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2003

Flamenco : History, Style, and Context

Peter L. Manuel CUNY Graduate Center

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This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] .rtists; a )resence 2 Flamencoguitar: history sfle, status bility of rd Rock PETER MANUEL ling, are ring the y (ree6) Flamencoguitar constitutesan instrumental idiom of remarkablerichness ;uitar in and contemporaryvitality.As a musicaltradition, its statusis unique in that age,and while its origins lie in and its practitionersarticulate little in the ruments way of a standardizedtheory, it embodiesa degreeof technicalvirtuosity : Fender and sophisticationcomparable to that of a classicalart form. Flamencocan be seenas comprising s ong (cante), (baile), and guitar playrng(toque) . st visible The statusof guitar music within this framework is ambiguousand contra- k historY dictory. ,in its origins, basic structure, and traditional aesthetic the form orientation, is primarily vocal music, to which guitar accompanimentis a growing secondary(and occasionallyeven dispensable) addition. Nevertheless,the )ecomea guitar hascome to play an increasinglyprominentrole in accompaniment, and flamenco solo guitar has emergedas an independentidiom that has achievedgreater international renown than vocalflamenco. This essaypro- videsa brief historical and srylisticoverview of flamencoguitar, outlining its distinctive featuresand its unique statuswithin flamencoand world music asa whole.

The evolution of flamenco

The early history of flamenco, like the origin of the word ..flamenco,, itself, is ultimately obscure.l In the past, various spanish framenc6logos ("flamencologists")argued that flamencoderived from an ancientand pri- vate tradition which the Gypsiesbrought with them when they migrated from India somesix or more centuriesago. Nevertheless, it now seemsclear that the genreemerged in the late eighteenthcentury primarily from the corpusofAndalusian folk music, especiallyas stylized and refinedby Gypsy professionalmusicians. Andalusian musical culture was itself an eclectic entity, syncretizing the legacy of the regions diverseethnic groups (see Plate3). After the adventof Moorish rule in the earlyeighth century,Arabs, Berbers,Iews, and Christians coexistedfor centuries,and many , or ,remained in ,more or lessclandestinely, after the fall of Granadato the christian spaniardsin 1492.with the growth of trade with the New world, port towns of andcidizcame to host communities [13] of black A-fricans,and Latin American influencesestablished a presencein l.l l\.ttr hhtrtrrl 15 Fl.amencoguitar: history, style, status

as a productespecially of a Gypsy-centeredsubculture whicrr .rrpr.isctl not only etknicgitanos (Romany Gypsies whose ancestry a'tr tratritiorr.l languagederived primarily from India) but alsoother lumpen bohe'ria.s and socialoutcasts. The flamencocantes or song-typesthat coalescedin the latenineteenth century fall into two categories:those deriving directly from Andalusian folk music proper (especianythe varietiesof ),and thoseinspired byotherlocal idioms (especiallythe [,.deepsong,,] styles). Thesclatter, although Andarusian in a generalsense, are dir- tinctivelyassociated with flamencoand Gypsysubcurture and lack-or" specific countcrl)itrtsin regionalfolk music. l;rornrhc ltt30son, flamencorapidly developed both asprivate party .rrrsicwithir l hisconrnr,nity and, perhaps more importantly, as entertain- rrrcrrt pcrlirrmcdby prof'essionalmusicians and dancers both in public cafs ilntto,ttcs(" cafes")and in wild partiesQuerga.s) helcl by dissolute, aflrt'it rrrusicallydiscriminating, playboys (sefioritos) of the landlordclass. Aswith other musicstyles, the effectsof commercializationand profession- alization weremixed, often obligingartists to panderto cheappublic tastes, whileat thesame time stimulatinghigher technical standards and expansion of repertoire,increasing the sheeramount of performance,and attracting the talents ofnon-Gypsy (payo)performers. Throughout its evolution,flaI menco hashad to caterto the tastesof diverseaudiences, including festive Glpsieqslumming aristocrats, purist intellectuals,an uninfo rmed payomass public, Romanticisttourists seeking"exotic" and "passionate"Andalusia, and, increasingly,internationar fans, The mid-twentieth-centurydecades were a particularlydifficult period, asinformal ju ergasin tavernswere for- mally bannedby the Francodictatorship, while the public tendedto favor light, commercialcante bonito ("pretty song"). However,veterans of that period note that the ban ate 3 Map of Andalusia, showing historical centers of flamenco on flamencofiestas was widely ignoredin smaller towns,and that theperiod sustained several outstanding artists. Fortunately, since the 1960sthe genrehas rebounded with greatdynamism, whether in local musicalculture. Lastbut not least,from the 1500sthe region'sethnic traditional, commercialized,or innovativeavant_garde forms. Guitarists_ mix was enrichedby the immigration of substantialnumbers of Gypsies, especially but not only Pacode Lucia- haveplayed an essentialrole in this among whom performanceof music constitutedone traditional occupa- revitalization. tion. Socio-economicbackwardness, relative isolation from cosmopolitan Europeanculture, andthe richness ofthe musicalheritage itselftogether per- petuatedthe vitality ofAndalusianfolk musicas a distinct andliving entity. The guitar Contemporaryreferences from SevilleandC6drz in the late 1700sindi- in flamencohistory calc the existenceof a musicalgenre that would subsequentlycome to be while the guitar wassomewhat slow to be recognizedas an instrument fit rlllctl flirn.renco.In the following generationsthis idiom evolvedprimar- for classicalmusic, by the seventeenthcentury it waswidely usedin ily :rs irrr claboration of Andalusian folksong styles,with diverseinflu- and to accompanya varietyofpopular and courtly songsand dunc.r, ,,rrrcs lirrrn othcr sources,such as Latin American(including Afro-Latin) both in informal contextsand in professionaltheater. scholars, however, rrrrrsiclrr<1, lr:c:ortling to somescholars, Italian opera. Flamenco developed disagree regardingthe presenceof the guitarin earlyflanrenco. During the l(, l\'lrt f\ltuilh'l 17 Flamencoguitar: history, style, status

forurativccril,gtlitiltswcr(:lx:yorrtl llrcnrcrtnsol'nrostlowcr.tlrrssrrrrrsit:iirrrs, and thumbpatterns' limited use of arpcggi, andthe early Gypsy cante jondo tw..rirrgr.rr.rrrr.rrr.r.), songs- whichwere trroroughly ,rrtr:rr ir'cl andindicated that 'rrtr mostof theconventional lssocia riorr ol'intliv irlr r,rl r rrrrlr., monophonicin character- were often performed a scc.,tlr't is, ac- with particularguitar keys were establishecl by this companiedonlybyhand clapping (patmas) tirrre. or perhapsrhphmically srril

Plate 5 Paco de Lucia (photo by Paco Sanchez)

The flamenco guitar scene

In terms of function, pedagogy,and personnel,the flamencoguitar world canbe seenas spanning a continuum,with the intimate,private Gypsy com- munity at one end, and the internationalconcert scene at the other. The primary crucible of flamenco performers continues to be the Andalusian (and to some extent,) Gypsyneighborhoods (which havealways included fair numbers of payofamilies, such as Pacode Lucia's)'If many Andalusiansare indifferent to flamenco,Gypsies regard it asa cultural patri- mony (seePlate 6). Alongsideflamenco's professional, public or semi-public performance contexts,the art hasalways thrived asan entertainment music within the Gypsy community itself, whether for rowdy danceparties with tangosand bulerias, or more serioussessions devoted to cantejondo.Hence the ranks of passionateamateur singers, dancers, and guitaristsare legion' Most guitarists learn informally by imitating elders and, increasingly,by copyingrecordings. Given the casualpedagogical techniques and practice Plate 6 Unidentified Gypsies (photo methods,it is quitesurprising how manyvirtuososcontinue to emergefrom by Steve Kahn) the communitiesof Gypsiesand lower-classpayoflamenco fans. neighborhoodfiestas and their licks A skilledguitarist, aside from accompanying in, and might evenbe alowed a short solo during the courseof danceclasses, may find work in a tablao.These are latter-day versions of the an evening. caft cantante,presenting glitzy flamencoshows to tourists.ln the tablaos- The better guitaristsgraduate to the level - of professionalflamenco per_ are the main formances, as in other contextsoriented toward outsiders- dancesets in which they accornpanysingers at private cl'bs (pefias)and, guitaristsget public focus,and cantejondo is kept to a minimum. Nevertheless, concerts- especially'ight-rong,open-air festivals held in Andalusian :i t*terMunuel 23 FLamencoguitar: history,style, status towns during summertime, attended by hundreds of rowdy Gypsies. with the arrival of Paco de Lucia on the irrtcrnati.rrirlstr:rrc irr Guitaristsregard the all-night concertsas less than idealvenues, with their recentdecades, the crown of flamenco guitar-god lras rcstcclon il ,l()re often poor soundsystems and disruptiveaudiences. Nevertheless, the fes- unambiguouslydeserving head. However, his hard-coreflamc'c, lirnsirr.e tivals can alsobe rewardingfor musicians,as guitaristshave ample space far outnumberedby guitar-techniquefetishists who hoot anclhowl aficr betweenvocal strophesto demonstratetheir skill, and audiencesare in everylightning sixteenth-noterun. De Lucia himself,who is amongother their own way discriminating and likely to roar with approval at a par- things an intelligent,humble, and articulateman, has no illusions about ticularly expressivevocal melismaor guitar passage.Also popular are the the refinementof such musical tastes,although he has found the art of formal concursosin which singersand guitaristscompete for prestigious improvising in such contextsto be challenging in its own way. He has also awards. commentedon the contrastbetween such ecstatic international reception of It is only a selecthandful of guitaristswho manageto becomerecognized the shalloweraspects of his music,and the ambivalenceor evenindifference assoloists. These may getoccasional solo slots alongside their more regular with which flamencooften continuesto be receivedin Andalusiaitself, the work asaccompanists, and a tiny handful areable to supportthemselves as cradleoftle art form. Indeed,it isworth observingthat most spaniards,and soloists,often supplementingtheir incomesby teaching. evenmost ,have little interestin flamenco,and someregard it Meanwhile,ever since Ram6n Montoya successfully performed in Paris scornfirllyas a decadentlowlife music;outside Gypsy society it has flour_ in 1931,a few of the most gifted or fortunate guitaristshave been ableto ishedas a music for aficionados,somewhat like jazzin Americansociety. establishthemselves on the internationalconcert scene. This circuit affords Seriousinternational students and fans also constitutea significant,if money,the opportunity to reachforeign flamencofans, and alsothe par- numericallysmall, aspectof the flamencoscene. In contrastto the infor- ticular sort ofprestigegained from playingin opulent concerthalls to 6lite mal learning methodspredominating in Andalusiaitself, American and Westernaudiences who may or may not know much aboutflamenco. In the northern Europeanflamenco guitar studentsavail themselvesof formal foreign concertcircuit the traditional flamencohierarchy is often reversed, lessons,pedagogical books, videos, websites, and internet chat_lists.Sev_ with guitar music - which is "pretty" and presentsno languagebarrier - eral foreignershave become fine players,and a few, such as the American taking precedenceover flamenco singing,which strikesmany outsiders David serva (David |ones), have enjoyedmoderately successful careers, as hysterical,histrionic, and generallyincomprehensible. (Similarly, for performingin Spainas well asthe . example, it was sitarist Ravi Shankar,rather than equally gifted vocalists, who broughtNorth Indian musicto theWest in the 1960s-70s.)The perver- sitiesand peculiaritiesofplaying for internationalaudiences generate their Flamenco and flamenco guitar: style and structure own anomalousstandards of success.In ,and especiallyin the glitzy The flamencorepertoire consistsof around a dozenbasic cantes,and" a Rivierahotel-club scene,the most conspicuousflamenco star throughout few dozenmore subsidiaryor obscurevariants ofthese. A cante(or palo) much of the latter twentieth centurywas FrenchGlpsy guitarist Manitas de is a song-t1pe,identified by a particular poetic meter,characteristic vocal Plata ("SilverHands"). SinceManitas paid little heedto the basic compas melody (or melodies),in some casesa compAs(rhlthmic structure,which patterns,his music, although flashyin its own way,was pseudo-flamenco mayincludetypical chordal patterns), and-last andperhaps least in termsof at best.However, as Arnedcan Zern wryly noted,in his flamenc1logoBrook structure- a distinctiveguitar key and setof conventionalaccompaniment playing and flamboyantpersonality Manitas masterfrrllyperpetuated the patterns.The so-calledcantes libres or "free" cafltes- notably Malagueflas, traditional Gypsyguasaart of conningguLlible payosto his own advantage. Granainas,tarantas,andfandango libre-are performedin freerhFthm, that Meanwhile,inthe United Statesduringthe sameperiodthefield offlamenco is, without meteredcompas. Most of the basiccantes appear to havebeen guitar was largelydominated by CarlosMontoya (1905-95),a nephewof informally codifiedby the earlytwentieth century andcontinue to form the Ram6nMontoya. Carlos was an unpretentiousman and a respectablegui- basisfor modern flamenco. tarist, and he certainlysucceeded in bringing flamencoto the nation'smost In more generalterms, flamenco itself is distinguishedas a genrebyvar- prestigiousconcert halls. At the sametime, aficionadoswould agreethat his ious formal features(aside from lyric contentand otherless strictly musical renownwas somewhat incommensurate with his talent,especially in com. aspects).Much flamencoharmony is in the form of what is generallycalled parisonto that of Sabicasand Mario Escudero,who, althoughalso living in "Phrygiantonality," in that it roughlycoheres with the "8,' mode (or trans_ New York sincethe middle of the century,enjoyed less popularity outside posedversions thereof). Thu.s, in the commonclrord progression Am-G_ of the circleof seriousflamenco fans. F'-E'tlre F, rnajor chord functions not asthe donrinant of thc tonicA minor, -Et**--

24 Peter Manuel 25 Flamencoguitar: history, style, status but asthe Phrygian tonic; the role of the "dominant" - that is, the chord that demandsresolution _ rhythmic-harmonicscheme) and a more or lesspre-c.rctcrr,irrccr to the tonic is playedby the supertonic(F), or crr.rdirl the sub-tonic (Dm). pattern,to which areadded various improvised flourishes a'd The chordal vocabularythus derivesprimarily from adornr.rcnts. the Phrygian Precedingand in betweenthe vocal strophes(tercios, coplas, mode, with the exception of the tonic chord, which or verxts), usesnot (the the guitarist playssolo interludes ca[ed. Theseare G, but Gf raisedthird degree).The useof this note,especially falsetas. invariablypre- in melodic lines, composed,and in general,flamenco guitar playing contains little or reflectsAndarusiat Arab heritage,and in particurar,the none of affinities with the sort of free improvisationencountered, for example, jazz. the H4az or Hijazkar maqams(modes), with the distinctive in However, augmented the choiceof falsetasand the ongoing extemporizedflourishes secondsin their lower tetrachords(i.e., E_F_G#_A). Typically, and varia- chords- and especially tionslend the guitarplaying an essentiarflavor ofrooseness and spontaneity. the "dominant"-function chords- ur. .rr.i.h.d by the inclusion The guitar introduction to a songserves, on a basiclevel, to pitch of non-triadic tones,which most often are playedon open setthe strings. and for the singer,to establishthe mood Thus, for example,in the key which usesA major asthe phrygian of the cante,and,in the tonic, the "dominant" caseofmetered cantes,toset the . Although this function chord - which courdbe analyzeau*io"orty introduction tradi- as tionally consistsof a straightforward G minor, Bbmajor, or somecombination of both _ could falset4 manymodern guitarists (to the appearin the annoyance following forms: of somepurists) play extended,meandering in which the identity of the canteonly graduallybecomes evident. In general,how- ever,the accompanist's job llxample 2.1 "Dominant"-function chord in A phrygian main is to supportand follow the singer,and to makehim or her soundgood. This involvessensitively complementing the vocalist in variousways, by anticipatingphrases, tailoring dynamics,inlen_ sity' and eventempo to particular passages,knowing when to be assertive and when to lay back,and generallyintensifring the vocalist,smood. Accompanying danceis an art form in itself.In the tablaoor dancecon- Meanwhile,simple cert context,much of the time the guitarist is accompanying major or common_practicetonality also occursin not a singer, severalcantes, sometimes juxtaposition but a dancer,who is setting the dynamic structure of the piece in witl phrygian tonality.2Most with his flamencomusicians, or her own ,whether spontaneous or pre-arranged. of course,lack formal training in Westernmusic and As with employ their own idiosyncratic vocalists,the guitaristmust accompanywith sensitivityand flexibility, terminology,by which, for example,vo_ and calistsmight indicate be ableto adaptto performersofvarious degreesof competence.The key preferencesto accompanists.Thus, the key of tabrao E Phrygian contextalso has its own conventionalstructures, such is referredto asp or arribq,or "above,'rreferring to thepracement as the escobirlooart of fingersin an E of the alegrias- a sectionin minor key and slowertempo - which major chord,while the fingeringof the A majoichord has wourd ledto thekey of phrygian ..in not be heardoutside of the danceformat. A asbeing design ated, por medio_ the middle.,, Flamencorhythms As noted, the idiom of soroflamenco guitar, although are also distinctive in their own way.The most char- extant from the acteristic late 1800s,did not becomea widely popular oftheseuse elaborated forms ofthe hemiolaor sesquiarterapattern and recognized.art form until which haspervaded the era of Ram6nMontoya. Even today, the typical flamenco spanishmusic for centuries.In its most rudimentary performance at an Andalusian form, this couldbe regardedas all-night conferenceis unlikely to include a . a bar of 6/g followedby one of 3/4,atrording the stresspattern: However,tablao shows and formal dance-orientedperformances o Nr-two-three- o Nn-two-three- o rqB-and- r w o-and_ often do rHnrr(-and). As include guitar solos,partly in order to vary the paceof the indicatedbelow however,this patterngenerally does not evening.The appearin such a traditional guitar solo would generallyconsist of a seriesof straightforwardform. Flamencovocal sryleis also dis- faketas- such tinctive, with its pronounced aswould normally punctuatevocal strophes _ without anyparticular use of melisma,its sob-like falsettobreaks over_ and guttural effects, archingformal structureor design.within this looseformat, the guitarist and its generallyhistrionic, impassioned delivery. Also unique, would naturallytryto introducea measureof variety,perhaps, of course,is the guitar style,to which we may now rurn. for example, Flamenco by including an extendedmelodic passageplayed in guitar, as mentioned, evolvedprimarily as an accompani_ tremolo sryle.Since mental idiom, secondary the 1970s,however, guitar solosby leadingartists rike paco de to the vocal canteitself. In this capaciti the Lucia are most basic requirernent generallypreserrted as extendcd corlpositions, with evclcativc of the guitarist is to provide the correct ,o^pir, titles,which which, in the arerendcrcd in nrorcor lcssthe sanre lishion in succcssivcpcrfonrrarrccs. meteredcantes, comprises an isorhlthm (that is, u ,.p.atirrg (ln o'dc'tr>be a top-rarrkingguitarist (.tliry, .rrr,rr(rsl rr()r rrrt,*,ly lrlry wt,ll f

# I\eterManucl 27 Flamencoguitar: history, style,status but also compose original and striking/alsefas.) Even these pieces,however, Example 2.2 tremolo pattern continue to consist essentially of strings of falsetas,which are freely disem- bodied and copied by imitators. Moreover, fanciful titles notwithstanding, modern flamenco guitar solos invariably adhere to the inherited body of traditional cantes,thus, modernization and innovation have consisted not of adding to the repertoire by the creation of new cantes,bat of expanding and enriching the cantesfrom within, by using more varied, adventurous, and eclectic styles and harmonies. 5_ The relation of guitar solos to the cantesthemselves, however, is often flexible and loose, since the cante's foremost distinguishing element - the vocal melody - is absent in instrumental performance. A rendition of a metered cante (such as soleares,bulerias, or ) will naturally adhere to the distinctive compds of the cante in question. It will also generally employ the most conventional key used to accompany that cante.Thus, for example, siguiriyas, , and bulerias are most typically playedpor medio areparticularly important and diverse;some of these,as shown below, mav (in A Phrygian), both by accompanists and soloists. However, they are not be usedeither to producea machine-gun-rikepercussive effect, or a more always played in this way. Quite commonly, for example, an accompanist constant'unbroken roll. (To coherewith staffnotation, a downwardarrow might choose to perform a bulerias not por mediobut por arriba (in "E", henceforthindicates an upwardphysical stroke, and vice versa.) perhaps with a ) in order to match the range of a singer, or simply Eumple 2.3 Rasgueado patterns for variety; by extension, a soloist might render a bulerias in various keys, (a) (b) (c) irrcluding the distinctive Fg Phrygian otherwise associated with tarantas. (a) G) (c) 'l'hc rclirtiorr to the traditional cantesis even more ambiguous in the case rTttJ-5- -5- camrt mTrJ rtTJmt+ Jlr Jrr

29 Flamencoguitar: history,sryle, status lE PeterManuel ttraybc sccnits l tlisplirccrl The rhlthm of the slow and serioussiguiriyas classifiedinvarious manners' for examPle' below: The cantesthemselvesmaybe version ofthe same , schematized or musicalfeatures' One usefirl Uy..glorr,a.gree ofprofundiiy, ethnicorigin' groupings: An vein dividesmost of the cantesirlto four n nAnn ,ppr"".f, i" i.e latter 23 45 6 7.-. soleares:123 4 567 8910 lrr2ll all ofwhose compasesuse a form of 3 1... (1) soleares,alegrlas, bulerias, and variants' I 23 | 2 12 | z ll 23l2 cantesate or:123 stressingbeats 3, 6, 8' and 10; lhese 5 6 789r0llr2l the 6t8.3t4henio|alsesquialfer4 siguiriyas: | 23 4 distinctivd Gypsyin characterand origin' 3r23 | 2..' t.g"ta.a asthe most or: r 21 2 | 2 compasresembles a displacedversion (2) the statelyand solemnsiguiriyas' who se grouP' follows: ofthat of the Preceding Its compismightberendered in passingas which tangos and are the most (3) traditional duple-meterld cantes'of imPortant. Granainas'taran- of the fandangofamily (including Malaguefras' (4) the members Fxample}.T SiguiriYas offandangoperse); most ofthesefeature tas/taranto,and the numerousvarieties punctuatedby guitar interludes vocal strophesin common_practiceharmony ftee-metered (libre) or in 3/4' in Phrygiantonality; thty u" variously cantesis neither possible nor ap- While a thorough description of the most basic cantesmay space' a brief look at a few of the 1r'rrlrriate in this cantes'tangos(which has in which they are rendered on guitar' In the family of duple- or quadruple-metered scrvc to illustrate some of the ways American (in E' C' or' often by rnusical and historical relation to its Latin (typically in E Phrygian) and alegrias only u u"., general lbth soleares inmoderateor fasttempo' with compis (imperfectly notated below namesake)is typically ren deredpor medio soloists, ) feature a twelve-Leat , with accents on beats 1' 3' abasiccompta-s ostinato fi'gureas below: as four bars of 3/4) in slow or moderate end on 10' Fabetas'suchas this typical 6, B, and 10; guitar phrases generally will generally reflect this isorhythm: introductory passagein Example 2.8 Tangos 'o[""" J=reoS N t mple 2.5 Soleares

with more of a triplet- Tientos is a slower counterpart of tangos' sub-dividedfeel. , from Gypsysubculture' but Thebuleriascornpfusissimilar,exceptthatitsaire(tempo,spirit)isfast Membersof the fandangofamily derivenot setto e lhrygian (por medio);guitat falsetas harmonic and festive,and most tlpically folk *olit' th"y generally follow a specific de-emphasizedand often.es- from Andalusian begin on beat 12, andthe first beat is (as in Malagueflasand often A which playedltor arriba (whileretaining a certainineffable.structural significance)' frogr.rrion, sentiallysilent isroughlYas follows: follows("g" representsa fingernail per se) typical cornpasretdeti"gofUitttiu' is as guitar ostinato golpe): guitar ostinato verse AmGFE Chords: AmGFE CFCGTCFE II I iv iII II I Example 2.6 Bulerias E Phrygian: iv III II I I IV IVT I lV J=r* C major: de Huelva' the fingernail In the guitar ostinato of the meteredfandango the downbeats: gn|r* pioyparticularly important rolcs in marking lf PeterManuel 31 Flamencoguilar: history, slyle, status

Example2.9 Fandango de Huelva continuityis quite evidentin flamencoguitar, if rrrrrlerslrxrrlan a netiil conventionaltechniquesappliedtoastandardizcdrcpcrtoircolsorrgtygrer, or palos.The technicalvocabulary codified by Ram6n Montoyil, lruwcvcr enrichedby innovatorslike Pacode Lucia, still constitutesthe essenceof the style,and guitaristscontinue to work largelywithin the inherited cantes Tarantas and its metered counterpart taranto are played in the key of standardizedby the early twentieth century. Even the current eclectic ex- Ffl Phrygian (with versesin ), which offers particular possibili- cursionsinto variouspop stylescan be seenas perpetuating the tradition, ties to guitarists.The tonic chord is typically renderedwith non-triadic establishedsince flamenco's origins, of interactingwith contemporary ver- openstrings; when first soundedit is often followedby a legatoornament nacularidioms, be it folk fandangos,Cuban campesino music, or disco. asshown: While flamencocontinues to thrive in its quintessentialcontext of Gypsy juergas,guitarists have recently led the way in experimentingwith a variety of internaticl< (Paco dc l,rrcil'.sftrllys willr l,rlrrrMr Lirrrglrlirr andothers), and modern jazz itscll'(rrs irr'lirrrrirlilo's ( irirrnrrry wirrrrirrg, { )l) with pianistMichele Camilo). Pcrh:rps rnost lirnrilill irr torlly'srrrurlerrr flamencosound are the livelycrossovcl lccortlirrgs prorlrrcctl lry rlc l,rrtlrr, VicenteAmigo, and others.These corrrbine lltrrrcnco solo iuttl lritt.ltrrl,vo Granalnas offers its own guitaristic potential, being played in B cals,concise guitar interludes, and bass and liglrtpercussiorr, irr lhc corrtcxl Phrygian, with versesin . Again, the tonic chord may include oftunefirl pre-composedsongs, usually categorizable as tangos, rurnbas, or non-triadicopen strings: bulerias.The most successfulof theserecordings - suchas the l99B Me Voy Contigoof Amigo and singerRemedios Amaya - havebecome mainstream pop Example2.ll Granainas hits in Spainand evenearned the approvalofhard-core traditionalists. As in the caseofjazz artistslike HerbieHancock and Chick Corea,guitarist- ^ .l producerslike Amigo and de Lucia can continue to gratifr their more purist listenersby recordingstraight-ahead acoustic CDs alongsidetheir ffi pop-tingedforays. Many traditional music genresworldwide have fared poorly in their In the nineteenthcentury this key appearsto havebeen popular in the hilly confrontation with mainstreamWestern pop music, with its common- regionsof westernAndalusia, and thus cameto be the conventionalac- denominatorappeal and its powerfirlmultinational backing. The intensified companimentkey for the fandangovariant namedafter the nearbytown of processesof globalizationin recentyears have heightened both the chal- .Granainas is the only fandangotype to regularlyconclude on the lengesand the new opportunitiesfor "peripheral"musics associated with "common-practice"tonic - that is, - perhapsbecause of the reso- specificethnic, regional, or linguistic audiences.Lovers offlamenco and of nanceofthat chordas played on the guitar.The conventionofending on this world music in generalcan find much gratification in the way that flamenco chord illustrateshow flamenco'schordal vocabulary has in many respects guitarists,rather than beingswamped by thesedevelopments, have ridden evolved in direct with the guitar, rather than developingas an the crestof musicalglobalization, at oncetaking their art into excitingnew abstractharmonic repertoirealong the linesof Westerncommon practice. directionswhile maintainingits traditional coherenceand integrity.3 RprsnrNrcrs Flamenco guitar enters the new millennium Thepublisher has used its best endeavors to ensurethat the URLs for external websitesreferred to in thisbook are correct and active at the time of goingto press. Overthe courseof its meteorictrajectory in the last centuryand a half, fla- However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websitesand can make no mencohas been able to evolve,thrive, and adaptto changingcircumstances guarantccthilt a sitcwill rcnrainlivc or that thc contcnt isor will rcmain appropriate. whilc rctairringir rclativelystable and coherentstylistic corc. l"hi$ hcalthy