Silencio questions

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Silencio questions

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Jon Boyes

Posts: 1377
Joined: Jul. 10 2003

Silencio questions

In the Baile por Alegrias, is the silencio a fixed length, ie are they always the same in terms of no of compases?
(and if not, what determines the length - is it something the dancer marks at the time, or is it always choreographed?)

Secondly, Juan Martin refers to the silencio as 'campanas', (bells), but I am betting that this is simply just one (traditional) style of silencio, yes? the modern ones I've been listening to don't have that form with the five slow minor chord strums at the start of each, and seem to be a lot more ..errr .. modern.

Jon

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 31 2005 10:39:27

Mark2

Posts: 1882
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: Silencio questions (in reply to Jon Boyes)

Silencios can be doubled, but usually they are the standard length. I think I may have played for one that was one and a half times the normal length, but I really can't remember. As to if it's worked out in advance, I think that depends on the situation. I would think most of the time, they would tell you they are going to do a double, but you have to keep your eyes open.
The five minor chords followed by a tap at the start are, as you have heard, optional. Anything goes now days as far as the music you play. The nice thing about the five minor chords is that they are well understood by dancers as to where you are which is helpful if no one is doing palmas. It is very old school. Most people still do the parallel modulation to minor and change back to major at the end of the last compas. As you probably know, then usually comes an escobilla. It is important to pay close attention at this point as the first unaccompanied dance steps will give you the tempo of the start of the escobilla. This can be tricky at first. Your normally coming in on beat four of the compas after the dancer marks the first three beats. I've seen some guys really blow it here, as they made a wrong judgement as to the meaning of those steps. After a while, you just feel it, and even if you've never heard the intro steps(which can be vary), you just come in right. A dancer can come in really slow or pretty fast. It's possible to hang back a second or two right here until you get the tempo, but don't wait long. It's much better to nail beat four. I really dig this part of the dance, as the escobilla footwork usually builds in complexity and tempo until all hell breaks loose.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 31 2005 16:27:18

Jon Boyes

Posts: 1377
Joined: Jul. 10 2003

RE: Silencio questions (in reply to Mark2)

Great, thanks Mark, pretty much as I thought.

I'm looking forward to this - accompanying por Alegrias looks like a real challenge - all those different parts!

We're starting rehearsals this week - there'll probably be a lot of choreography (I hope