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I'm looking to put together a comprehensive list of what chords follow each other in flamenco, and for the sake of being concrete, start with a particular key - por medio. I'm going to call these 'progressions' (don't want to get into a terminology discussion lol) but realize they can also be called lots of other things.
I find one thing lacking in my practice reportoire is playing through and hearing these progressions, and also having a large library with variations to practice.
I realize that practice should be done in compas, and/or with a particular cante melody in mind, and that voicings are very, very important - so not only are the chord notes critical, but variations in voicings should be part of this list. For me, information like this is much better done with chord diagrams than music notation in terms of committing to memory and getting under my fingers.
Can anyone share any links, websites, or other materials that have an organized list of progressions ? Also - rules on how to modify the basic progressions and stay within the idiom ? Now that's a whole OTHER discussion that IMHO belongs as part of this list and practice routine. For example, most common is Andalusian cadence, and preceding each chord with secondary dominants. Extending any chord diatonically or with color tones...etc - again - asking that we refrain from semantics and theory on this post. Use whatever system you use.
Given some of the last discussion on Flamenco keys, it will be interesting to see how others notate these progressions.
At the bottom of the page, there are two free books for download called "Musical theory of flamenco guitar". There's a section called "rhythmic structure" (in the first book it starts on p.52) and there he has examples of accompaniment tabbed out.
RE: what chords follow each other in... (in reply to joevidetto)
quote:
I'm looking to put together a comprehensive list of what chords follow each other in flamenco, and for the sake of being concrete, start with a particular key - por medio
I use A-Bflat-A. If I’m feeling really avant-garde, maybe throw a C7dom in there But I don’t want to sound too jazzy
RE: what chords follow each other in... (in reply to joevidetto)
quote:
It is sort of like asking “I like the Beatles...what are the chords?” Maybe start with one SONG?
I believe there is value having a list of general rules...yes, it is a luxury for which one is dependent on the experience and study of very dedicated people. But since you mention the Beatles, here would be an example. Studying this paper would help someone - I think, get a sense of what's going on in each song, and see a pattern they might not otherwise see so quickly.
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RE: what chords follow each other in... (in reply to joevidetto)
quote:
Of the 210 Beatles songs, no less than 194 are in major keys. 165 of these are in the keys of E major (38 songs), G major (38), A major (36), D major (28) and C major (25). Of the remaining 29 songs, 10 are in F major, 6 in B, 4 in Bb, 4 in Eb, 2 in Ab, 2 in Gb; there is one song in Db. Although songs may have been transposed for different reasons—the famous splicing together of “Strawberry Fields Forever” from two takes in different keys being one example—this shows the dominance of the “guitar keys” of C, G, D, A and E major (cf. section 7). [5] The I, IV, V, vi and ii Chords The harmonic language of the Beatles mainly uses the chords I, IV and V (in C major: C, F and G major) and the relative minors vi and ii (A minor and D minor). Table 1 shows the frequencies of chords in songs in major, transposed to the key of C. The chords mentioned above can be combined virtually any way at all, provided that the I chord can be discerned as the tonic or “home” chord. In the key of C major, all the chords F, G, Am and Dm can have the penultimate position in cadence-like contexts or in entire songs. The IV and V chords are used more frequently than the vi and ii chords in this way, but these relative minors are by no means uncommon.
If that makes sense to you in a functional way, replace “Beatles” with “Flamenco” and major key with “flamenco phrygian key” and the E major with “por Arriba”, por medio for A major, C F D major are pretty close thanks to fandangos, and the flat keys are rare until the modern music comes in to the picture, but even still rare. The relative numbers and percentages of the “guitar keys” are reflective of the nature of the guitar tuning, whether it’s Beatles or flamenco. G major is the odd ball only used in Granaina key and Garrotin, however, E minor is used for Rumba and Alegrias just as much. The I IV V is the basis of Fandangos and constitutes an ENORMOUS body of flamenco songs.
The “general rules” are not really different for flamenco than basic tonal harmony practices post baroque/classical. Cadence is the main thing. Basically chords move or progress by 5th except when you don’t want them to. After that any chords or notes follow any others to taste. Using rhythm, even chromatic chords can be used so long as the cadence is obeyed. Rhythm let’s the composer get away with a lot of crazy stuff ...hence the over emphasis on students learning “compas” at early stages. When one understands “cadence and compas” then you could used Shoenberg or Stravinsky passages to great flamenco effect if desired. The other day I was messing with some Wagner
RE: what chords follow each other in... (in reply to Ricardo)
I always like the depth you share Ricardo but my mind would have loved a couple sets of easy on the old hand, beginner cord progressions to play with.
I think of these as building blocks and as my playing improves I string them together, ya more fakminco but I see this less of a heresy and more of a path to the true Flamenco light.
HR
ps. I never liked the Beatles, more of a God save the Queen never mind the bolocks kind of kid.
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I prefer my flamenco guitar spicy, doesn't have to be fast, should have some meat on the bones, can be raw or well done, as long as it doesn't sound like it's turning green on an elevator floor.
RE: what chords follow each other in... (in reply to joevidetto)
quote:
Of the 210 Beatles songs, no less than 194 are in major keys.
Not only the Beatles. In general about 80% of folk songs or pop/rock songs are written in major keys. The rest in minor keys. This is even true for classical pieces.