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The instrument is of prehistoric American origin. The word maraca is thought to have originally come from the Tupi language of Brazil, although it was borrowed into English by way of Portuguese, where it is pronounced 'ma-ra-KAH'.
Maracas are heard in many forms of Latin American music and are also used in pop and classical music. The are considered characteristic of the music of Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil. In rock and roll, they are identified with Bo Diddley, who employed perhaps rock music's only full-time maracas player, Jerome Green , subject of the song "Bring it to Jerome".
Although a simple instrument, the method of playing the maracas is not obvious. Because the seeds must travel some distance before they strike the gourd to make a sound, the player cannot shake them on the beat, but must anticipate the beat.
Related instruments include the Cuban guiro, the caxixiA caxixi is a percussion instrument consisting of a closed basket with a flat-bottom filled with seeds or other small particles. The caxixi is an indirectly struck idiophone. Commonly, especially in Capoeira music, the caxixi is played along with the beri- 'ka-shee-SHEE', the ganzaThe Ganza is a particular type of rattle used as a percussion musical instrument. Ganzas are cylindrically shaped, and can be either hand-woven baskets, or made of a metal sheet. The ganza is an indirectly struck idiophone. See also: Caxixi Brazilian perc- 'gan-ZAH', and the ipusThe Ipus is a traditional percussion instrument from Hawaii. The ipus is a type of gourd drum that ranges from 10 to 16 inches (25. 6 cm) in length; it can either be shaped as an oblong cylinder or like a bulb. Percussion instruments.- 'ai-PUS'.