Tololoche

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Tololoche" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The tololoche is a traditional musical instrument from southern Mexico. Its name comes from "tolo loch", from the Mayan language: tolo (bull) and loch (embraced), which would later become tololoche. It is a variant of the European double bass, though sightly smaller, and is still large enough to produce low-pitched sounds. It has three^[1] or four strings, and is plucked with the fingers (pizzicato). It is purely a folk instrument, and not used in classical music.

In northern Mexico it is used in Fara Fara and norteño music. These styles include the accordion, snare drum, tololoche, saxophone, guitar or bajo sexto. It is used by musicians playing in bars and taverns in northern cities, and is also used by university student musicians in Guanajuato playing traditional songs for callejoneadas. The tololoche became established in the north of Mexico as indispensable to the interpretation of regional music and less awkward than the classical double-bass to transport.

The instrument is purely acoustic, and its role has gradually been replaced by electric instruments such as the electric bass. In the 1950s, modern instruments such as the drum set and the electric bass began to take the place of the tambor de rancho and tololoche, respectively.^[2] However, musicians and composers have returned to the tololoche for consistency within the field of traditional music.