Rancheras

Una canción ranchera es un género musical popular de la música mexicana. Ampliamente ligada con los mariachis.
Sus orígenes datan del siglo XIX, pero fue desarrollado en el teatro nacionalista del período post-revolucionario de 1910 y se convirtió en el ícono de la expresión popular de México, un símbolo del país, que fue difundido con gran éxito por varios países latinoamericanos especialmente gracias al cine mexicano de las décadas de 1940, 1950, 1960 y 1970, causando profundo arraigo entre los sectores populares y medios.
Los cantantes profesionales de este género desarrollaron un estilo extremadamente emocional, una de cuyas características consiste en sostener largamente una nota al final de una estrofa o línea, culminando en una "terminación fundida".
"La Reina de las Rancheras" es como se le bautizó a la española Rocío Dúrcal por su gran forma interpretativa y ser la mujer que más llevó la música mexicana a todo el mundo. Le han considerado "La española más mexicana".

En cuanto a las letras, predominaron en un comienzo las historias populares relacionadas con la Revolución mexicana, la vida campesina, los caballos, la familia, los bares y cantinas y las tragedias amorosas. Posteriormente las temáticas se han centrado especialmente en el amor de pareja y como sucede con todo ritmo que se "internacionaliza", su capacidad para contar historias populares se ha debilitado por cuenta de la presión de los productores musicales.
Las rancheras han llegado a ser uno de los géneros más representativos de la música latinoamericana, evolucionando desde el escenario local y campesino hasta la conquista internacional.
Representantes famosos del género han sido por ejemplo Lorenzo Barcelata, Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Tito Guízar, Miguel Aceves Mejía, José Alfredo Jiménez,Javier Solís, Antonio Aguilar (años 30-60) y en las décadas de 1970-90 Vicente Fernández y su hijo Alejandro Fernández.Entre las damas, se destacan Lucha Reyes, Matilde Sánchez "LA Torcacita", María de los Ángeles Muñoz "La Panchita", María de los Ángeles Loya "La Consentida", Irma Vila, Manolita Arriola, Lola Beltrán, Lucha Villa, María de Lourdes, Chayito Valdez, Chelo Silva, Amalia Mendoza "La Tariácuri" , Chavela Vargas y la cantante española Rocío Dúrcal.
Traditional rancheras are about love, patriotism or nature. Rhythms can be in 3/4, 2/4 or 4/4, reflecting the tempo of, respectively, the waltz, the polka, and the bolero. Songs are usually in a major key, and consist of an instrumental introduction, verse and refrain, instrumental section repeating the verse, and another verse and refrain, with a tag ending. Instrumentation may include guitars, strings, trumpets, and/or accordions, depending on the type of ensemble being utilised. Besides the typical instrumentation, ranchera music, as well as many other forms of traditional Mexican music, is also noted for the grito mexicano, a yell that is done at musical interludes within a song, either by the musicians and/or the listening audience.

The normal musical pattern of rancheras is a/b/a/b. Rancheras usually begin with an instrumental introduction (a). The first lyrical portion then begins (b), with instrumental adornments interrupting the lines in between. The instruments then repeat the theme again, and then the lyrics may either be repeated or begin a new set of words. One also finds the form a/b/a/b/c/b used, in which the intro(a) is played, followed by the verse(b). This form is repeated, and then a refrain(c) is added, ending with the verse.
The most popular ranchera composers include Lucha Reyes, Cuco Sánchez, Antonio Aguilar,Vicente Fernandez and José Alfredo Jiménez, who composed many of the best-known rancheras, with compositions totaling more than 1000 songs, making him one of the most prolific songwriters in the history of western music.

Another closely related style of music is the corrido, which is often played by the same ensembles that regularly play rancheras. The corrido, however, is apt to be an epic story about heroes and villains, whereas rancheras may not necessarily be heroic ballads, and also vary more in terms of tempo. However, two notable exceptions to this rule are the songs, 'Corrido de Chihuahua' and the 'Corrido de Monterrey', which are considered rancheras in spite of their names. Their lyrics are concerned with patriotism for the states of Chihuahua and Nuevo León, respectively.
The word ranchera was derived from the word rancho because the songs originated on the ranches and in the countryside of rural Mexico. Rancheras that have been adapted by conjuntos, or norteño bands from northern Mexico and the southwestern US, are sometimes called norteños, from the Spanish word for northern.

Ranchera (pronounced: [ranˈtʃeɾa]) is a genre of the traditional music of Mexico originally sung by only one performer with a guitar. It dates to the years of the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. It later became closely associated with the mariachi groups which evolved in Jalisco. Ranchera today is also played by norteño (or Conjunto) or banda. Drawing on rural traditional folk music, ranchera developed as a symbol of a new national consciousness in reaction to the aristocratic tastes of the period. The greatest exponents of ranchera are Antonio Aguilar, Flor Silvestre, Amalia Mendoza, Lucha Villa, Cuco Sanchez, Rocío Dúrcal, José Alfredo Jiménez, Lola Beltrán, Vicente Fernández, Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete, and Javier Solís.