Introduction to Flamenco Forms for the Improvising Musician
Introduction to Flamenco Forms for the Improvising Musician Daniel Lorrain University of New Orleans December 2011 2 Steve Masakowski Give an overview of the history and evolution of Flamenco music. Discuss how this music has influenced you and your music. Also identify prominent jazz artists that may have been influenced by Flamenco music and artists. “Desengañao de la vida, ay, ay, yo busco mi soleá hasta que me llegue el día que Dios me quiera llevar.” (“Disillusioned with life, ay, ay, I search for my solitude until the day arrives that God wants to take me.”) -José Monje Cruz, Camarón Daniel Lorrain 2011 3 Flamenco is an incredibly profound, complex, and expressive genre of music. Regrettably, it is not very well understood outside of the Flamenco world, and the term itself is often associated with ambiguous, pseudo-Andalusian music with no roots in the Flamenco tradition. The genre’s lack of international exposure has precluded it from the kind of fruitful collaborations with outside influences that have been enjoyed, for example, by Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, or Indian Classical music. This paper is written for the Western musician as an introduction into the broad world of Flamenco. After a brief discussion of the history and origins of Flamenco, we will examine the tradition through the study of eight of its most important palos or song forms: Tonás, Seguiriyas, Soleares, Tangos, Bulerías, Alegrías, Fandangos de Huelva, and Rumba. Each of these will be discussed using Western notation and from a theoretical perspective not necessarily intrinsic of the way this oral tradition is traditionally taught.
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