Banda is a brass-based form of "traditional" Mexican music. Scholars of Mexican music recognize that Banda is part of the cultural process of mestizaje, specifically between German and mestizo forms of popular music. Bandas play a wide variety of songs, including rancheras, corridos, cumbias, baladas, and boleros. Bandas are most widely known for their rancheras, but they also play modern Mexican pop, rock, and cumbias. Most Banda music is very clearly a dialect of polka and will seem familiar and appealing to fans of polka or traditional German and Polish music.

La Banda el Recodo, Banda Jerez, El Coyote, Banda Sinaloense MS, Banda La Autentica, Banda Machos, Banda Maguey, Banda Cuisillos, La Arrolladora Banda El Limón and Banda Los Recoditos are some of the most famous banda artists. Banda is primarily a male-dominated genre; however, there are also a few all-female bandas such as Banda Las Tapatías and Banda Soñadoras, as well as a few prominent female singers such as Chayito Valdez and Graciela Beltrán also Jenni Rivera.