5 Free Sheet Music Downloads Celebrating Hispanic Heritage

Hispanic Heritage Month pays tribute to generations of Hispanic Americans and their positive influence on culture and society, and we're celebrating with 5 Free Sheet Music Downloads!

Meet the 5 Compositions

El Jarabe Tapatío

Best known as “The Mexican Hat Dance,” El Jarabe Tapatío is the official dance of Mexico and has a rich history that dates back hundreds of years!

Jarabe, which translates to syrup, is a term of endearment like calling someone your “sweetie” and is also the generic name for this style of courtship dance. Los Tapatíos are natives of Jalisco, a Mexican state on the Pacific coast. During the dance, the man throws his most prized possession, his sombrero, on the floor. The woman accepts him when she dances on its brim and puts the hat on her own head. (Source)

El Jarabe Tapatío is one of those pieces that quietly does a lot of work. The harmony stays grounded in the tonic-dominant relationship, moving between the I and V chords, which makes it approachable for younger students while still giving them something real to listen for. Melodically, it stretches across the full bell range from low A up to high D, and along the way there are descending runs, arpeggios, and those little semitone approaches that make the melody feel alive rather than mechanical.

The rhythm is where it gets interesting. Eighth notes and syncopation in compound duple meter means students are navigating something genuinely complex without necessarily realizing it. That's the kind of piece worth spending time on.

This arrangement is in F major and includes note names and solfège, plus an MP3 track.

Play along with our Boomwhacker Colored Performance Track for "El Jarabe Tapatío"

 

Buenos Días

Buenos Días is the first Prodigies video to feature a Spanish language song! This popular classroom tune is great for a warmup or welcome song.

 

Los Pollitos Dicen

Los Pollitos Dicen or “The Little Chicks Say” is a classic Spanish Nursery Rhyme whose popularity is similar to that of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in English. It’s sung in the households of many Spanish speaking countries from Mexico to Ecuador and Spain but its author is Chilean teacher, poet and musician Ismael Parraguez. Parraguez was prolific in his short life, writing books, hymns and children’s songs that have been absorbed into a global culture and celebrated more than 100 years later.

The lyrics of Los Pollitos Dicen feature an onomatopoeia, a word formed from a sound. The little chicks say, “pío pío” or “chirp chirp,” the sound a baby bird might make. We found quite a few variations on the melody and the backing harmony so we’ve combined our favorite elements and transposed it to a key that works well with the deskbells. This arrangement is in the key of G and has fun melodic leaps, Spanish lyrics and both movable and fixed do Solfège hand-signs.

Lyrics:

Los pollitos dicen (The little chicks say)
pío, pío, pío (chirp, chirp, chirp)
cuando tienen hambre (when they are hungry)
cuando tienen frío (when they are cold)

La gallina busca (The mother hen looks for)
el maíz y el trigo (corn and wheat)
les da la comida (she gives them food)
y les presta abrigo (And grants them shelter)

 

La Cucaracha

La Cucaracha originally comes from Spain, but has been widely adapted throughout Mexican history. This song is often a vessel for describing or satirizing the current politics of the time. The lyrics cleverly mask the song’s message, using aspects of a fable.

La Cucaracha has evolved over the course of a century, with references dating back to the Mexican Revolution. We’ve kept it much simpler with a repeating line about a cockroach that can’t walk because it lost its two hind legs. If the melody seems jarring at first, take note of the time signature. This version is arranged in 3/4 time though, most people are probably familiar with the song in 4/4. La Cucaracha is arranged in the key of F Major with lyrics + solfège. It features great melodic leaps, scale patterns and a song form that you’ll want to repeat all day, olé!

 

Sobre las Olas

Historically, waltzes are often associated with European composers like Beethoven, Brahms and the “Waltz King,” composer Johann Strauss II. However, there’s another culture that is synonymous with this style, vals Mexicano or Mexican waltzes. One of the most famous waltz composers in Mexico was Juventino Rosas.

Similar to Minuet in G, “Sobre las Olas” had long been attributed to the wrong composer, in this case Strauss had been given credit. Despite this spurious claim, Rosas’ piece gained international fame and was the subject of a 1950 biopic film. It has been largely appropriated by country/western artists and has been featured on albums by Willie Nelson, Chet Atkins and The Beach Boys. Sobre las Olas is in the key of C major and features double stops, a chromatic melody and tied notes. This version includes standard notation, ukulele tab & MP3 backing download.

Want more musical goodness to share with your kiddos? Browse our free Prodigies PDF resources for printable sheet music you can sing, hand-sign and play together all year long.