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ORIGINAL: Dudnote

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ORIGINAL: Ricardo

wow, super old necro post lol!

Here is some basics. Solfegio is used not letter notes, so a solfegio note will inform the KEY you are in for the singer, and a number will be the capo position. the other terms "por arriba por medio por levante por minera por granaina por rondeña etc, refer to PHRYGIAN keys. It is helpful to know this in advance of playing sevillanas or bulerias etc.

Examples:
Key of E major = Mi
Key of E minor = Mi menor
Key of E phrygian= por Arriba

Key of A major = La
Key of A minor= La menor
Key of A phrygian = por medio

one may note when playing, you use the same chords in "La menor" as you do in "por Arriba"....but you need to distinguish the two as KEY CENTERS.

Hope that helps.

So you are saying it is unconventional to hear "por ariba" and "por medio" when talking about guajiras or alegrias?

Just giving the key doesn't give any info about capo position / chord shapes. So what are the gitano terms for the following three common chord positions for alegrias?
E - B7
A - E7
C - G7
I'd have thought "por ariba", "por medio" and "por abajo" could describe the chord positions / shapes here despite the fact we're in major and not phrygian. i.e. you could play in E major with a capo at the 7th and say "E major por medio" to describe that.

In Guadeloupe the locals call bananas "figs" - who am I to tell them they are wrong?