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Flamenco Rhythm
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April 11, 2023 - 12:45 am
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Flamenco is a complex art form of rhythms and interplay, usually between a singer, a flamenco guitarist and a flamenco dancer.  It originated with the Andalusian gitano (Romani gypsies) and Wikipedia says the 1st recorded book appeared in 1774.

I'm starting to learn about the rhythms & other characteristics that make this music so beautiful, because I want to play it on the violin/viola. 

Compás = a rhythmic cycle/meter of a 'Palos'. 

Palos = Styles of Flamenco 

Palmas = hand clapping accompaniment

I'm mainly concerned with the three types of 12-beat Compás.  The others are also VERY interesting in their own right! 

How Flamenco Rhythm Works #1: the main level of rhythm in Compáses. 

How Flamenco Rhythm Works #2: Subdivisions in Compás & some exercises. 

Accents are important & he makes reference to "Konnakol" (Indian Drum Language) - link is a video I found. 

 

- Emily

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One of the 3 Palos groups (styles), with 12-beat Campas, is  Soleá

Bulerías is one in this group.

The Bulerías is the emblematic palo of flamenco: today its 12-beat cycle is most often played with accents on the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th beats. The accompanying palmas are played in groups of 6 beats, giving rise to a multitude of counter-rhythms and percussive voices within the 12 beat compás. In certain regions like, Xerez, Spain, the rhythm stays in a simpler six-count rhythm, only including the twelve count in a musical resolve. (Wikipedia)

 

Now, I can play this - NO PROBLEM!  ...I'm just not sure what I'm really counting - which probably makes NO sense to anyone. 🥴

 

So, I started to think these 2 videos are using a variation he talked about, but I'm really too tired to tell. 😞 

Anyone want to take a guess?

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There are 2 other groups of Palos that have 12-beat Compáses, but I'm definitely going to have to stay working on the Soleá group, for the Bulerías, until I can really feel this Compás! 

 

Geez, he makes the counting seem so EASY - it makes SO MUCH SENSE! 

...until I try listening to another Bulería!  🥴

 

Yep, this guy is pretty SPECTACULAR - LOVE Paco's bowing in this! 

 

How wonderful to see someone flip Flamenco on a VIOLIN like this!  

 

Wow, I might have to try to listen to a loop of the counting video while I also listen to these other videos - just so I can get what I'm hearing straight.  I know the minute I 'get it', everything will click - like magic! 

...don't know if I can do it before FIDDLE HELL, though - only a few days away! 

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Well, I need all the help I can get with the Bulería compás, so thank goodness for Guillermo Guillén and his generous YT tutorials!

Luckily I found he has more to help! 

 

I think that helped! 🤗  

 

Psst... just found a HUGE playlist 😳 50 Great Flamenco Riffs & Falsetas - 31 videos

...going to be hard to stay working on just Bulería rhythm when there's so much cool Flamenco stuff ahead! 

Oh great, it's morning already. 🥱 

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So, the Flamenco Riffs I linked in the previous post, also include videos with quite a few Falsetas

Falseta = 'Lick', or Phrase - *(edited) I've since seen larger ones, more like a 'Period' - like the 'A' (or B) Part of an Irish tune!

I want to understand what Flamenco musicians work with, because I see A LOT of improvisation in this music, so I'm sure they ALL have their own favorite stash of Riffs & Licks!  I hate to mention the possibility of  rhythm making a difference, because everything seems loaded with rhythm in Flamenco (to me)!

I'm hearing (& seeing) Riffs that are repeated, but some also change slightly & develop throughout the Bulerías - so they seem to be Motifs, with several making up the Melody.  I haven't paid close enough attention to tell if they change pitch or only octave - or if there are any Ostinatos

...actually, in Post #2, the accompaniment played for the "Bulería Lenta" play-along video uses only 1 small group of notes (same intervals & rhythm), it's persistent - but the grouping moves around (pitch-wise), so I'm pretty sure THAT is an Ostinato, or does it have to keep the same pitch throughout?

I'm going to have to go over everything a few more times. (lol)

Btw, I'm barely getting started here - so I would appreciate if anyone wants to step in & help 'set me on the straight & narrow'!  🤗

The so called 'Riffs' I listened to (today) in the previous post seem very similar to the Falsetas, or Licks - not melodic in a way I'd remember a true Riff, so I'm a little confused at the moment. 

Maybe I just haven't listened to this Palos (Bulerías style) enough, yet(?) 

 

...plus, it takes much more than Compás to distinguish one Palos from the next! 

 

[Palos] is classified by criteria such as rhythmic pattern, mode, chord progression, stanzaic form and geographic origin. There are over 50 different palos, some are sung unaccompanied while others have guitar or other accompaniment. Some forms are danced while others are not. Some are reserved for men and others for women while some may be performed by either, though these traditional distinctions are breaking down... (Wikipedia) 

 

- Emily

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Besides listening, I also tackled 2 more of Guillermo Guillén's tutorials. 

Slowly, but surely, I'm feeling a little more comfortable with some of this. 😁 

First, I freaked out, because I thought he was going to make me deal with polyrhythms, but then I realized he's showing how to substitute a different rhythm in places for improvisation!  ...unless I got it wrong, but I don't think so.  

 

This video covers stuff we've discussed in other threads here on the forum, but some is specific to Flamenco, AND is very important for the Flamenco sound! 

 

Well, if nothing else, I'm feelin' it & hearing it - kinda exciting! 

Guillermo Guillén has a free E-book "The 5 Pillars of Effective Flamenco Studies": https://flamencomaps.com/ - which I may look at after FIDDLE HELL! 

...and there's still MORE on YT! 

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Here I am, again, wishing I'd found this video to start with! 

It's a short little explanation about Flamenco music that might help! 

"The Mystery at The Heart of Flamenco" 

 

 

Also, wanted to share this great chart that organizes all the different Flamenco Palos (Styles)! 

 

Palos_flamencos.jpgImage Enlarger

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@stringy -

I wanted to share this version of Paco Montalvo's "Andaluza por Bulerías" with Irene Olvera - she was 11 years old in this video & she's amazing!  ...gave me a greater appreciation of the dance form.

 

I've been checking out some great tutorials by Kai Narezo at the "Flamenco Explained" YT Channel - to help me get this music onto the Violin/Viola!

Even though he teaches on guitar, Kai has answered many of my questions (so far) - just by me watching his tutorials. 

THIS video goes over some previous info on the Bulerías rhythm, but also talks about some of the other 12-beat Palos & how they all relate! 

 

LOVE this video of Kai's, "Flamenco is Modular - Intro to Compás Flamenco" - it's like 'Plug and Play' for the Flamenco 'framework' of music! (lol) 

I'm hoping this will be like learning a lot of Irish tunes, where it becomes easier with time to think of 'substituting' or 'swapping out' parts for variation.  ...noticing the cadence is very important!  

I'm working on how 'I' can translate to my violin what is played on the guitar. 😊 

 

I think I might've gotten the wrong impression of what a 'Falseta' is. 

The more I've been reading about them & listening to them, I'm finding some seem a melody like a 'Lick', or 'Phrase', but some seem more like a 'Period' - like the 'A' (or B) Part of an Irish tune!  ...will show examples later.

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Soleá

I've seen some phone apps available, too!

 

 

Here's one to try, Solea por Bulerías: Ideas Melodicas - FOR VIOLIN, Viola or Cello!!! 

Take a screen shot to print it out on paper!

 

This might be a good time to mention books on chords for violin. 

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Maybe I should've talked about Soleá (Soleáres) first, because Bulerías is derived from it, so are Alegrías

Sometimes they start on the '1', sometimes they start on the '12', but these ALL have the same 12-beat (6/8, 3/4) cycle.  

This might be a good time to reference "Hemiola" - check out the The Hemiola: An Auditory Illusion of Time Change! Thread

That 'feeling' it causes is probably what I love most about Flamenco music... plus, I also like the percussiveness!

From Wikipedia: 

Peter Manuel, in the context of an analysis of the flamenco soleá song form [from his book], refers to the following figure as a horizontal hemiola or "sesquialtera" (which mistranslates as: "six that alters"). It is "a cliché of various Spanish and Latin American musics ... well established in Spain since the sixteenth century", a twelve-beat scheme with internal accents, consisting of a 6
8
bar followed by one in 3
4
, for a 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 pattern. 

BUT, as seen in the "The Ultimate Flamenco Compás Exercise FOR ALL - POR BULERÍA #2" (post #3), the accents can be moved around & beats subdivided - creating more syncopation!!! 

 

"Horizontal & Vertical Hemiola" 

 

 

To me, this gets interesting, because I not only see how Soleá is like a Hemiola, but also how it relates to Tresillo and 'Habenera' (Cuban Contradanza) - like my favorite "La Paloma".  This road also leads me to some favorite early New Orleans Blues/Jazz & Ragtime!  It's syncopation! 🤗

Excerpts from Wikipedia:

The duple-pulse correlative of the three cross-beats of the hemiola, is known in Afro-Cuban music as tresillo. 

The composite pattern of tresillo and the main beats is commonly known as the habanera,congo,tango-congo,or tango

The Cuban contradanza, known outside of Cuba as the habanera, was the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African motif (tresillo and its variants).   

Tresillo is the rhythmic basis of many African and Afro-Cuban drum rhythms, as well as the ostinato bass tumbao in Cuban son-based musics, such as son montuno, mambo, salsa, and Latin jazz.

From the perspective of African American music, the habanera rhythm can be thought of as a combination of tresillo and the backbeat. 

Early New Orleans jazz bands had habaneras in their repertoire and the tresillo/habanera was a rhythmic staple of jazz at the turn of the 20th century. 

 

@AndrewH -

Am I getting way off track?

- Emily

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I try to pick up tips from cellists, because it makes sense to me playing the viola. 

Found some great Flamenco playing tips on cello - unfortunately, much talk in Spanish at the beginning (no available subtitles), but it's not hard to follow.  It shows counting the 12-beat rhythm, accenting motifs, chords for D major, the Andalusian cadence & percussive strumming!  The Bulerías videos also show notation with rhythm count.

 
Bulerías Tips 

 

 

One thing I really like about the Flamenco music, is the focus on 'space' with some rather large rests that allow preparation for what comes next, but everyone COUNTS the beats - something I've never gotten into the habit of doing (is it too late for me?). 

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