gk -> RE: Flamenco Compas help needed (Apr. 16 2015 15:01:41)
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Also, I highly recommend the CD/Book "Understanding Flamenco" by Faustino Nunez. It's available from Flamenco World and Flamenco Connection. The book is close to worthless, but the CD that comes with it is a must have for learning compas on your own. I know this thread is old but I want to express my deep gratitude for this reference, and others. I have been a flamenco student since 1985, with Paco Pena, in Cordoba. One thing that I have been cursed by was that, despite my suggestion that maybe "twelve" could be called "one", Paco Pena was very insistent that "twelve" is "twelve", not "one", in Bulerias. This comment, by my guru, at the time, has always haunted, and discouraged me, until recently. A few decades have now passed, since 1985, and I find, finally some support for my view, thanks to this forum, and a few noted educators: + Faustino Núñez - Understanding Flamenco (2003) + Nan Mercader - La Percusión En El Flamenco (2000) + Gerhard Graf-Martinez - Flamenco Guitar Method, Vol 2 (2004) - among others. I don't fault Paco Peno, entirely, for discouraging me. In hindsight, it seems to be a problem of language. To me (and apparently also to Faustino, Nan and Gerhard), "one" means the start of the compas. To Paco, apparently, "one" meant a position in the "flamenco clock" order of accents: in other words Paco could not agree to simply rename beat "twelve" as "one", despite the fact that it is the beginning of the bulerias compas - to Paco, in hindsight, I figure, he must have been thinking of the order of accents: you cannot simply call beat twelve "beat one" because that would (wrongly) imply that it is not accented, and that you have shifted all of the accents in the cycle. I hope you guys understand where I'm coming from. For decades, I have been trying to interpret Paco Pena's comments and assumed that the whole point was that "one" in Soleares is still the "one", in Bulerias, but that it is the un-accented "upbeat" and not the accented "downbeat" (strong beat). This was a very hard pill to swallow since I can't help but regard a "strong" beat as a "downbeat", and, indeed, Faustino, Nan and Gerhard seem to agree. Thanks to this forum, I have read what Faustino has to say, which reconciles the subject: It makes sense to call beat "twelve" in Bulerias "beat one" since: + It is the beginning of the compas + It is accented You can also understand Soleares, in the same context, if you like, but the difference is that, in Soleares, beat "twelve" is silent (unaccented). Wow. This reveleation was a blockbuster to me. Surprised that I never heard it before.
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