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Posts: 1156
Joined: Dec. 6 2006
From: Hamilton, ON
RE: things still blur to me in flame... (in reply to Haithamflamenco)
I see, so your question is "please tell me everything discussed on the foro since its inception" ... or better yet "tell me flamenco" Well, good questions all, and I'm particularly interested in 4, 5, and 7.
Posts: 2277
Joined: Apr. 17 2007
From: South East England
RE: things still blur to me in flame... (in reply to Haithamflamenco)
Hey, Haitham,
Man what a lot of questions! As you know I'm a complete noob newbie, but I'll pass on some snippets my teacher told me.
1. how long should the falseta be? I think is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string because I think in modern flamenco they can go on for AGES . I was learning a buleria with my teacher recently and he taught me some quite simple ones.
- starting on 12 for 1.5 compas and finishing on 6, then back to basic compas for half. Repeat whole thing with slight variation. So that's four compas.
- starting on 1 and finishing on 10, repeat, then repeat with added extension and variation. So that's four compas too.
Maybe all newbie falsetas are four compas long
2. We should have a glossary! remate is like a cadence at the end of a phrase. Typically comes in solea on 10, 11, 12. I've got tab of that if you want to see what I'm talking about. I can even play it!! Cierre is literally a close - music stops and something else happens like the singer comes in. Must be loads others.
OK over to some guys that know what they are talkin' bout!!
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: things still blur to me in flame... (in reply to Haithamflamenco)
1. Any length, it is up to you. And you can fit falsetas together or cut them short as you please. They are usually defined between sections of compas strumming, but if you chose to define them as two back to back then you can name the division point at whatever beat the new falseta starts. A falseta can start on any beat. I usually think of falsetas that start around count 9 or 10, "pick up notes", and of course in bulerias count 3 or 4 can also be pick ups in the half compas.
2. Remate I think of as an ending phrase, it can be rhythmic strumming or notes, but the point is you give the feeling that things are ending. In bulerias the counts 7 -10 are important to close the stuff that was going on (falseta or line of cante, little footwork, etc), and in solea 10-12 as mentioned. Tangos has it's own even though it is in 4. It is a characteristic feature, along with cierre, the literally closing beat or sequence of chords, of flamenco that distinguishes it's rhythm from similar rhythms of other music.
3. Well some say there are a set number, but when you take into account the variations done by modern players, there seems there can be an infinite number of compas variations. IMO there are really just two different grooves, 2x3 or 3x2, but you can mix and match these two fundamental "feels" how you like, WITHIN limits of good taste and style. To learn those limits, you should not make up your own grooves until you have first learned a bunch of strumming patterns and grooves from the maestros.
4. Well, in music theory terms you can learn key/chord/scale relationships by studying the CIRCLE OF 5THs diagram. But in flamenco, the keys on GUITAR as opposed to a piano say, have a special sound because of the open strings. This special timbre translates to the typical "aire" of a form. For example, Taranta in F# phrygian has a characteristic sound, but the same notes on piano won't have the same special sound. That is why the cejilla is important, to change the absolute key/pitch while maintaining the "aire" that the special key affords the guitar.
5. Along the lines of question 3, it is the groove, the rhythmic interpretation mainly, but also there are specific songs (melodies of the cante) that are typical jerez style. But for guitar is that swing or groove that distinguishes it. IF you have Tomatito encuentro, he plays two bulerias. The first one is his own personal modern style, the ending before the credits has the "Jerez" swing. Notice the difference even though he plays some of the same falsetas and remates.
6.Any melody that is made of 3x2 subdivision, that you might force into the compas of bulerias. Just a verbal way to distinguish a melodic composition from a more tradtional style improvisation of unrelated falsetas, that uses the bulerias compas. Typically a valse buleria won't have lots of rasgueado for example, but there is no special rules really.
7. If you consider Paco's "Fantasia Flamenca" from 1969 "old school", then no. There are however PERSONAL techniques that can give a general impression of old or new style, but you will find something similar in old or new players alike. For example, modern players tend to not do the 5 stroke rasgueado so much, but what they do instead, or more often (4 stroke amii, etc), was done by old timers too. In the end it is personal no matter which style you are playing. Most of the techniques of today were well established in Ramon Montoya's day. Check him out. The way techniques are used nowadays, is another story.
8. You experiment. Basically, as long as the tip of your finger is as short as you should go. You can have them longer if you prefer, but it really all depends on your nail shape, and way to play. You keep them at the desired length by filing them and careing for them everyday.
Holding down an EM chord. Common variations include playing that with p-i-p-p-p-i, p-a-p-i-m-a, replacing the second note (the open E) with an arpeggio on the top three strings (in the same beat), a golpe (usually on the second-to-last note, the open B), and doing the 2-1-0 notes in the middle as a pulgar y indice sort of thing alternating the thumb picking the "bass" note with the index picking the open E. In the version I showed, the first two notes are beat 10, the second two are beat 11, and the final are beat 12 (so you typically accent the open low E and the open B). Any variations should fit within that.
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Well, good questions all, and I'm particularly interested in 4, 5, and 7.
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