The flamenco style ('palo') called soleá is a basic style that flamenco beginners has to understand. As I always say, I am not going to show you a score to play soleá. I will to try to explain what solea means within flamenco.
The solea is a flamenco style (palo) quiet, reflexive, simply in harmony but complicate in rithm and variations. But if you need a true adjective for solea it is solemn o majestic. Never forget this. Solea is solemn, is a deep and serious dialog of the singer with himself. It is a style where audience should hear. Solea is something like the 'perfect' quiet style in flamenco.
Solea is, with siguiriya, the two core styles of the deepest. You cannot know if a flamenco singer is good singing tangos o rumba, or even the difficult buleria. But solea and siguiriya have not piety with non-really-good singers. The trunk of expression and technique in flamenco is solea, siguiriya and parallel styles (martinetes, caña, polos, etc).
Solea topics, tempo and music are related to philosophical issues, morality, love and disappointments... always serious. Solea is reflexive and is a way to understand things and feelings. At first, a beginner that had not previous and strong contact with flamenco can be confused with other deep flamenco styles. But solea does not express complains or tragedies as siguiriya. Despite it can be vehement, solea try to understand things and put a problem or issue in its place.
Some examples:
Fui piedra y perdí mi centro
me arrojaron al mar
al cabo de cierto tiempo
mi centro viene a encontrar.
I was stone and lost my center
They throug me to the sea
And after a long, long time
I found my center again.
or
El querer que me mostrabas
como era de polvo y arena
el aire se lo llevaba ...
The love that you showed to me
was duty and sand
and gone with the wind ...
Personally, I thing that are great poetries. Sing a solea is to intone a deep poetry.
History
Soleá was popularized by la Andonda. La Andonda was the wife of el Fillo, one of the most famous ancient singers. The birth place of solea is belived to be Sevilla. In particular, Triana quarter. There are many theories about his conformation as style. One of the most feasible is that solea comes from 'jaleos' because of her rhythm.
Rhytm and compás
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2
It is also usual this rhytm
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 -> solea rhytm
Whrere the accent in 6 is lost.
In this vídeo (Spanish) you can learn more about this rhytm (minute 6:00)
In the guitar the final 1-2 has usually a mechanic ending. Thats because it is a link. It is very importat that this 1-2 shuld be always the final of the compás, at the end. Why? because, due to buleria influence the rhytm could change in your mind to:
1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -> bulería rhytm
If it occurs, immediately, the solea lost its solemnity and we are playing another thing: bulería. And the deep sense of solea is lost. Traditionally, Neverhteless, the 'cierre' or closing of solea is almost always performed by singer with this rhythm and accelerating. That allows to get the audience out from the tremendous seriousness of solea.
Solea has not 'jugetillos' (little and less deep stanzas) between tercios (stanzas) line it occurs in other styles as 'caña' or 'alegrías'.
At the end, singer accelerates and changes the starting accent of the rhythm, performing a bulería.
There are many styles of solea based on breaths and basic melodies.
The structure with dancers will be:
- Intonation
- 1st stanza ('tercio') as intro stanza.
- 2º tercio or 'tercio valiente' where the singer try to show its skills.
- 3º tercio or macho. More Quick.
- Bulería o soleá por bulería.
Anyway is usual that singers, when alone, keep the soleares on with more than three 'tercios'.
This point of view is transcendetal for a good performance of solea.
Solea is great by herself and it should be performer by great singers. That said, guitar plays a roll of enhancement, the key of flamenco guitar performance. Only singer or dancer is really important. Guitar is secondary.
In solea, guitar always play on a few chords with a subjacent melody. When the singer does not sing, the guitarist has to play random falsetas doing 'goldsmithing' on his fingers with the aim of creating a favorable environment in the room. But when the singer starts, he should be cautious and austere, accompanying and enhancing the song. Here you can find two videos of great singers performing solea. Juan Moneo 'El Torta' and 'El Cabrero'.
I hope you enjoy them now from other point of view.
Whrere the accent in 6 is lost.
In this vídeo (Spanish) you can learn more about this rhytm (minute 6:00)
In the guitar the final 1-2 has usually a mechanic ending. Thats because it is a link. It is very importat that this 1-2 shuld be always the final of the compás, at the end. Why? because, due to buleria influence the rhytm could change in your mind to:
1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -> bulería rhytm
If it occurs, immediately, the solea lost its solemnity and we are playing another thing: bulería. And the deep sense of solea is lost. Traditionally, Neverhteless, the 'cierre' or closing of solea is almost always performed by singer with this rhythm and accelerating. That allows to get the audience out from the tremendous seriousness of solea.
Structure
After an intro when the singer intone vocal sounds for intonation, then the guitarist continues playing falsetas until the singer start with a stanza. Then the guitarist play some falsetas and then the singer continues, and so on...Solea has not 'jugetillos' (little and less deep stanzas) between tercios (stanzas) line it occurs in other styles as 'caña' or 'alegrías'.
At the end, singer accelerates and changes the starting accent of the rhythm, performing a bulería.
There are many styles of solea based on breaths and basic melodies.
The structure with dancers will be:
- Intonation
- 1st stanza ('tercio') as intro stanza.
- 2º tercio or 'tercio valiente' where the singer try to show its skills.
- 3º tercio or macho. More Quick.
- Bulería o soleá por bulería.
Anyway is usual that singers, when alone, keep the soleares on with more than three 'tercios'.
Tonality.
Soleares are usually played using andalusian cadence in E (por abajo) or A (por el medio).
Basic Chords: Am,, G7, F, E and C as parallel chord or C.
Singer atttitude
Solemnity is the key word for soleá style(palo). In my opinion, it is quite diffcult, in the age of techno music and rock to understand solea. Because it is not a song for the audience. It is an instrospective song. That means that, as audience, you sould participate on the reflection of the music and lyrics. And the singer has to express what he is thinking deeply. This is more or less what the flamenco concept called 'jondo' means .This point of view is transcendetal for a good performance of solea.
Guitarist attitude.
Solea is great by herself and it should be performer by great singers. That said, guitar plays a roll of enhancement, the key of flamenco guitar performance. Only singer or dancer is really important. Guitar is secondary.
In solea, guitar always play on a few chords with a subjacent melody. When the singer does not sing, the guitarist has to play random falsetas doing 'goldsmithing' on his fingers with the aim of creating a favorable environment in the room. But when the singer starts, he should be cautious and austere, accompanying and enhancing the song. Here you can find two videos of great singers performing solea. Juan Moneo 'El Torta' and 'El Cabrero'.
I hope you enjoy them now from other point of view.
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