What it is, what to hear first, and what sits next to it.
The ranchera is traditional music of Mexico originally sung by only one person with a guitar in the times of the Mexican Revolution. Years later it became closely associated with the mariachi groups which evolved in Jalisco in the post-revolutionary period. Rancheras are also played today by norteño (conjunto) or banda. Drawing on rural traditional folklore, the ranchera was conceived as a symbol of a new national consciousness in reaction to the aristocratic tastes of that era. .