Beni2 -> I'm Back: Dissertation Blues (Mar. 26 2019 19:36:33)
|
Hello all, This is Kevin. Used to love the foro. I got burnt out because I always tried to bring my academic interests and background into the conversations and that went wonderfully awry. Let's try this again. I have missed the foro but I spent quite a bit of time with anxiety and depression brought about in part because of the stress of pursuing an advanced degree but also divorce. My unsolicited advice...don't get divorced, unless she's an axe murderess (Woman...whooaa man!). Also, don't get anxiety or depression, which means don't watch the news and don't live in your head. Anyway, gotta keep pushing forward. ABD, ALL BUT DISSERTATION. So close and yet so far. I have a few questions about foreigners and non-Spaniards doing flamenco. I wonder if you'd be so kind to copy, paste, and answer them. They are self-explanatory I believe but if you have questions, PM me. The questionnaire might evolve as responses require. This is the base. One of the questions has to do with the first falseta of Paco's "Gloria" solea. I am embedding that falseta here. For those who help (and those who don't) thank you. Kevin QUESTIONAIRE FORO 1) General a) Name/age Kevin Romero 48 b) Brief Bio: Discovered flamenco when I needed an elective credit to finish a classical guitar degree. Albuquerque, NM is the Mecca of flamenco in the US with the longest running festival, the only bachelors and masters degree programs in dance, sponsorship of the university toward flamenco events and the festival, and a tablao built specifically for flamenco. That is not to say it is perfect, it is dance-centric. I took a class in order to complete that degree and it landed up being with a master musician from Jaen. To me, a great flamenco, but the most well-rounded, best musician/guitarist I have ever met. PC might not be the “top-dawg” in flamenco but I haven’t met anyone as well rounded as an improviser, composer, and musician across styles. I also studied with JV for a couple of years. My one regret, because I love cante so much, is never having been to Spain. c) Questions about flamenco d) How did you discover flamenco? See above e) Are you a participant in flamenco in a community (weak/moderate/robust) of flamencos? Albuquerque, NM was the strongest community I participated in. Denver, Colorado was good for dance and was evolving when I was there. No institutional support though. San Diego has its moments and some good artists but very clique-ish and isolated. Not healthy in my opinion. f) Do you also travel to Spain? I haven’t been. g) Do you take online courses? My weakness is in cante accompaniment and that cannot be taught online. It has to be experienced because part of good accompaniment is the synergy, the playing off of each other and that requires sight and sound. You have to see the singer’s bodily gestures as well as listen to the voice. Occasionally I’ll take an online class but I have so much material that my larger problem is maintaining a productive practice regimen. h) What other media do you use extensively (i.e. youtube, skype, book/CD)? I use youtube all the time and transcribe, notate, and note different variations on accompaniment and solo playing. i) At what level do you consider yourself to be? Eternal beginner 2) Embodiment/Acculturation/Transculturation a) Flamenco is an art and culture associated with gitanos and Andalusians. For those outside of Spain we try to “walk the walk and talk the talk.” How important is Andalusian Spanish to your experience? I make the argument that much can be learned through bodily gesture, and language need not be a barrier. However, I also think that flamenco is better embodied the more Andalusian flavor is adopted. Paco said many times that flamenco must smell of Andalucía. i) Did you speak Spanish previously? Yes, horribly. It is the language of my family but unfortunately, they experienced enough racism and oppression that their generation did not pass it on. I have had to recuperate as much of it as possible. I speak Camanolusian (Castilian/’manito [New Mexican Spanish]/Andalusian). ii) Does it affect lessons and understanding or can/does verbal communication get bypassed in favor of mimicry and bodily communication? Large amounts of culture are transmitted through language. As an ethnomusicologist my inclination is toward a middle-ground. b) Aside from learning the Andalusian dialect and your bodily skill/art (i.e. toque, baile, cante), are there other cultural elements that you perceive as being important for embodying flamenco? This is a tough question. As an aficionado I prefer Spanish flamenco. I do believe there are artists across the world that do flamenco well. I never have the same feeling with them though. That is not an attack or critique because they are often great artists in theor own right. I just know that I feel differently when I walk into a theater where Spanish artists are performing, I feel differently. I think those that have consciously or subconsciously picked up a broad range of behaviors and knowledge are closer to “the real thing.” i) How do you balance the preservation of flamenco as a primarily (gitano) Andaluz art and culture with your desire to develop your sello propio (personal seal)? It could be that I put too much emphasis on the gitano origins of flamenco. Although, I will say that I do make some controversial observations about how flamenco came together and the problems with studying its history. This is primarily a musical/musicological question though, so, I think you can’t be afraid. My second teacher had a box full of recordings of “throwaway” material. I promise it was more flamenco than he probably thought it was. That is when I learned, if you scrap your own compositions, save them for later, on paper or disc. As you grow, either the idea might be modifiable, or your attitude towards it might evolve. BE YOU! ii) Do you feel that learning other aspects of Andalusian and/or gitano culture make you a better flamenco/a? If so, what elements (e.g. cooking, posture, dress, language use, etc)? This is also a tough question. If you erased all gitano involvement would flamenco be what it is? I want to say no. I don’t believe cooking is going to make you a better musician. However, I feel like lo Andalúz is like a spice that, when it’s missing, is noticed. c) The term “flamenco” was used as a synonym for gitano before it came to describe an artistic-musical culture associated with them. Do you identify as flamenco? I don’t identify as flamenco because it seems too closely associated/synonymous with “gitano.” Out of respect, I don’t call myself that. However, I do say that I play flamenco, that I am a flamenco aficionado, and that much of my life is spent listening to, studying, and trying to be flamenco. i) Does it ever give you pause? Yes d) How many hours a day do you practice and what is your regimen like? Practice? While in graduate school, and with some personal issues? I wish. At the tail end of graduate school, I do have some time now; two hours a day until I am completely finished with the degree. Then hopefully six to eight…who knows. e) Detail as much as possible. How often do you take lessons and how do you interpret/use new material in practice? I do transcribe a lot. Much of that work is transcription of material I already now in one key or palo to another key or palo. 3) History of Flamenco a) How were you introduced to the history of flamenco? Don Pohren and Claus Schreiner i) What is your take on it regarding the gitano and/or Andalusian roles in its creation and diffusion? Controversial, but if one is going to take a particular stance then one should utilize supporting evidence. For example, Antonio Mairena claimed that flamenco was a mix of cultural elements including hindu, Arabic, and Sephardic music and possibly Byzantine chant, among others. He never details what aspects or elements originate in each culture, however. Don’t want to address this here. I talk about this in the dissertation. ii) Give an impromptu account of what you know of flamenco history detailing as much as you can. Again, I don’t want to reveal/share too much. However, I do look at how the Baroque guitar and the popular/folk guitar influenced flamenco guitar playing, including falsetas, paseos, rajeo, etc. iii) Do you know more about your field’s history (i.e. baile, toque, cante) or is your knowledge general? I would say I now most about Spanish guitar history and how the flamenco guitar fits within that, but I have also learned a lot about the history of the gitano migration and the Moorish presence in Spain after the expulsion. So much to piece together. Flamenco is a lifelong process. So is music theory/analysis. So is historiography… Onward! b) Do you believe that historical knowledge in any way enhances your bodily/artistic knowledge? Yes. If so, how? However (in)significant, I have incorporated some of the music of Julián Arcas. Although he was not flamenco as that term is understood today, his soleá was a model for Montoya. I use some of his “falsetas” in my soleá. c) If you are aware of the multiple cultures that have been said to contribute to flamenco’s aesthetics and character, can you name specific techniques, emotions, rhythms, and their perceived origins? This is a tough question as well. One argument I did not make concerning alzapua, just because I could not find a place for it, is that it might have its origins in oud playing. Pua translates as “plectrum” and the thumbwork of flamenco guitarists looks very much like the technique oud players use. As for emotion, some of the predecessors of the solea and siguiriya are seemingly Sephardic (endecha). Does that mean that the siguiriya is not gitano? Not necessarily, but as a historical matter it is useless to say flamenco is a mix of cultures but then not explore how the cultural elements came together. 4) Soleá/Lament a) The siguiriya and soleá are considered cante jondo (deep song). They are genres of grief, despair, solitude (although the soleá allows for a broader range of emotions to be reflected in the lyrics). i) How is this reflected in the cante? Vocal inflections ii) Toque? iii) Baile? b) There is a debate about the historical suffering of the gitanos and their way of emoting. The debate centers on who can emote and why. Do you believe that anyone can tap the emotions required for the interpretation of the deep genres? In the toque? Baile? Cante? i) How do you evoke the emotions for delivering your artistic self in the deep genres? c) Are there certain letras (lyrics) that trigger grief, despair, or sadness for you? No, it is usually the vocal inflections that trigger an emotiona response for me, not the actual lyrics. Although, occasionally, a lyric will make me think. i) Can you list one or two? d) What about vocal techniques? i) Are there any particular vocalizations that invoke these deep emotions? I don’t want to give away some of my original research but vocal inflection has a lot to do with emoting and the evocation of emtion in flamenco song. ii) Can these same “sad” emotions be triggered in other lighter genres? Yes, through the vocal inflections and their melodic contours. 5) Guitar: practice, theory, and analysis a) Do you believe music theory can be a helpful toolkit for composition, analysis, and interpretation? Theory, analysis, and practice are a triad. Absolutely useless, one without the other. I will leave this for the dissertation as well. It depends on how one understands and defines and conceptualizes theory. b) Are you aware of the three tonalities in flamenco? Yes c) Have you been exposed to the nuances in the definitions of tonality and modality? These concepts are highly problematic the way they are taught at the undergraduate level. d) Can you define, describe, explain? I am looking for your answers. e) Do you have a grasp of what hemiola is? Define it in your own words? Same as above f) Do you know what a descending tetrachord is? What about the Andalusian Cadence? Same as above g) If you have some experience with theory and analysis, can you share your analysis with performance notes of the first falseta from Paco de Lucía’s “Gloria al Niño Ricardo?” 6) Intertext a) Intertextuality is the idea that texts or fragments of texts can be transposed and put to new uses. For example, in Shelley’s Frankenstein, epigraphs, quotations, and allusions are borrowed from multiple sources in the service of thickening the plot, character development, and framing the moral of the new novel. In flamenco, cierres, llamadas, falsetas, and other gestures can be strung together in new ways in new instances of accompaniment or solo. Can you think of instances where someone quotes someone else’s falseta? My favorite example of this is Paco quoting himself live por bulerias in 2010 I believe. He plays a bulerias in which he seamlessly moves between falsetas in Am, C# phrygian, and A phrygian. Many clichés in solea are quotations of or are built on Arcas solea. Quejio? Paso? Within a genre (same key)? Across tonalities? Across genres? b) Alain Faucher takes some liberties with phrasing in his flamenco guitar transcriptions. Do you know of any instances in which someone uses his transcription verbatim including possible questionable phrasings? The guy who does Atrafana plays Faucher’s transcription of Gloria. In it, Faucher begins one of the falsetas on beat one. To me, it could be interpreted that way. It works, but I hear it as accentuating the compass beats (12-3-6-8-10). c) One type of intertext that has a long history in Spanish vihuela/guitar is the intabulation, or arrangement of a multi-vocal work for guitar. Josquin’s Mille Regretz is arranged by Luys de Narváez, for example. Do you know falsetas in any palo that are more or less arrangements of the cante? I know in one of Worm’s books on tangos/tientos that there is a falseta por tientos of Enrique de Melchor that is an intabulation of the melody of “Le hablo con mi dios y le difo.” d) Are you aware of some of the passages por soleá that are so common they are clichés? I am thinking of Herreros pedagogical materials here. He talks about clichés. There is a long history for these clichés and their function in strummed Spanish dance accompaniment.
Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px
|
|
|
|