SAN FERNANDO : Pupils Learn the ABCs of Mariachi Music

With violins tucked under their chins and trumpets in their hands, San Fernando Elementary School students eager to learn how to play mariachi music paid careful attention to their first lesson.

“You’ve got to stand just right,” said Luis Salinas, a professional trumpet and violin player with Mariachi Sol de Mexico, as the students straightened their backs. “Now, big smiles. Just look happy. You guys already look like players.”

Salinas started teaching mariachi classes this week at San Fernando Elementary under a $6,000 grant provided by the South El Monte-based Mariachi Heritage Society, a nonprofit organization aimed at keeping the traditional Mexican music alive. San Fernando Elementary is the first school in the San Fernando Valley to offer such classes; the mariachi organization funds similar programs at schools in East Los Angeles and Pico Rivera.

“I see a lot of enthusiasm. I feel really happy their teachers and parents are encouraging them to learn about their roots, their culture, their music,” said Salinas, who estimated that the students may be ready to perform in five months.

Many of the 60 students in grades four to six who signed up for the weekly classes are learning to play an instrument for the first time. Others, who have played for the school’s orchestra or drum corps, are simply expanding their musical repertoire.

“I wanted to try something new,” said Roy Chavez, 12, a sixth-grader who is trading in a spot on the drum corps for the chance to play a guitarron , a stringed instrument that resembles a guitar. “It’s fun.”

Rosa Jimenez, a bilingual coordinator at the school, said the classes not only teach students musical skills, they can also help keep students interested in attending school. “This is going to be an incentive for them. This is going to help their self-esteem,” she said.

Midway through his lesson, Salinas encouraged the violin players to tilt their heads and keep their instruments steady as they move their bows. “I need you to practice this 10 minutes each day. Can you do that for me?” Salinas asked the students.

After it was over, 9-year-old Marisol Cervantes said her first time out was difficult but fun. “I like the noise. I like how you move (the bow) and how the instrument is shaped,” the fourth-grader said.