1. : a small, strolling, Mexican band consisting usually of trumpeters, guitarists, and violinists. also : a musician belonging to such a band. often used before another noun. 2.

The music originated in the center-west of Mexico. Most claims for its origin lie in the state of Jalisco but neighboring states of Colima, Nayarit, and Michoacán have also claimed it.

The mariachi music is of the country people, it celebrates their struggles, joys and growth of the people. Mariachi music is often present at important events and celebrations in the lives of the Latino people. It is common to listen to the mariachis at baptisms, weddings, on holidays, and even at funerals.

The mariachi orchestra emerged in the late 1700s or early 1800s in west-central Mexico. The word mariachi may have come from the now-extinct language of the Coca Indians, but both the word's etymology and the early history of the form and its followers are unknown.