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Ricardo -> RE: Evolution of cante accompaniment style (Nov. 15 2022 15:04:54)
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If you followed any of our flamenco origin discussions, you might have seen evidence by Eduardo Ocón, published in 1874, however, compiled or transcribed between 1856 and 1867. What it shows is that flamenco guitarists had evolved or gradually moved from “punteado” style of accompaniment toward more Rasgueado, and he gives two examples using Fandango. At one point, an ethnomusicologist argued that the Fandango chord movements on count 3 and such don’t appear in the historical record until the recording of Niño Ricardo in the 1920s, however, I simply convinced him otherwise by pointing it out in those scores from 60 some years earlier. To interpret this evidence correctly, you need to be able to read music and already know how to play for some cantes. You can translate his verbal descriptions with google if you don’t know Spanish or German, but his insights are amazing IMO.
http://www.bibliotecavirtualdeandalucia.es/catalogo/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=162199
Now, not EVERY cante is found here, nor is the guitar parts the pure and perfect or EXACT versions we think of, however, I can sort of see through the man’s eyes at what he might have been observing at the time, thanks to the details he captures, and I must say it is SURPRISING that it appears, very little has changed in the way of accompanying the song forms from long before recordings until the present time. That means, to me, this work is a perfect little snap shot in time that proves (to me at least) that flamenco is a bit older than most people believe. So when tracing evolution of accompaniment styles, I would say YES it is very individual and each individual takes from the maestros that came before that are all following some unknown ancient models. You can do your own research by simply checking dates on recordings, and organizing them. I mentioned this in the cantes mineros thread I started regarding the key for Minera used for accompaniment….Kliman has pointed out the usages and you can arrange the historical recordings (there are only a few in that collection) and trace the lineage of that guitar form under the singing, through time.
As for trends and regional tendencies, I would say we HEAR about this often, and it sounds like it makes sense, until you get down and look at individual styles and realize there is only the individual style at work. In flamenco it is ok to copy a maestro, in fact it is sort of expected by family members, hence the tradition. But things like “Jerez style” or “toque gitano vs Toque Payo” are meaningless without specifics, and actually point away from a good education in the matter.
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