A Cowboy and an Accordion Walk Into a Bar: Mexican Ranchera Music

We open with a worn and weathered cowboy, sitting by the fire after a long day’s work. As he watches the light fade from the sky with the setting sun, he reaches for his guitar, singing and playing of the only things he knows: his life, his love, his home, and his history. 

Sounds like the beginning of an insanely cheesy yet absolutely gut-wrenching movie, right? Well, with emotion and the story-telling of the working class, it also just happens to be what Mexico’s Ranchera (aka Norteño) music is all about! 

Ranchera, as you may have guessed by now, originated on the ranches of Mexico. What you probably didn't guess is that it pre-dates the Mexican Revolution, which started in 1910. However, it was after the revolution ended in 1917 that Ranchera music really began to take flight. This was due to the new “sense of national identity” found after the Mexican Revolution because of, well, revolution-- but it was also a byproduct of the movement of many rural Mexicans into more urban areas who seemed to serve as a reminder of history and heritage to those who had long ago left the countryside behind. 

                          Vicente Fernández - Mujeras Divinas (En Vivo)

But, of course, Ranchera music didn’t just spring up out of nowhere. It actually takes its origins from Son Mexicano, a style of Mexican folk music which dates all the way back to the 17th-18th century. Son Mexicano is not only a blend of several different cultures, taking inspiration from African music, the music of those indigenous to Mexico, as well as the folk music of Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela, but it also varies from region to region, giving us several offshoots, such as Son Jaliscenses, Son Jarocho, and Son Huasteco. While, as stated previously, each regional style is different (mainly in instrumentation), they do share some key characteristics, like the rhythm and dance that accompany them, as well as the subject matter. 

Believe it or not, Ranchera music also takes some European influence, with Ranchera using the polka of the Czech Republic, the waltz of Germany, and the Bolero of Spain. Even Italian opera got its hands on the genre, having been popular in Mexico during the 1800s. 

                          La Negra (Son Jaliscoense) - Mariachi de Mexico

So, there's a little info on the history of Ranchera. Now, let's get into the more technical stuff.

Firstly, it is important to note that most Mexican music genres are very loose, bleeding in and out of each other. This means that, though there may be some defining characteristics, the standards for each genre are pretty hard to pinpoint because they either a) apply to several other genres as well, or b) are very, very broad in definition. So, just know that many of the aspects of Ranchera music that we are going to discuss aren't necessarily set in stone or specific to only Ranchera. 

So, like I mentioned earlier, Ranchera songs can be polkas, waltzes, or boleros, meaning they are usually in 2/4, 3/4, or 4/4 time signatures. Its structure is pretty standardized as well, including an instrumental opening, a verse and refrain, and a tag ending (as well as the inclusion of the grito Mexicano, or, Mexican scream, which is used to show deep emotion.) 

So, while the characteristics talked about above may make Ranchera seem hard to identify from other Mexican music genres given the overlap, something that does set it apart from its cousins is the actual instruments that are used. 

First, we have the accordion, which was brought over by German immigrants, along with the previously mentioned waltz and polka that are so prominent in Ranchera music.  

For those of us who may be unfamiliar, this is an accordion!

The accordion is both an aerophone (or more specifically, a reed aerophone) and a keyboard instrument. To use it, you basically push and pull the instrument together and apart (compressing and decompressing the bellows), pumping air past the reeds and creating sound. In order for this to work, the keys of the keyboard and the buttons on the opposite side must be pushed. This opens a valve that exposes the reed(s) to the air being pushed through, playing the desired note.

(Here's a video that explains it much better than I do)

Next, is the bajo sexto. Unfortunately, the history of the bajo sexto isn't really known, but it is believed to be of Spanish descent, potentially coming from Spanish bandurrias and lutes. 

While the bajo sexto actually has 12 strings, the name roughly translates to "sixth bass," because, although there are 12 strings, there are six courses (basically groups) of strings, with the bajo sexto having two strings in each course. 

The fun part about the bajo sexto is that it essentially acts as both a guitar and a bass. This is due to the tuning of the lower three courses, which are tuned to play the same note but one octave apart.

(Also, don't let the picture mislead you-- when I started looking at pictures, I thought they were the size of a smallish acoustic guitar. Turns out, they're slightly bigger than the average guitar and have actually shrunk over time given the addition of more instruments to a typical Ranchera ensemble.)

Lastly, we have the tololoche.

For whatever reason, solid information on the tololoche was kind of hard to find, with the few sources I could find giving very little information and contradicting each other. But, from what I could tell, it's basically just a European double bass that's been made slightly smaller for easier transportation. However, unlike the double bass, the tololoche is exclusive to folk music and is only ever played by plucking the strings, unlike the double bass, which can be played by either plucking the strings or using a bow. 

Okay, now that you've got the basics of Ranchera music down, I'll let you focus on the music!

                        Los Alegres de Terán - Moneda Sin Valor

(So polka!)

                         Lydia Mendoza - Mal Hombre 

(This particular song might be venturing more into Tejano, which is basically Mexican-American Ranchera, but there seems to be some debate on this, and, again, the lines are pretty blurred when it comes to dividing up some of these genres, so I decided to go ahead and include it.)

                        Los Cadetes de Linares - Las Tres Tumbas

Anyways, I really enjoyed getting to learn more about Ranchera music, and I hope you did too!

Thanks for reading!

Sources:

Muscato, Christopher. “Music of Mexico.” Becky Dell Music Academy, https://www.beckydellmusicacademy.co.uk/music-of-mexico/

Ilich, Tijana. “Traditional Musical Styles That Make Mexican Music Unique.” LiveAbout, LiveAbout, 15 Apr. 2018, https://www.liveabout.com/music-of-mexico-son-ranchera-mariachi-2141530.

Baker, Jeff. “Cinco De Mayo: The Three Types of Mexican Music.” New West Symphony, 26 Aug. 2020, https://newwestsymphony.org/cinco-de-mayo-the-three-types-of-mexican-music/.

“Bajo Sexto/Quinto.” Resonance Uprising, https://web.archive.org/web/20160423015222/http://resonanceuprising.com/repository/musical-instruments/latin-america/bajo-sextoquinto/.