Ricardo -> RE: Cante question (Apr. 24 2006 16:32:13)
|
1. Yes. You need to listen to MANY different singers singing the same palo in order to figure it out. It is MUCH easier to actually try to accomp different singers in person. I noticed the standards, only after having learned them on the job. Thing is you dont' know yet what is the standard and what is the embellishment, and how far things can be stretched. It could be you actually heard the SAME standard melody, but the embelishments are what threw you off. It helps to have a GOOD singer. I have played for some that don't really know it correctly, or know one style well and not another, but can "fake it" if the accomp. is good. A good singer can sing many styles, with NO accompanist or inspite of a bad accomp. 2. Mixing, yeah but it depends what you mean exactly. Lyricas can fit to any melody if you want. An "alegria" performance (cante or baile solo) can have a full letra of Mirabra, Romera, etc, but you won't find a singer sing half an alegrias, and half Mirabra, unless he does not know what he is doing really. (Which I have heard). 3. You can't really accompany well until you do. Some dancers know this better than some singers they hire. I have seen dancers "sing" the correct phrasing of a letra to a singer that was a bit shaky on it. And not a bad singer either. Like I said, some singers are better at certain styles, and that is OK. But it pays for EVERYONE to be familiar with the standards, especially the guitarist. But if the singer is good and clear, the guitarist can actually accompany new styles he had never heard before. That is how I learned. You have to make mistakes. You can't just listen to the records because you don't know what the important things are. But hearing the old records drives home the standards you recognize. 4. I can only guess so I would rather not say. And because different singers have a "personal" style (at least they used to), it can seem that there may be many "standards" for the same basic melody. Example, fandangos has SO many different styles for the same basic melody. Nino de gloria, Caracol, Porrina, Farina, all sound like a different song, but from the guitarist point of view, they are all the SAME song. You have to listen to the KING notes that give the guitarist the tonos (chord change). Eventually you hear the difference of phrasing and melody of Grainaina vs Fandangos for example, even though they have a similar harmonic structure. Without hearing accomp, you should be able to recognize the melody of any cante sung accapella. Without knowing ALL cantes I can accompany most singers with some confidence, or with one single run through for more obscure songs. All though Sevillanas still make me sweat because of the way they can change tonality (I dont' like hitting ONE wrong chord). Point being, you just need the harmonic blue print and sense of compas to be able to "follow" a singer that is good. Even if it is a cante you are not familiar with. Modern flamenco cante cds have lots of arranged songs, because no one wants to record the same old standards anymore. Don't try to learn about it from any modern records. There are some exceptions like Zambo. Once you start to hear it though, you will find traces of it in the modern recordings, tucked into the corner of some solea or bulerias somewhere. For tangos you mentioned, listen to Montoya family. Lots of standards on that one. I have lots to say about this stuff, it rarely comes up, but gotta go. Ricardo
|
|
|
|