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What makes a palo?   You are logged in as Guest
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Skai

 

Posts: 317
Joined: Sep. 12 2004
 

What makes a palo? 
Just what makes a palo what it is? I was just wondering what makes the bulerias the bulerias and what makes the soleares what it is.
- Feeling?
- Characteristic falsetas?
- Rasguedo patterns?
- Accents and rhythmic structures?
Would it be 'legitimate' to call my composition a bulerias if I use its characteristic rhythm and rasguedo patterns and follow its mood? Personally, I think that those 3 components make up a certain palo but of course, I could be wrong.

I was trying to figure out Chuck Keyser's Compas Analysis book but haven't had much luck inderstanding. But why is all that so important? Can't the various forms be learnt just by listening more to various recordings of the specific form, following the compas and then emulating the aire and rhythm?

Thanks,
Skai

_____________________________

Try some Enrique Iglesias for some great cante.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Dec. 31 2004 4:47:07
 
Thomas Whiteley

 

Posts: 786
Joined: Jul. 8 2003
From: San Francisco Bay Area

RE: What makes a palo? (in reply to Skai) 
Skai;

I do not know how things are in Spain today, but in the early 1960’s there were no method books, CD’s or DVD’s to learn from. You learned to play flamenco from your father, relative, neighbor or from the local barber. In 1963 a bottle of vino tinto was 3 cents and a hair cut was 17 cents. Many Barbers taught flamenco guitar as you saw many Spanish men with long heir and they did like their wine! Why get a haircut when wine is so cheap? You emulated the sound that another person played. In time you added your own variations.

It is said that Soleares is “The Mother of flamenco”! What does that mean? Well you could listen to it and then hear a relationship to Bulerias and other palos for that matter. There are over 100 different types of Soleares and each one is a bit different from the other. What I mean by types is that there are regional variations. You would hear Soleares sung different ways in different parts of Spain. Today that may not be the case.

Now in Spain you would grow up from birth hearing flamenco in those families and communities that embraced such music. Not everyone in Spain listens to flamenco. In fact the number of persons in Spain who listen to flamenco is not very great.

A palo has specific rules that can be learned from an academic point of view. It is much easier to learn traditional flamenco than the new flamenco being played today. What I mean by that is the differences and what makes a palo belong to a specific family is easier to hear and distinguish. Learn by listening and if you wish learn the mechanics or technology behind each palo of interest.

You may wish to take a look at my web site to see the relationships between the families of palos.

http://home.comcast.net/~flamencoguitar/flamenco.html

Go to Music – Traditional Flamenco Palos

One thing that differentiates palos is the accent – that is which beat receives what accent. Even within Bulerias you have many variations. If you have listened to flamenco guitar for some time you should be able to recognize a Bulerias from Cadiz, Jerez or Moron de la Frontera just as an example. They are very different.

_____________________________

Tom
http://home.comcast.net/~flamencoguitar/flamenco.html
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Dec. 31 2004 16:42:33
 
Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: What makes a palo? (in reply to Skai) 
Tom,
nice to see you back around here.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Dec. 31 2004 16:49:19
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14892
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: What makes a palo? (in reply to Skai) 
The cante. The guitar solos are based on this in terms of tonality, melody, harmony, rhythm. Just like a "jazz standard" was once a vocal song w/ harmonic structure, etc, upon which endless variations can be created. The flamenco guitar makes more sense from the point of view of the cante.

Ricardo
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Dec. 31 2004 21:20:57
 
Skai

 

Posts: 317
Joined: Sep. 12 2004
 

RE: What makes a palo? (in reply to Skai) 
Thanks alot everyone, could you tell me about the variations within the different palos that you talked about? I myself have heard a few different variations of it but it never dawned upon me that they were from different areas.

So it's possible that I learn by listening and practising, without learning all that theory?

Thanks,
Skai

_____________________________

Try some Enrique Iglesias for some great cante.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jan. 2 2005 6:05:51
 
Kate

Posts: 1827
Joined: Jul. 8 2003
From: Living in Granada, Andalucía

RE: What makes a palo? (in reply to Skai) 
I got Robin Tottons book for Christmas ' Song of the Outcasts' and it is a wonderful book for explaining the palos, although it cannot go into all the variations of each area it is very clear, giving examples and trying to be as simplistic as possible. Wonderfully informative and I totally reccommend it to everyone interested in flamenco.

Kate

_____________________________

Emilio Maya Temple
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000CA6OBC
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/emiliomaya
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jan. 5 2005 11:38:03
 
zata

Posts: 659
Joined: Jul. 17 2003
 

RE: What makes a palo? (in reply to Skai) 
quote:

Just what makes a palo what it is? I was just wondering what makes the bulerias the bulerias and what makes the soleares what it is.


That's a trick question because bulerías is different from all the other forms.

What makes soleá soleá or any other palo what it is (with the exception of bulerías) is the cante, which in turn implies a corresponding musical structure and compás. In the event of ambiguity, such as when one cante is sung to another compás, then the cante rules. In other words, when they sing fandangos to the compás of soleá, it's fandangos.

Bulerías is different because it's the universal receiver. All cantes, pop music, improvised tunes, soap jingles, etc. can be sung to bulerías and we call it: bulerías. There are some traditional styles but they probably comprise no more than a single digit percent of total bulerías output. In this case it's the compás, and only the compás, that defines the palo.

Tangos has been tending towards the bulerías condition over the last couple of decades, but it's a slow process, and a much higher percentage of traditional styles are still sung, compared to bulerías.

There's a discreet tendency to treat alegrías in this way as well...that is, making up one's own melodies to the chords, compás and structure of alegrías, and calling it "alegrías". Pele's alegrías with Amigo for example are original music.

_____________________________

Estela Zatania
www.deflamenco.com
www.expoflamenco.com
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Jan. 12 2005 22:16:42
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