The mariachi typifies Mexican popular music. The first mariachi bands appeared in the state of Jalisco in the eighteenth  century. Mariachi bands are made up of eight players or more, with  guitars, violins, trumpets, and a singer. They play on special holidays or at  parties. Mariachis and smaller bands called Trios (a group of  three people) also play "serenades", a very romantic type of  song.

Bands are regularly hired  by men to accompany them as they sing serenades outside the house of their girlfriends, on birthdays, to end a quarrel, or for other special reasons. The  girlfriend turns on her bedroom light to show she is listening. The origin of the word "Mariachi" is stemming from the French word "mariage" (wedding).