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I'm messing with Taranto, anything you guys play that is not simplistic but not interstellar in difficulty you can recommend? I'm curious as I've never really worked too seriously with this beyond the basic falsetas and accompaniment chords.
RE: Taranto as a guitar solo, what d... (in reply to estebanana)
I used to have the Paco Pena book, I learned a bunch of solea and alegrias then gave it away about ten years ago.
I don't believe in tremolo, it's against my religion. Tremolo is low on my priority list because it's not really important for flamenco and there are many other basic things that would be better off shored up instead of spending time on tremolo. Now alzapua is a thing I will send time on, and monster ligado. Even my picado has smoothed out a bit.
RE: Taranto as a guitar solo, what d... (in reply to estebanana)
Falsetas that are not meat and potatoes Taranto, you know all the books have the usual variations of arpeggio-ligado stemming from F# min and G. There's no shortage of tht stuff. I'm kind thinking of a few long falsetas that are melodic, but not tremolo. Old or modern. I mean I have stuff to pick from, but I have been looking at the same old books and recordings for a long time.
I'm thinking stuff that shows different areas of the guitar range, pretty jazzy chords, good voice leading, all the stuff that flamenco purists hate. Hahaha. Taranto is flowery aready so you may as well be giving the whole bouquet.
RE: Taranto as a guitar solo, what d... (in reply to estebanana)
I've dumped a couple of vids in the swap shop Stephan. Nothing ground breaking.
Here's something more melodic...
I was shown this years ago, but struggling a bit tonight with stiff hands. I never heard the original - but I think Nick said it was Manolo Franco. Anyone recognize where it's from?
RE: Taranto as a guitar solo, what d... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
nice drum sander too
Thanks. The drumsander is now taken apart and is in a big cardboard box. Gee are these things heavy to move around. And the guitar playing has gone years ago. So that video is a true mueseum video.
RE: Taranto as a guitar solo, what d... (in reply to estebanana)
I found something I'm going to work on, but keep it coming.
This has some nice chords that are "jazzy"...also all the clips have been inspiring. I never learned more taranto than the basic stuff, so I will give this a try.
RE: Taranto as a guitar solo, what d... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
What's the difference? Just an A
Its a typical Andalucian thing. I have heard so many different explications that I wont say to much. Some say that Tarantas is the fre form version while Tarantos is the rythmical version (compás like tientos) Some singers say it depends on the letra if its Tarantas or Tarantos.
In general, free form F# fandangos for solo guitar are called Tarantas, but you can always find someone with the interest of banging your head with a saucepan for calling things something.
Its just the way everything is here and you can discuss it for hours and drink and eat a lot while you do so. A bit boring in the long run.
RE: Taranto as a guitar solo, what d... (in reply to estebanana)
I've heard tarantos is the baile and taranta is the cante', then I have heard that Taranto and Taranta are both cante' but sightly different. Then I have seen albums and tab books which use them interchangeably and then I have heard arguments also go on for weeks about which one is oatos or antas....
It's boils down to A or O, and like you say, boring to argue. The same arguments for Bulerias or Buleria, Solea por Buleria, Buleria pa' eschuchar and Buleria por solea.
These designations are not important other than for bartenders to sell beers to those who argue who is correct while drinking many Cruz Campo.
RE: Taranto as a guitar solo, what d... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
while drinking many Cruz Campo.
And you really do have to drink a lot of them, seen how close to p**water Cruz Campo can get. I could kill for an ice cold German beer right now!
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RE: Taranto as a guitar solo, what d... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Anders Eliasson Its a typical Andalucian thing.
Good to know - I just noticed in the 3 videos I uploaded I managed to call it tarantas, taranto and tarantos - they can't all be right. Looks like I'm becoming more Andalucian with age
In Paco Pena's book he uses tarantas for the free form and taranto for the rythmic version - mas cervezas por favor!!
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From: Washington DC
RE: Taranto as a guitar solo, what d... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
ORIGINAL: estebanana
I've heard tarantos is the baile and taranta is the cante', then I have heard that Taranto and Taranta are both cante' but sightly different. Then I have seen albums and tab books which use them interchangeably and then I have heard arguments also go on for weeks about which one is oatos or antas....
It's boils down to A or O, and like you say, boring to argue. The same arguments for Bulerias or Buleria, Solea por Buleria, Buleria pa' eschuchar and Buleria por solea.
These designations are not important other than for bartenders to sell beers to those who argue who is correct while drinking many Cruz Campo.
The only reason for argument is because two different folks might be talking about BAILE or Guitar or Cante, and they are three different contexts for the same words.
Cante: Taranto and Taranta are different melodies of the same family, normally all thought of as FREE of compas. Others in the family include cartageneras, levanticas, mineras, fandango minero, etc, collectively refered to as cantes de La Mina....cantes de La Mina are a specific group of songs that fall under the umbrella of Cantes Levantinos that also include Malagueñas and Granainas. IMO, I group them all together as basically specific melodies that follow the form of Malagueñas, which itself is a form derived from Fandangos. So it's all really just special fandangos, but the accompanying guitar will use either the tonos F#, G#, or B phyrgian instead of E or A. Even you can hear old Malagueñas or Granainas of Chacon accompanied in F# or B the same as cantes de La Mina typically are.
BAILE: Taranto is the title given to a dance that rhythmically follows a form similar to Tientos-tangos dance form. That being a binary rhythm that will speed up into tangos or even rumba as an ending. The main difference is the letras sung in the early slow portion of the dance can be any of the Cante de La Mina family. Taranto is the most stripped down melodically in the family, so it is most often chosen as the primary letra to force into what is basically a tiento type compas. Although it need not be the only melody used, it's dominance as the chosen song makes the title of the dance form obvious. I have accompanied the dance with no Taranto melody used at all (cartageneras and levanticas works beautifully). The guitar will accompany in the tonos it normally would for the Cante de La Mina (F#,G#, or B like Granainas all work fine depend on vocal range of singer), and later transpose what is done for Tangos or Rumba into that key.
Guitar:Taranta is the free rhythmic form most often used for Cante de La Minas accompaniment, traditionally in F# Phrygian. So guitar solos reflect this by name. Taranto guitar solo may invoke the rhythms of the BAILE, but can also be free or a mix. In that sense you might have ambiguity that is often argued about. Minera by name means G# to a guitarist but for a singer it is arbitrary as I said early, F# G# or B can be used for the cantes de La Mina. If there is a mixing of styles (Camaron always did this for example) you won't be changing keys, so only one name is often used to describe the Cante, usually the first one sung. So you might find Camaron singing Taranto and Cartageneras with Tomatito accompanying por mineras (G#), and the title could be just "Taranta", "Taranto", or "Minera" depending on WHO is doing the labeling (dance enthusiast, singing enthusiast or guitar enthusiast respecively).
So there are different mentalities depending on the context. I want to also mention that similar to what we recently discussed about Fandangos personales, that being compas of Solea or fandango de huelva might underlie a loose melody (fandango de Gloria for example) a singer/guitarist combo might choose to interpret a Cante performance again with the loose binary compas used for BAILE, even though there is no dancer, for any of the cantes de La Mina. A similar thing happens when a cantaor chooses to open with a free Malagueñas and end with a rhythmical Verdiales or Rondeña.
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Tremolo is low on my priority list because it's not really important for flamenco and there are many other basic things that would be better off shored up instead of spending time on tremolo. Now alzapua is a thing I will send time on, and monster ligado. Even my picado has smoothed out a bit. 
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