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RE: BPM for Solea por Medio? (in reply to machopicasso)
It depends who you are asking and in what context (as shown by the wide range of tempos Ramzi pointed to).
This is a distinction made by the baile. There is no such palo as Solea por Buleria. When dancers ask for solea they mean very slow solea por arriba and usually Alcala, when they say Solea por Buleria they mean faster por medio and usually Frijones. Now that the dancers have established their definition, yes solea por bulerias means por medio somewhere around 120-170bpm.
Baile has decided that the 'standard' solea tempo is very slow, but por cante the solea tempo is typically much faster. Often when guitar is por medio, cante might start with solea but also include buleria corta, buleria larga.
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Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: BPM for Solea por Medio? (in reply to machopicasso)
quote:
ORIGINAL: machopicasso
Is there a recognized BPM range for solea por medio?
E.g. what's the slowest and the fastest that a solea can be and still be por medio?
I will be presenting an example in my next Mel Bay book (it has been lying in wait for a year and as of last month the proofs were sent and approved so not sure the hold up now), where the falsetas I present can be played as slow as you need, for example 60 bpm. But, this is rare as even dancers tend to not want to even hear por medio chords out of fear the tempo will naturally rise up to the typical speed of Bulería por soleá.
In fact the example is designed to fill that gap specifically where you might be stuck with a female singer wanting very high pitch and the dancer wanting the proper soleá heavy expression and using like capo 10 is just not practical. I think I play the audio example around 90 bpm or so. What they call today "soleá por bulería" can go anywhere from 100bpm to like 190.
I have a Soleá of paquirri by Aurelio and Ramon Montoya in the 160's, and the Ocón Soledad is marked at 184bpm blurring the lines between solea and buleria proper.
Posts: 16528
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: BPM for Solea por Medio? (in reply to zendalex)
quote:
ORIGINAL: zendalex
Hi Ricardo, congrats on the book, this is exiting news. What is the eta for the availability, could you share the table of contents maybe?
Frustratingly, our compiler/editor guy that gave us the proofs and album design etc, has gone silent. We had asked whether the book would be ready to go for students when the semester started (September) and he said "that sound very likely"...well now what? The book was done last year and all audio turned in at this time in 2025...still we are waiting. I will give you the break down of 21 pieces organized by palos: Soleá (arriba) Soleá (por medio as mentioned above) Bulería por soleá Bulería Classical/Flamenco fusion (Bach) based on Soleá. Tiento Tango Farruca Rumba alegrías Guajiras Siguiryas Siguiriyas para baile Fandango (de Huelva) Fandango naturales (fusion with Zarabanda) Malagueñas Tarantas Minera Rondeña/Bulería Rondeña (vihuela fusion) Flamenco motet (vihuela fusion with Bulería por Soleá compás).
Some pieces are longer than others, each has analytical "foot notes" with intent of teaching composing and arranging strategies for flamenco guitar SOLO, (4 pieces incorporating the Classical repertoire crossover set to flamenco palos), and also explaining historical relevance etc., cante and Baile accompaniment etc. While 10 are my works and 11 Corey's, in his pieces he uses several of my falsetas and ideas such that I consider the total package a big treatise strongly based on my own teaching pedagogy and ideas (where as the previous volume that incorporates the classical guitar repertoire of the 19th century is entirely Corey's contribution, while my flamenco "pieces" are culled from the Formative Works book). The previous books are quite preliminary with focus on por medio and por arriba, this book takes us through cante levantinos and ida y Vuelta forms extensively, covering all the bases except granaina (I point to the Arcas Murciana that had those elements in the previous book). So you can see why I have been anxious to get this out for a year now.
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