CHAPTER 3. RHYTHM

The compás  is a differentiating element of flamenco music. The mastery and internalization of it is the basis to put into agreement the cante (Singing) and the toque (guitar). The best way to learn it is to feel the beat in your mind and heart, so that the music flows naturally and spontaneously, reaching the liberation provided by creativity and improvisation1.

In flamenco we find three types of bars that serve as support for different styles.

• Binary
• Ternary
• Amalgam
• Free

The soleares, along with other styles such as bulerías or seguiriyas, use an amalgam compás as sustenance, that is, combining the binary with the ternary.

First, let's listen to how the 6x8 + 3x4 amalgam compass sounds.

As is notable, not all the beats are the same and there is a certain flexibility in the playing .

As is recognizable in the video, it consists of twelve parts, which due to their verbal use to mark and rehearse the dance, are listed as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 …

                                                             (11)(12)                           (11)(12)

(3+3/ 2+2+2)

I consider it convenient to point out that the compás was prior to the transcription and that although different ways of transcribing will be suggested here, these should only serve as a visual reference since it must be internalized through listening and practice. 

Faustino Nuñez has design a ‘soleares clock’ to help in this practice:

Here is an example of the guitar rhythm  in Soleares. 

In flamenco the beats of this measure have been numbered in a way that creates a lot of confusion, since the beat we used to call '1' is now called '2' and so on.

Let's listen to the 6x8 + 3x4 amalgam compass with the flamenco numbers.

Traditionally the rhythmical part of flamenco has been carried by the palmeros2 sometimes adding the cajón3. Guitarists are also involved in the rhythm, as they are those who accompany the cante and perform more or less support on certain chords to show weak and strong pulses.

Focusing on the clapping we can distinguish two types of sounds:

But... How is this rhythm marked?

• Deaf clapping; ''cupping the hands a little, the sound is produced by beating the palms against each other, in this way, obtaining a soft and serious sound. They are used to accompany the guitar and cante in a light way4.''

• The sonorous or bright clapping ''are used for the rest of the parts that make up flamenco music, when a better presence of the compás element is required, particularly in festive styles (bulerías, alegrías, tangos, etc.). Its sound is produced by tapping the open palm of the other with the fingers of one hand5.''

In the case of soleares, deaf palms are usually used since it is not a festive style, but is much more intimate.

Although it has been confirmed that the flamenco accentuation falls on the 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12 of the measure, as has happened in other styles such as the bulerías, throughout the years, the soleá compás has undergone a change in accentuation. Many of today's flamenco musicians accentuate the times of the soleá as is done in the bulería but, in a slower tempo:

Here we can find one common soleares/bulerias flamenco clapping pattern:

Example of flamenco soleares clapping:

Juan Parrilla in his book  Juan Parrilla in his book 'Método para instrumentistas melódicos', propose the following:

The flamencologist Faustino Nuñez suggest the following:

There are various ways of understanding this compass in a classical/academic way, the most common variants being suggested here:

The Hurtado brothers, Antonio and David in their book ‘The Key to Flamenco Music’ suggest the use of two measures in 3x4 and three in 2x4:

Or writing in a simple 3x4 having in mind and body the compás and being the score only a guidance:

In the other extreme, we find José Blasco Vega. In his book 'Lo que Karajan quiso saber del flamenco y no pudo' suggest, because of melodic reasons to use the 12x4 alternating 7+5 and 5+7 depending on the melody.