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Posts: 1156
Joined: Dec. 6 2006
From: Hamilton, ON
Vidalita?
¿Qué es esto? I'm listening to it on the Morente/Sabicas disc. It sounds like a farruca in some other key (Sabicas is even using some of his old farruca falsetas that I learned ), but I've never heard of a vidalita before.
Vidalita is one of the "Ida y Vuelta" palos. It is a song from Argentina originally and has been recorded quite a bit in the past 5 years or so by Cigala, Mayte Martin and others. Its quite beautiful.
I remember when I first met Enrique Extrameño 10 years or so ago, Jose Anillo was just a young "Cameronero" who was with him on tour. Enrique kept telling Jose to study the old singers and that was where the important things in flamenco resided. He demonstrated to us his dedication to studying and preserving history by singing something he had been working on........ Vidalita. The next time I saw Jose Anillo he had become a COMPLETELY different singer. He sounded like the older guys. He took Enrique's words to heart and his cante has benefitted greatly for it......
I bet Norman can tell us a little more about Vidalita....
Hi Jason! Off the top of my head, I can't tell you much of anything about vidalitas, except that they sound Argentinean to me, and La Niña de los Peines (with Currito el de La Jeroma!) and Carmen Linares made good recordings. I'm a little busy right now but will have a look at some books and other things in a few days and post the information here.
I bet Norman can tell us a little more about Vidalita....
...and Lionel (Shroomy) could tell us about the original form!
I don't know much about either, but sometimes the palos that get picked up from Cuba or Argentina on the ida become fundamentally changed on the vuelta. This seems to be the case with the vidalita, which in Argentina is in 3 beats whereas the flamenco version (if and when it ever gets 'in tempo' after the long free-rhythm part) has 4 (hence the farruca-style guitar bits).
Here's an example where that's clear, and the guitar part at 2:10 is very much in the style of another Argentine song, the milonga:
Maybe the definition of the palo depends (as so often) on the form of the letra?
Bringing this topic again so a not to make a new one when this one up and incomplete because of the few replies
I'm doing the accompaniament classes this automn and these two palos are basics.. Milonga and Vidalita.. I'm simply wondering if any of you has materials concerning these palos. i searched the internet and i couldn't find much. Books, DVDS, CDS, etc. I'll also appreciate a detailed explanation from the Seniors
THanks a lot in advance and oh.. It's freezing these days Brrrrrrrr
_____________________________
This is hard stuff! Don't give up... And don't make it a race. Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.
Vidalita is an Argentinian song. Old cowboy music, like the milonga (before it evolved into tango). Vidalita is usually slow and not so happy sounding. There is a nice one by Argentinian composer Abel Fleury. Roberto Lara plays it on his disc Guitar of the Pampas.
Vidalita is one of the "Ida y Vuelta" palos. It is a song from Argentina originally and has been recorded quite a bit in the past 5 years or so by Cigala, Mayte Martin and others. Its quite beautiful.
Even if she sings the stuff that noone else want to sing.. I don´t like her performances... I saw a video recently where she played the guitar of Caro and sang to it... She played bad, as singers play normally.. and caro sat next to her waiting. Thats awful and disrespectful to the guitarist! No go! I hate that.
When you deal with "songs" you have to accompany them like you would cante. That means you have to choose the tonality and compas first (or if it is free of compas, just the tonality). Then you borrow from what ever you know compas wise. For example Sabicas was literally just playing Farruca in E minor, but the cante form is what dictated the tono changes (chord changes). Like wise it could be done to solea or Alegria or buleria compas, and if you choose to play falsetas you can draw from your flamenco bag whatever you have. If you play free in the Key of B minor say, then you can borrow from Taranta so long as you resolve correct for the singer.
Hope that makes some sense. So guitarists need to learn a group of palos and then when accompanying cante, the important thing is the chord changes you follow, not your falsetas. Farruca stuff works for tangos de malaga, Solea works for Caña, Siguiriyas in E works for Serrana Liviana etc etc
When you deal with "songs" you have to accompany them like you would cante. That means you have to choose the tonality and compas first (or if it is free of compas, just the tonality). Then you borrow from what ever you know compas wise. For example Sabicas was literally just playing Farruca in E minor, but the cante form is what dictated the tono changes (chord changes). Like wise it could be done to solea or Alegria or buleria compas, and if you choose to play falsetas you can draw from your flamenco bag whatever you have. If you play free in the Key of B minor say, then you can borrow from Taranta so long as you resolve correct for the singer.
Hope that makes some sense. So guitarists need to learn a group of palos and then when accompanying cante, the important thing is the chord changes you follow, not your falsetas. Farruca stuff works for tangos de malaga, Solea works for Caña, Siguiriyas in E works for Serrana Liviana etc etc
Ricardo
Wow Ricardo.. You opened the door so wide to it for me. Thanks a million maestro.
_____________________________
This is hard stuff! Don't give up... And don't make it a race. Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.