving from prehistoric Moroccan origin, ancient societies poured seeds into dried gourd or coconut shells. An instant percussion instrument, maracas are used in a variety of music. Anyone from children to accomplished musicians will find that shaking these little rhythm makers is both fun and entertaining.

In this free video series, learn how to play the maracas. Our percussion expert, Aaron Bland, shows you different techniques for playing this musical instrument. Learn the history and common construction of maracas. Also, learn how to play different pulses, rhythms, and rolls on maracas. If you are looking to advance your marockin' abilities, learn how to play sixteenth notes on the maracas. So, if you are interested in learning how to play the maracas, take some time, and watch this free video series today!

Video Transcript

"Hi I?m Aaron Bland on behalf of Expert Village and I?m going to talk to you a little about the history and construction of maracas. This is a Brazilian instrument actually comes from the word Maraca from the Tupi tribe in south western Brazil. Traditionally these were made of dried calabash, or goard, or coconut shells and filled with dried beans or seeds and pretty much put on a stick that?s what pretty much your maraca is a shaker on stick its a rattle. Baby's first instrument right here. Now most of these today are made of plastic just for there durability and inside they got plastic pellets or plastic kind of cylindrical shaped things. I?ve opened up a couple of these and its really a total mystery depending on what the manufacturer puts in it. I wouldn?t recommend trying it. Unless your that curious and want to buy another set of maracas. But I?ve got these cool plastic ones and they totally do the trick a lot of times one would be a little higher in pitch than the other either because there tuned that way or because no two coconuts were made exactly the same way. But either way, hear this one's got a little bit of a higher pitch to it just for some distinction. I?ve also got a smaller set of maracas that I?m going to demonstrate later as well. Again a higher pitch than the bigger sounding maracas or the bigger pitch sounding maracas."