Rural describes a social and geographic setting rather than a uniform musical genre. Across Mexico, sound practices in rural communities may accompany patron-saint festivals, collective work, ceremonies, dances, family gatherings, and other activities, with different repertoires and instruments in each region. The distinction between rural and urban music cannot, by itself, explain migration, circulation, or changes in a tradition. Consult the archive’s individual records for locality, date, participants, and recording circumstances. This category supports the study of music’s social uses without assigning a single sonic identity to the many communities represented by the term.