The huēhuētl is a

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

instrument from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, used by the

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

s and other cultures. It is an upright tubular

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

made from a wooden body opened at the bottom that stands on three legs cut from its base, with skin stretched over the top. It can be beaten by hand or wood

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. General overview The term is descriptive of the ...

Description

This ancient percussion instrument originated from

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

and was often used by the Aztecs and Tarascan. The huehuetl were used during festivals such as warrior gatherings. The drum itself is made from hollowed tree trunks and thus, came in different sizes. Carvings of animals, faces or warriors were also often carved into the base of the drum. The skin used for the top of the drum was mainly from

ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, ...

s. Currently, there are still groups of musicians who use huehuetls to perform Aztec music.

Terminology

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; width: 800px; height: 25px;" ! colspan="3", Terminology''Nahuatl dictionary.'' (1997). Wired humanities project. Retrieved August 31, 2012, fro
link
!colspan="3", 1st Component !colspan="3", 2nd Component , - ! English ! Nahuatl ! IPA ! English ! Nahuatl ! IPA ! English ! Nahuatl ! IPA , - , drum , huēhuētl , , old (

adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...

) , huēhuē , , singular noun suffix , -tl , , - , medium size drum , panhuēhuētl , , - , large drum , tlālpanhuēhuētl , , on the ground or
throughout the country , tlālpan , , drum , huēhuētl , , - , war drum , yāōhuēhuētl , , war , yāōtl , , drum , huēhuētl , , - , huēhuētl drummer , huēhuēhuah , , - , drumming , tlatzotzonalli , , - , to drum , tlatzotzona , , - , musical instrument , tlatzotzonalōni , {{IPA, nah, t͡ɬat͡sot͡sonaˈloːni}

Gallery

File:Huehuetl.jpg, ''Huēhuētl'' drawing in an ancient manuscript. File:Huehuetl Codex Magliabecchi page 060.png, ''huēhuētl'' from page 060 of the Codex Magliabecchi File:DrummerAmeca.JPG, Nahua stick drummer

Description

Terminology

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading