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Accompanying Cante for solo work
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Billyboy
Posts: 389
Joined: Aug. 18 2003
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Accompanying Cante for solo work
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It is always said by virtually every famous guitarist, that you must accompany Cante before you would be able to do solo stuff, but for the life of me I can’t see why, a strong compass is essential, but you could get that from playing to a metronome, they seem like two different disciplines, they say a solo is imitating the melodic lines of the Cante, but most melodies in solo falsetas by say PDL to my ear, don’t sound anything like the melodic lines of a singer, is it just an initiation thing, where your not a man unless you have accompanied Cante for 20 years. Cheers Dave
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Date Jan. 25 2004 2:28:07
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Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
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RE: Accompanying Cante for solo work (in reply to Billyboy)
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Dave, forget it, you can play like Paco de Lucia if you like, but if you can't learn to accompany an arrogant cantaor, you aren't worth frijoles! Yes, every guitarist says this.... so it must be true. I play for dance classes a bit, and that supposedly develops a strength and solidity of compas that you can't get anywhere. If you have ever played for dancers, if there is more than two or them in a room it sounds like a herd of elephants. You develop a way of playing the guitar which challenges both the word "playing" and "guitar"--if you know what I mean. As far as accompanying cante, to do so you must have an intimate knowledge of flamenco melodies, chord changes, and feel. Perhaps the answer is that if if learn all this stuff, then it makes whatever else you play have that solid foundation. I've also noticed that it sounds that instead of playing a change on the beat, they play just after the beat. Like the singer hits the note on the 3, and then the guitarist hits it on the 3e. Perhaps these are the kind of things that really change your touch and the way you perceive and execute the music. But I haven't accompanied cante, I don't know. Tom does bring up a good point, though... if you just want to play solo flamenco guitar and you aren't in Spain--maybe it doesn't matter! The subtle differences in aire between the person who has these experiences and he does not would probably be lost on the audiences in Phoenix, AZ, or Manchester or whatever anyway. And don't waste half your life learning a discipline just so you don't embarrass yourself when some drunk old Spanish lady orders you to accompany her stomping! :)
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Date Jan. 25 2004 19:59:14
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Guest
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RE: Accompanying Cante for solo work (in reply to Billyboy)
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Hola If you want a perspective from Andalucia, then I have to say that if you open your guitar case here, someone will start to sing and you will have to accompany. It is as simple as that. If you live in Spain you will have to accompany. If you plan to live in Spain sometime in the future, you need to learn it, but the only way to learn it is by doing it. You can and should practice with recordings, but this will only give you a foundation. It is a bit like studying Spanish in college: you learn the grammar and some irrelevant vocabulary, come to Andalucia and you cannot understand a single word:-). But in time, your study allows you to speak better Spanish. If you never plan to come to Flamencoland, I suppose it does not matter what you play: an audience which knows nothing about flamenco will be more impressed by technique and will not notice if you go out of compas or have no aire. In Andalucia, the flamencos are very generous and accomodating and you will be encouraged for trying, no matter how badly you play. Suerte Sean
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Date Jan. 26 2004 14:49:00
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Paleto
Posts: 243
Joined: Jul. 29 2003
From: San Diego, CA
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RE: Accompanying Cante for solo work (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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Good to see some posts on this subject. I have the luxury of living in an American city with relatively quite a few singers. Sometimes, a singer likes to train the younger/newer flamenco guitarists to accompany. For the most part, they are pretty forgiving. And let me be clear, *ITS EASY TO MAKE A MISTAKE*. There is a ton of stuff to be learned by playing for cante. You really have to have good control over volume, because some of these guitars are sooo loud. Another Miguel de María alluded to, which is that a guitarist can jump to a chord late, after the singer has moved to the next note, but a guitarist should *never* jump to the chord early. Try it sometime, you'll see what I mean. It's true, playing for dance really solidifies a sense of compás for any guitarist who accompanies dance. If at all possible, go play at a dance class, but be mindful of how loud you are playing - be respectful to the other guitarists. For those who don't live in cities with a fair number of Andaluzes, there's really no other possibility other than learning to play with cds, then some day trying with a singer who doesn't mind you trying. When you play with a cd, work out every compás with the details, you'll learn a ton, in fact I am doing just that and it's a good learning experience. PLaying for a singer is a humbling experience. There are some people here who have accompanied for a long time, and they also tend to tolerate the younger guitarists, thank god... I don't have a ton of accomp. experience, but I do have some and I really want to get back to it. In any case, I think there are just a lot of things one can learn by playing for singers and I couldn't begin to articulate them all, but volume control is definitely one. There are also many, many variations to soleá or really any palo, and the more familiar you are with them, the more your toque will reflect that. It's a real confidence builder too. I have nothing but respect for anyone who tries it. Anthony
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jan. 26 2004 20:02:36
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