srshea -> RE: Must know cante (Sep. 1 2012 20:24:04)
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Here’s something I’ve cut and pasted from an earlier thread ,not because I think it’s any great shakes or anything, but just to show an example of one means of trying to learn about some of this stuff. Typing it out on the Foro was a drag because it doesn’t allow for empty spaces, and what you see here isn’t nearly as useful as what I’ve got on paper. I’ve made little worksheets with 1-2-3, etc spaced out across the page and I scribble all over ‘em, writing out how the cante fits into the compas, the spaces, streched syllables, rushed lines, accents, etc. -------------valgame dios --no----------le-----------temes------------ A---A7---Bb-----------------X------------A------------Bb-------------X 1----2----3-----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9-----10-----11-----12 ----------- Bb----~---Bb/G--------------X----cierre--------------------------------- 1-----2-----3----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9-----10-----11-----12 -----------------valgame dios no---------le------------temes----------- A----A7----Bb-----------------X-----------A------------Bb---------------X 1-----2-----3-----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9-----10-----11-----12 ni a la ira--------de--------------------undebe-------------------------- Bb----~---Bb/G---------------X----------Bb/G---------Bb------Bb-----A 1-----2-----3-----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9-----10-----11-----12 ------------ A----A9b---A------------------X-----cierre-------------------------------- 1-----2-----3-----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9-----10-----11-----12 -----------------ni a la ira-------------undebe-------------------ni a la A----A7----Bb-----------------X------------A-----------Bb---------------X 1-----2-----3-----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9-----10-----11-----12 ira--------------------- de-----undebe------------------------------------ Bb----~---Bb/G---------------X----------Bb/G---------Bb-----Bb------A 1-----2-----3-----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9-----10-----11-----12 -------- y sin embargo--------------te----asustas----------------------- A----A9b---A------------------X-----------Bb-----------C7--------------X 1-----2-----3-----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9-----10-----11-----12 gitana----------- de----mi-----------querer-------------------------- F-----F7---Bb-----------------X------------Bb-----------A (remate) 1-----2-----3-----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9-----10-----11-----12 So, I know this is a nerdy, white boy way of going about these things and that flamenco is an oral/aural tradition and that this sort of visual representation is lame, and Estela will probably reach into her computer screen and smack me upside the head, but this helps me. People talk about cante structure, and beginners like me, think “what the hell are you talking about? What does that actually MEAN, structure?” Looking at something like this I can see over how many compas cycles someone sings a cante. I can see how the first line is sung, and that then there’s a pause, and then a repetition of the first line that links to the second line, then another pause and so on. I can see how he stretches some words and syllables and compresses others. I can see how the first two lines get repeated and stretched and fiddled with, and then see that the cambio gets crammed in there at the end. Yes, I could just listen and magically pick an understanding of that structure up, but for me it’s very useful to “see” it. And of course this is by no means meant to be a “formula” for this cante. It just the way Tomas happened to sing this cante with those letras on that recording. Tomas’s ‘El Pasito Que Yo‘ is the same cante, I think, and if you mapped that one out like this, it would look different. If you mapped out Torre’s ‘Por Ti Abandone Mis Nino‘ it would look really different, much less of the stretching, not so many dramatic pauses, etc (and the melody is a little different too, but that doesn’t make it’s way onto the page.) So, doing something like this, if you’re so inclined, you can compare the way a singer might sing the same cante in different ways on different occasions, or the different ways in which two singers will sing the same cante. You’ll find similarities and differences, and in parsing out those differences and matching up those similarities you‘ll start seeing patterns emerge, structure, and you’ll start picking up broader concepts, like, that fiddling around and doing various stuff with the first couple lines and then blowing through the cambio is a very general thing, a standard structural detail that you’ll hear over and over. Again, if you can soak all that stuff up with only your ears then, great. For me it’s very helpful at this stage to take notes and map some of this stuff out.
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