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Posts: 15163
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to Neotriz)
Parallel key changes are common in flamenco. That means the tonic pitch is the same but the key can move to minor or major. In buleria in A por medio, the chords are A-Bb, Dm and C are used as well. That is spanish phrygian. A change to A minor could use E7 and Dm, or as mentioned, changing to A major would use E7 and D major. Depends on the melody.
Keep in mind, although this is common for an ending, it can happen in the middle or anywhere, and the chord Bb for example might bring you back to the original phrygian key.
Posts: 1156
Joined: Dec. 6 2006
From: Hamilton, ON
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to Neotriz)
Bulería de Cádiz, right? Lots of fun at the very end of a fin de fiesta, it has a real party feel. Kenzo, you need to come to the curso in Sanlúcar and try accompanying some bulerías this summer!!
Posts: 1156
Joined: Dec. 6 2006
From: Hamilton, ON
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo
Keep in mind, although this is common for an ending, it can happen in the middle or anywhere, and the chord Bb for example might bring you back to the original phrygian key.
Sorry to hijack the thread in parallel but I want to expand on this. Do you need - or at least want - a transition to go between keys in, say, bulería? Almost all the times I've seen or heard bulería go into minor it's either by way of a falseta that modulates to minor (e.g., in Paco's Punta del Faro from Duende Flamenco) or a chord sequence that transitions to minor (usually the one in Paco's El Tempúl). I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen a bulería in phrygian jump straight to minor and then back to phrygian.
So yeah, how important is this transition (usually to minor, since people tend to just play the E7 when they want to go to major), what are different ways of doing that transition, and how might one go between phrygian and minor without it?
EDIT: YES, I know Ricardo addressed part of my question in the thing I quoted, but I'd love to see knowledgeable people like him riff on this for a bit.
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to ArtZumer)
quote:
Just out of interest, do many other palos modulate like this?
Quite a few and most probably more than the ones I know:
Tangos exist in pure major and minor. Tientos might have parts modulating into major. Solbul may throw a major progression in there, solea the same. Please fill in what I forgot or dont know.
I wouldnt call it parallel key as Ricardo does. To me parallel key is what happens to all the palos in the fandago family. eg fandangos in E phrygian go into C/ G7/ F in the letra. Thats what I was tought to be parallel key because E phrygian and C major are based on the same scale. (the white ones on the piano)
Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to Neotriz)
quote:
Thats what I was tought to be parallel key because E phrygian and C major are based on the same scale. (the white ones on the piano)
No, that's relative. C major is the relative major of E phrygian. E phrygian is the relative phrygian of C major. A minor is the relative minor of C major and E phrygian.
For por medio; A phrygian, F major, D minor are all relative.
Posts: 15163
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to Adam)
quote:
So yeah, how important is this transition (usually to minor, since people tend to just play the E7 when they want to go to major), what are different ways of doing that transition, and how might one go between phrygian and minor without it?
The practice need not be some musical exploration. The guitar is simply imitating the singer with this idea of parallel modulation. In that sense, a single note can signal the change. For example in buleria por medio or alegria, the C# just becomes natural and bam, you are in the new key of A minor. Fandangos is a special form, not done the same improvisational way as the other forms, and as pointed out I would term it RELATIVE key change. Strange the relation is between phrygian and major, but still the same concept as say when Bach would modulate Am->C major and return to Am.
The reason we use the term "parallel" is because the root of the key center stays the same, but the key signature changes. In this some way, we are thinking more "modally" as if we have a drone to obey. You will notice in flamenco brief excersions into other "parallel" modes such as A mixolydian from A phyrgian or A dorian from A minor.
Anyway, because the idea is to immitate the cante, you will find these type of sudden key changes in most palos, EVEN FANDANGOS. The famous fandango de huelva moves from E phyrigian to relative minor A minor, then becomes A major, a parallel change, then back to Aminor etc, and finally F-E brings in Phyrgian again.
The idea that we NEED a transitional progression of chords is just a compositional tool some players use, thinking more as composers then accompanists. But it is not necessary.
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to Neotriz)
quote:
The idea that we NEED a transitional progression of chords is just a compositional tool some players use
What chords would you use to smoothly modulate from A phrygian to A major? Does anyone have some cool falsetas for transitioning between these two keys or to A minor?
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Posts: 1156
Joined: Dec. 6 2006
From: Hamilton, ON
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to ArtZumer)
quote:
ORIGINAL: ArtZumer
What chords would you use to smoothly modulate from A phrygian to A major? Does anyone have some cool falsetas for transitioning between these two keys or to A minor?
Posts: 1930
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to Neotriz)
I really love the parallel modulation in flamenco, and I think the abrupt nature of it gives it's impact and it's charm. It's like a wakeup call. A splash of water in the face. When people go into major in bulerias, it can be a really effective change. Sometimes you will see people in an audience visibly react to the change. It's not about a smooth transition to me, it's about the opposite-an abrupt change of direction. I don't think it's unique to flamenco, but you don't hear it much in other music.
Posts: 15163
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to Guest)
quote:
As a soloist, you cannot change abruptly...not in flasetas or compas patterns.
Sure you can! Why not? I think it is just a personal choice don't you? Even a "grandiose" composer like M. Sanlucar did it, first piece on Tauromagia. The transition to and back was just changing ONE note, the third of tonic G#->G and back. As I described in the first post.
quote:
By 1:21 he is already moving toward Phrygian.
That is a falseta from "Volar" transposed to A from C#. He used it because out of context, it starts in C# minor, but like a natural minor phrygian type thing. So that method of cut and paste falseta works to me the same as just jumping into it, but he is sort of using it to bridge Aminor to A phrygian. Honestly, I feel with this buleria he just wanted to arrange something that covers a wide spread of his repertoire. But still he did not need any extra chord progressions to make it all work. Going from A phrygian to the Zyrab stuff in C#, yeah he felt he needed to do that progression....and later to get out of that moving to A minor. But again that was his choice as an arranger/composer.
Diego del morao plays some buleria in C# and just goes to A naturally (for the singing) with no fancy progression (opposite of what paco does). Especially nice is 4:00...singing, falseta in C#, back to singing in A like nada.
Posts: 1809
Joined: Nov. 8 2010
From: London (living in the Bay Area)
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to Guest)
quote:
As a soloist, you cannot change abruptly...not in flasetas or compas patterns.
Tell it to Sabicas.
More seriously, you can establish any major or minor key by playing its dominant 7th. The transition will sound more or less jarring depending on how far the new key is from the old.
For a prime example, listen to Montoya’s guajira. He gets from A to C by playing G7, and then back the other way via E7. This kind of abrupt change is called a transition (as opposed to a modulation).
Posts: 15163
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Bulerias- The major key shift (in reply to Paul Magnussen)
quote:
More seriously, you can establish any major or minor key by playing its dominant 7th. The transition will sound more or less jarring depending on how far the new key is from the old.
Romerito stated flamenco is Tonal, and I agree, and any tonal stuff is achieved THAT way (dominant to tonic) regardless if it you are just doing a transition or total modulation. BUT, my point about the parallel moves is you dont' even need V-I moves to do it...simply change a note or more against the bass/tonic/drone, and bam, new key or mode. This type of move is showing the MODAL aspects of flamenco....even though the guitar is a tonal instrument, it still tries in some ways to get a modal vibe going on at times. Open strings certainly help this idea too. So in a sense, I am saying flamenco is really a sort of hybrid of both modal ideas, and tonal progressions.
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