Some authors claim that the granaína is not for dancing, that it is only for singing and playing, but nineteenth-century costumbrista writers (who focus on local customs and manners) testify that the original fandango from Granada used to involve dancing. It has also recently been interpreted in choreographic versions inspired by the dance of the taranto, among which the one by Granada's Eva la Hierbabuena, who finished it off in a verdiale style, is outstanding. The meter, like the one of the fandango, is in three beats, although its interpretation is free of rhythm:

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It belongs to the category of the cantes de Levante and, according to most researchers, its origins may lie in the aflamencamiento (lit. flamencoisation; that is, changes that are undergone as a result of the influence of flamenco) of a popular fandango style from the province. It is difficult to perform and is characterised by the elegant intricacy of its melismatico (a style whereby a series of notes is sung over the same syllable) adornment and the complex tonal texture that flows between successive highs and lows. The media granaína is even more intricate and brilliant. Most experts credit Antonio Chacón, who was able to base his composition on the melody of the malagueña and spent a long period in Granada around 1890, with its creation. Manuel Vallejo, Marchena, Enrique Morente and Naranjito de Triana have been great performers of this style. The copla (poetic composition, in verse, used as lyrics) is made up of five rhyming eight-syllable verses, which often become six when they are sung due to the repetition of one of the first two of them, with the rhyme, usually consonant, found in the first, third and fifth lines.