1. Musical link – Tone color

Similarities:

One of the links that appears very clearly after listening to both pieces is the tone colour and therefore the instrumentation. If the instruments used are analysed in both pieces it can be seen that they are not exactly the same, but their tone colour is very similar and for amateurs there might not even be a difference in sound.

The exact instruments used in the Mariachi piece are violins, played Arco and Pizzicato, the guitarron, the guitar and trumpets. In the Bavarian Folk piece there are brass instruments, like the tuba and trombone, the accordion, clarinet and the dulcimer.

The tone colour of every single instrument of one piece can be linked together with the tone colour of an instrument in the other piece:

Instruments in Mariachi piece	Instruments in Bavarian Folk piece	Description of tone colour
Arco Violins                à	Accordion	Strong, warm, clear, full, resonant
Pizzicato Violins       à	Dulcimer	Clear, choppy, rhythmic, light, percussive
Trumpet                      à	Trombone, Clarinet	Loud, resonant, brassy, clear, harsh, strong, shrill, full
Guitarron                    à	Tuba	Dark, soft, strong, rhythmic, rounded, full

The table matches the instruments from both pieces together that have a similar tone colour and therefore have the same role in the production of the tone colour in the pieces.

Since both pieces have Polka roots, they are played at the same or similar occasions; therefore they are supposed to deliver the same mood by their tone colour.

Differences:
In both pieces there are two different main sections, in terms of tone colour. One of them is string heavy and has the clear, warm, resonant and full sound of string instruments in Pizzicato and in Arco in the foreground. The other one is wind heavy and has the bright, brassy, buzzy and rounded sound in the foreground that is produced by the multiple wind instruments.