Editing Plena (section)

==Genre==
Plena music is generally folkloric in nature.  The music's [[Beat (music)|beat]] and [[rhythm]] are usually played using hand drums called [[pandereta]]s, also known as [[Pandereta plenera|pandero]]s. The music is accompanied by a scrape gourd, the [[guiro]]. [[Panderetas]] resemble [[tambourine]]s but without the jingles. These are handheld drums with stretched animal skins, usually goat skin, covering a round wooden frame. Three different sizes of pandereta are used in plena: the [[Seguidor]] (the largest of the three), the [[Punteador]] (the medium-sized drum), and the [[requinto]]. An advantage of this percussion arrangement is its portability, contributing to the plena's spontaneous appearance at social gatherings. Other instruments commonly heard in plena music are the [[Cuatro (instrument)|cuatro]], the [[maraca]]s, and [[accordions]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Bomba and Plena Artists Offer Live Music in Puerto Rico|url=http://www.lasalitacafe.com/paque-lo-sepas/bomba-plena-artists-offer-live-music-puerto-rico/|publisher=La Salita Cafe|access-date=28 June 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625040312/http://www.lasalitacafe.com/paque-lo-sepas/bomba-plena-artists-offer-live-music-puerto-rico/|archive-date=25 June 2014}}</ref>

The fundamental melody of the plena, as in all regional Puerto Rican music, has a decided Spanish strain; it is marked in the resemblance between the plena [[Santa María (plena)|Santa María]] and a song composed in the Middle Ages by [[Alfonso the Wise]], King of [[Spain]]. The lyrics of plena songs are usually octosyllabic and [[assonance|assonant]]. Following the universal custom the theme touches upon all phases of life—romance, politics, and current events. Generally, anything which appeals to the imagination of the people, such as the arrival of a personage, a crime, a bank moratorium, or a hurricane, can be the subject of plena music.{{fact|date=March 2025}}