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Posts: 1956
Joined: Dec. 2 2006
From: Budapest, now in Southampton
RE: How do you count Seguiriyas? (in reply to Ailsa)
i just count 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2, but if i had to go with any of the above, i'd go with your first guitar teacher's way...the dance teacher's right too, the rest are just there to confuse you :)
RE: How do you count Seguiriyas? (in reply to Ailsa)
i would always use 12 beat system. the accents remain all the same in all palos, so you can structurize your rythm patterns easier and also switch easier between palos, coz you have structure for all palos. you just start different from palo to palo, and in bulerias you dont always start on 12 either. so, counting with 1s and 2s would make me confused very fast.
as a general rule, i think its better to think in a way that each beat in this 12 beats has its own meaning and rythmical value IMO.
RE: How do you count Seguiriyas? (in reply to XXX)
i count it 1 2 3 and a 4 and a 5 and
the only way i can get my head round the falsetas i by counting em out real slow. siguiriyas would proably be one of my favourite palo's. gerardo's remache is a great modern version, i listen to it on my ipod every day.
RE: How do you count Seguiriyas? (in reply to Jenny)
quote:
8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I started out this way and changed to 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2. Seguiriyas can get really fast with some pretty complex llamadas towards the end if you accompany the dance, it's good to get used to counting it all out.
My experience was dancers count starting at 12 and guitarists at 8.
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RE: How do you count Seguiriyas? (in reply to Ailsa)
Hi Alisia,
the first dance teacher and the first guitarteacher were right.
Robin Totton's book and the second guitarteacher are wrong.
As guitarrist I would prefer the way which your first guitarteacher told you. If you just count like 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 you dont know exactly everytime on which 1 or 2 you are. Its difficult during composing. So I would use starting from 7 with no accent , than (8) 9 (10) 11 (12) 1 2 (3) 4 5 (6) and again the start from the 7. That gives you the best control. Anyway, a wise person once said: A siguiryas is a Gay Bulerias, because it starts from behind. ... Well.. not my words, but also right.
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: How do you count Seguiriyas? (in reply to Ailsa)
I dont' count it anymore, but when I did or would to teach palmas, the dancer way, 1.2.3..4..5.
Notation is something else I think is important. Most often you see 3/4 alternate with 6/8, but you don't have the correct down beat represented. An easy way is to look at it like two odd meter phrases. 7 + 5. The grouping is important. The 7 is X-X-X--, a VERY common rhythm in the mediterranean. The 5 grouping is X--X-, also a common rhythm. The reason for two odd patterns is the way you hear the harmony and rhythmic phrasing resolve. Bb is the 7 phrase, then A is the resolution, the 5 beat phrase. Sorry if that sounds confusing, but on paper, if one is a good reader of rhythm (where is Guitarbuddha?), that type of phrasing really captures the proper feel, and also really separates it from the other 12 count rhythms, which are more symmetrical IMO.
RE: How do you count Seguiriyas? (in reply to henrym3483)
quote:
ORIGINAL: henrym3483
i count it 1 2 3 and a 4 and a 5 and
the only way i can get my head round the falsetas i by counting em out real slow. siguiriyas would proably be one of my favourite palo's. gerardo's remache is a great modern version, i listen to it on my ipod every day.
Siguiriyas is one of my favorite palos. I learned to count it the way you do from a gypsy [pictured on the left - Mario Escudero's father] like this uno, dos, treees, quaaatro, cinco.