Música gaúcha

Música gaúcha is the traditional music of Rio Grande do Sul and the wider gaúcho culture of southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, built on dance rhythms, milonga, chamamé, vanera and vanerão, bugio, rancheira and chamarra, played on accordion (gaita), guitar, violin and bombo legüero. Sung in Portuguese with gaúcho vocabulary, its songs treat the pampa, horses, cattle work, chimarrão and regional honour. From radio pioneers such as *Teixeirinha* and *Gildo de Freitas* to the nativismo festival movement and groups like *Os Monarcas* and *Os Serranos*, it is the soundtrack of gaúcho traditionalism.