The problem with Bulerias

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Ron.M

Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland

The problem with Bulerias

A lot of folk think that the main problem with Bulerias is the "unusual" (to Western music) rhythm cycle of 12 beats, sometimes shown as having the main accents on 12, 3, 6, 8, 10 etc.

This IMO is the easy part.

The hard part IMO is to keep to the 1,2 4,5 7,8 10, 11 within a fraction of the beat on EVERY note or a few milliseconds when playing fairly advanced falsetas where the accent hops between 2's and 3's.

This is definitely what separates the professionals from the amateurs IMO.

This is what makes say Tomatito and Paco etc so terrific.

They are absolutely spot on.

Getting it very close (close enough to be practically imperceptible to a beginner) is hard.
Getting it absolutely SPOT on is really hard.

cheers,

Ron

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 31 2008 9:11:59

mark indigo

Posts: 3625
Joined: Dec. 5 2007

RE: The problem with Bulerias (in reply to Ron.M)

quote:

the main accents on 12, 3, 6, 8, 10 etc.

This IMO is the easy part

hehe, it's like, just when you think you're getting somewhere and you "get" this weird rhythm, then the trouble really starts!

i had bulerias explained to me once as having an"outer" and an "inner" rhythm, the "outer" rhythm being the 12,3,6,8,10, from solea, and the inner rhythm being the 1,2, 4,5, 7,8, 10,11, which this guy also called the "pulse", and which i didn't really get at the time.... is that what you're getting at, the cruciality of that "inner" rhythm?

it was sometime after this that the water got deeper still when i got tangled up in "odd" sixes, and the whole "12" idea had to go out the window.... only it kept coming back in again just to confuse things!

I think the 1,2, 4,5, is actually key in moving out of being fixed in "12" and having the flexibility of "12" or "6", as it works as a pulse in either.

i think the "trouble" with bulerias is that it's not "a" rhythm, but a polyrhythm.... i don't know enough about rhythm to justify that or say if technically it's a true polyrhythm, but it's definitely more complex than just one single albeit strange rhythm with weird accents, as you point out.

Not sure if i fully understand your post ron (particularly this bit:

quote:

within a fraction of the beat on EVERY note or a few milliseconds when playing fairly advanced falestas where the accent hops between 2's and 3's

, hope i read it right.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 31 2008 13:21:16