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Ricardo -> RE: The Sophistication of Flamenco Guitar (May 31 2016 8:17:06)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Piwin
quote:
If you want to have an open minded discussion about what is going on it has to go there.
So, in the case of Trafalgar (first time I asked my teacher to walk me through that piece, I asked for Gibraltar by Gerardo Nunez. He wasn't happy. at all. [8D]), what is going on that makes it "modern"?
If it's syncopation, the main melody doesn't seem any more syncopated than more traditional pieces (except maybe a few passages). The arpeggios that accompany the melody are more complex and more syncopated though than more traditional stuff IMO so maybe that's part of it?
Or is it the drop-D tuning (and different key) that isn't common with bulerias that makes people think of it as a modern piece?
Or all/none of the above?
Specifics are good because we can do away with labels and generalizations. First point...the melody IS all arpeggio and is VERY syncopated. The opening theme sets up a soniquete with a special right hand formula on the D chord, such that the accents play against the time in a nice way that allows half compas to pass unnoticed. The first chord change he hits strongly leading the 12 accent (meaning it comes between 11 and 12 or between 5 and 6 in the half compas, and it changes if you try to count only in 12). That chord is basically a Cminor over D bass, then an F#dim7th descending pattern gets back on beat. So basically the melody is all over the map compas wise. It is only because he is so precise and the timing space is filled up by arpeggio that it seems like a simple rhythm. You sit down with palmas and try that opening theme and soon confront with a very big challenge to drive compas and not lose or rush it and it becomes clear why the cajon or whatever is very nice to have grooving along. As you might go through and try other sections you find more and more very rich rhythmic things going on with the right hand patterns, and it is necessary to work it out perfectly in order to make that (seemingly) simple pretty melody come to life.
Impetu is mentioned and there is a direct quote from this, the baroque sounding section about 1:36. It starts on the Dm 9th and continues a pattern that Escudero used but on different chords. Escudero goes Dm-Gm-C-Bb...Gerardo took the idea through Dm-A7/G-Dm/F-Gm-Dm...etc. So he took a traditional idea and really ran with it and developed it. A lot of modern flamenco ideas are disguised in this way. I only noticed myself after learning both pieces.
The last point about the drop D, and I would add to that the key changes (D phrygian, D major, D minor shifts) are as old as flamenco guitar is. Perhaps not for bulerias, but the tonal practice of it was done in flamenco at least as far back as Ramon Montoya (Guajiras, Rondeña, etc). Parallel key changes are at the heart of what the cante has always done por bulerias anyway.
So what makes this piece "modern" not traditional, we need only look to the rhythmic treatment, the date it was composed, and recognize the little fragments that the music evolved from (impetu predates this clearly). Unfortunately the important distinction, the rhythm, can be just whizzing over people's heads.
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