Mexico’s pandero jarocho belongs to son jarocho, the music of Veracruz’s Sotavento region — a tradition built from the meeting of Spanish, African, and Indigenous influence. The pandero appears alongside the jarana (a small eight-string guitar), the requinto, and the harp as part of the standard son jarocho ensemble, and it’s almost always heard in the context of the fandango: an all-night community gathering built around a raised wooden platform, the tarima, where dancers’ zapateado footwork becomes part of the music itself. See the Pandero Jarocho page below.