Mojcar Flamenco Presents

Flamenco Bsico

Volume 1 Tangos and Tientos

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Flamenco Bsico

An introduction to amencos basic forms for dancers, guitarists, singers and percussionists.

FLAMENCO BSICO VOLUME ONE: TIENTOS AND TANGOS

Welcome To Flamenco Bsico!
Flamenco Bsico is for dancers, guitarists, singers, and percussionists who are getting their rst exposure to amenco. Our goal is to give you the tools you need to work with amencos essential forms. This series is also useful for advanced artists who like to work with clear, straightforward rhythm tracks. Flamenco is very uid and for many the hardest thing is knowing where you are at any given moment in a piece. As you go through each track on the CD and read the notes, youll start to develop a clear sense of the form of each piece, knowledge which will help you as you listen to other amenco recordings or build your own performances. For more information on amenco music, including a recommended listening list and links to useful web sites, visit the Flamenco Bsico pages on our web site: www.mojacaramenco.com. This CD introduces you to Tangos and Tientos, two traditional amenco forms based on a four-count rhythm. We begin by presenting a complete version of each piece. We then break each piece up into sections, presenting those sections at various speeds to facilitate practice. Note: In this booklet we describe each complete piece section by section. We use a lot of specialized Spanish terms in our descriptions, so you may want to check the glossary in the back as you go along through each description. Dont worry about memorizing all the denitions right away. Just listen to the tracks and follow along in the notes and pretty soon the terms will have real meaning for you and they will be easy to remember.

ABOUT MOJCAR:
We are a amenco trio based in Los Angeles, California, where we teach and perform. We have also performed contemporary amenco music and dance across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Our CD, Naranjas Amargas, is available through CDBaby.com. We have also written about amenco, and links to our articles can be found on our website. Award winning artists, Katerina and Stephen both studied amenco in Spain. Fernando was born in Paris to Spanish parents and studied percussion in Europe, Africa, and Cuba. Flamenco Bsico grew out of our experiences teaching amenco in and around Los Angeles, California.

Guitar Voice, Footwork, Palmas Percussion, Palmas

Stephen Dick Katerina Toms Fernando Diez

Produced by Mojcar Recorded at In The Box Studio, February, 2004 Mixed by Fernando Diez Copyright 2004, Mojcar Flamenco

TRACK GUIDE: TANGOS

Track 1: Complete tangos This track opens with the cajn playing the basic tangos comps, as the percussionist calls out a jaleo: Vamos por tangos! ( Lets tango!). The tangos comps consists of two sets of four beats. The rst beat of each set of four is either silent or low pitched (a single bass note on the guitar, a stamp of the dancers foot with no hand clap, or the bass note on the cajn, for example). Another characteristic feature is a double clap on the second beat of the second bar. Phrases end on the third beat of the second bar of this pattern. Try stamping and clapping the pattern below to tracks 1 through 5 on the CD. beat clap stamp |1 | |X 2 x 3 x 4 | x | | 1 X 2 & x x 3 x 4 x | | |

The guitarist enters with a traditional falseta (0:05) on the second beat of the second comps. After playing the falseta through twice, the guitarist ends with a remate followed by a llamada (0:25) to cue the singer. The singer enters with the rst letra (0:28), a verse about the Triana district of Seville. (See below for a translation of the text). The guitarist then plays three sets of comps and a desplante llamada (0:42) to allow for a short desplante from the dancer. The singer returns with the rest of the rst letra (0:51) which the guitarist nishes off with a llamada before playing another falseta (1:10). The singer re-enters with the second letra (1:51), a verse about the town of El Puerto Santa Maria. This time, the guitarist answers each of the rst two lines of the letra with short falsetas (1:58, 2:11), each two compses long. The singer goes on to nish the second letra (2:17). The guitarist plays seven sets of comps and a llamada for an escobilla (2:38). The guitarist then performs another falseta and a remate/llamada (3:03) before the singer returns with a salida (3:19). The palo closes with a double llamada/cierre on the guitar (3:32). Track two: Complete tangos (guitar and percussion)

This track is exactly the same as Track 1, without the cante. Track three: Track four: Track ve: Tangos practice rhythm (slow) Tangos practice rhythm (medium) Tangos practice rhythm (fast)

These three tracks allow dancers, guitarists and percussionists to practice tangos at various speeds. Note that the guitar plays a cycle: A llamada followed by eight sets of comps. Guitarists should note that the rasgueado pattern changes for each of the three tempi. A lighter touch is more appropriate for faster tangos. The chord pattern for each rhythm is the same: (llamada) |Bb |A |Dm |C |Bb |A |Bb |A |Bb |A |Dm |C |Bb |A |Bb |A | |

The bass notes on beat 4 are F and G (1st and 3rd fret, 6th string).

Tracks 6 - 10: Tangos guitar falsetas We havent included transcriptions of the falsetas and llamadas used in these pieces. This is because the process of transcribing falsetas from recordings is such an amazingly useful tool in learning to play amenco guitar that we wouldnt want to deny you the pleasure. To make this a little easier, weve included some hints on the Flamenco Bsico pages on our web site. Weve also included a link to www.seventhstring.com, where you can download Tran3 4 scribe, music transcription software available for both Macs and PCs. It allows you to slow down music without changing pitch. Meanwhile, weve included a hint chord, useful for four out of the ve falsetas. Think of the diamonds as notes you could add to the two nger chord shown. Also, one thing in amenco that you dont see in too many other styles of guitar playing is to let the 2nd nger reach past the 3rd and 4th nger, such as the C# on the 4th fret of the 5th string. Now you know enough to gure out the opening falseta. Track 11: Percussion samples These are samples of rhythms a cajn player might use to accompany a tangos. Each pattern includes a pattern to end a phrase on beat 3. The percussionist plays through the entire set four times. Track 12: Tangos practice rhythm - no guitar This track lays down a clean tangos pattern for dancers to practice their footwork, guitarists to practice their comps and falsetas, and percussionists to go wild.

TANGOS LETRA
1ST LETRA Triana, Triana, que bonita esta Triana Cuando le ponen al puente La banderita Gitana 2ND LETRA Maana me voy pa Cai Salgo del Puerto Santa Maria. Ay! mira que en el vapor, pa contempla esa bella bahia. Tacita de plata...Reina del salero Con este cante por tango yo Quiero decirte lo que te camelo SALIDA Que si que si, que no que no Que este Gitano me lo duermo yo

Triana, Triana, how pretty Triana is When they put the little Gypsy ag on the bridge. Tomorrow, Im going to Cdiz Im leaving from El Puerto Santa Maria Oh, see how in the little steamship One can gaze at this beautiful bay. Little cup of silver, Queen of gracious style. With this tango song, I want to tell you that you have decieved me.

Yes or No? Im going to sleep with this Gypsy!

TANGOS CHORDS
1st Falseta (with llamada) (1st Letra Triana . . .) |Bb |A |Bb |A |Bb |E7 |Bb/G Bb/G# |A 2nd Falseta (2nd letra - Maana me voy por Cai . . .) |Bb |A |Bb |Bb |A |Bb |Dm |Dm |Dm |F |Bb |Bb/G Bb/G# |C |F |Bb Bb/G Footwork |Bb |Bb |Dm |Bb 5th Falseta Salida |Dm |Dm |C |C |Bb |Bb |A |A |A |A |C9 |A |Bb |Bb |Bb | llamada | |Bb |Bb |E7 |C |Bb |A |C |F

CAPO: II
|Bb |Bb |F |Bb |A |A |Bb |A | | llamada| | |

|A |A |Dm x x G7 |A |A |A |A |A

| 3rd Falseta | 4th Falseta |C | | | | |

| | |

| | Ending llamada

ABOUT THE TANGOS LETRAS 1ST LETRA This verse refers to Triana, a neighborhood in Seville on the West bank of the Gualdalquivir River and the citys traditional Gitano (Spanish Gypsy) quarter. Triana is considered one of the birthplaces of amenco, so much so that anyone baptized in the font at the Parish Church of Santa Ana is blessed with the gift of cante. 2ND LETRA This verse talks about a boat trip one can take across the Bay of Cdiz from the port of Santa Maria to the city of Cdiz (Cai is the Gitano abbreviation for Cdiz.). Although steam (vapor) has been replaced by diesel power, you can still take this boat trip across the bay. Cdiz is called the little cup of silver because the air is suffused with an ultra ne sand blown in from the North Coast of Africa that gives it a silvery glow. Although now a small resort town enjoyed mostly by Spaniards, El Puerto Santa Maria is signicant in American history as the starting point for ships sailing to the New World. You can still see the fountain where ships took on water for the voyage. Columbus agship, the Santa Maria, was named after this small town. After youve taken the steamboat - the vaporcito - and admired the fountain, try the seafood at Romerijos. Its really good. SALIDA Hopefully, this is self-explanatory.

TRACK GUIDE: TIENTOS

Track 13: Complete Tientos The underlying pulse of tientos has a two-bar pattern, like the tangos, but beats 2 and 4 of the rst bar are divided into triplets and emphasize both the rst and third beat of each triplet group. The last three beats of the 2nd bar can be very light. Try clapping this pattern against the tientos practice rhythms, tracks 13, 14 and 15. When tientos goes into double time, such as in the escobillas, the underlying pulse is a straight 4count rhythm. As always, listening to the samples provided should give you a feeling for this pattern. (beat) palmas stamp |1 2 +a | x xx | X 3 x 4 +a x |1 | |X 2 x 3 x 4 x | | |

The track opens with an introductory falseta on the guitar. This falseta emphasizes the 3 against 4 feel of the tientos. The guitar plays two sets of comps (0:42) before the singer enters with a temple (0:55). The temple is followed by a long, opening llamada by the dancer (eight sets of comps) (1:11). Note that the guitar goes into double time and plays straight beats. Also, note that this phrase ends on the rst beat of the nal comps (1:36), allowing for a transitional measure to move back to the original tempo. The glpe on the guitar can be heard either as count 3 at the escobilla tempo or as count 2 at the slower, original tempo. The rst line of the rst letra, (1:38), is followed by a brief respira for the singer or a subida for the dancer (1:53) before the singer continues with the rest of the verse (1:59). The letra is followed by one comps on the guitar (2:42) leading into the rst (2:48) and second falseta (3:15) for the escobilla (3:59). The escobilla lasts for 24 sets of comps (48 4-count measures) before ending, as before, on count 1 of a transitional measure that takes the tempo back down to the original tempo (5:21). The singer enters with the second letra (5:24). Again, the letra is broken up with a short respira/ subida in double time for the dancer (5:38). The singer continues with the letra (5:47). The guitar plays one comps (6:28) before going into double time for the second escobilla, again 24 sets of comps in double time. This time, the tempo of the nal measures stays the same, while the comps switches to that of a tango (8:00). The tango is the macho to the tientos. As in our tangos example, it opens with a tangos llamada before going into one letra of the tango (Triana) (8:06). The rst line of the tangos letra is followed by a desplante (8:17) before the singer nishes the letra (8:31). This is followed by a short escobilla (8:52), before the singer goes on to the salida (9:06), which ends with a cierre llamada, as in the tangos. Tracks 14 and 15: Tientos - Temple, llamada, 1st and 2nd letra These tracks are excerpted from the complete Tientos (track 13) with the addition of footwork to demonstrate the types of rhythms a dancer might perform. In the footwork examples included here, the dancer performs steps on the beat, counterbeat, and in triplets, the three most common rhythmic subdivisions in footwork. The footwork includes full stamps of the foot (glpes), heel drops (tacns), edge of heel jabs (talns), planting the balls of the feet (plantas), and hitting the oor with the tip of the toe (puntas). 5

Tracks 16 and 17 Tientos escobilla practice rhythms These tracks allow dancers to practice tientos escobilla (footwork) patterns. Tracks 18- 20: Tientos guitar falsetas These tracks are provided so that guitarists can learn the falsetas used in the tientos. As before, we want you to gure them out for yourself, but this time, weve given you a few more hints. Weve listed the chords used in each of the falsetas. The diamonds indicate the position of the notes added to each chord to create the melodies. With a little work youll gure them out.
First Tientos Falseta A7 F
1
2 3

C
2 1

Bb
1

A
1 2

3 4

2 3 4

Second Tientos Falseta

Bbmaj7
1 3 2 4
1
1
2

Bbmaj7

A
1

Bbmaj7
2 3 4

Dm
1 3

F7
2

Bb
1
1

A
2

3 2 4

Third Tientos Falseta

Bb
Bb/g#
1

A
2

Bbmaj7
1

F
1
3

C
2 1

F7
1 3
2

Bm
1 3 4
2
1

A
2

ABOUT THE TIENTOS LETRAS 1ST LETRA The roots of the tientos are liturgical, as is suggested by this personal conversation between the singer and his God about being ill-treated by a lover. 2ND LETRA This gets a more democratic twist in the second verse when the singer speaks with the president about the same problem. MACHO (TANGOS) This is a short reprise of the tangos sung in our rst example. Singing the tientos is challenging, as is all cante jondo (amenco deep song). As the term implies, these songs are serious and deeply felt. Musically, they employ a variety of challenging techniques including melismas at the ends of words or phrases and quejios (cries, such as the Ay! heard throughout the song.) Rhythmic guideline for the 1st verse: The rst three lines begin on the and count before count 1: + 1 2 Ha - blo .... 3 4 + 1 2 con mi Dios .y le 3 Di 4 go . . .

The rst line of the refrain picks up on the and count before count 4: + Ay 4 and 1 2 Que me pa . . . . 3 4 1 rece 2 3 Men 4 tira . .

The last line of the refrain also begins on the and count before count 1: and 1 Lo que 2 3 4 and 1 tu hace con mi 2 3 go 4

TIENTOS LETRAS SALIDA Le re le le le le leee le re Le le le le le le lee-e la 1ST LETRA Hablo con mi Dios y le digo Ay que me prece mentira Lo que tu hace conmigo 2ND LETRA Y entre las paredes escribe Yo habl con el presidente Ay si el querer es un delito Que Dios, me mande la muerte MACHO (TANGOS) Triana, Triana, que bonita esta Triana Cuando le ponen al puente La banderita Gitana Que si que si, que no que no Que este Gitano me lo duermo yo

I spoke with my God and I told him how it seemed a lie how you had treated me. Its written on the walls I spoke with the president If love is a crime, then God, sentence me to death. Triana, Triana, how pretty Triana is When they place the little Gypsy ag on the bridge Yes or no? Im going to sleep with this Gypsy!

TIENTOS CHORDS
OPENING FALSETA COMPS |Bb |A |Bb |Bb |Bb |Bb |Bb |A |Dm |Bb/g Bb/g# |Bb Bb/g |A |

CAPO II

SALIDA (Le le le ) |Bb |A |Bb |A |Dm |C9 1ST LETRA (Hablo . . .) |Bb |A |Bb |Bb |Dm |Dm |F |Bb |C |F

|A (double time) | |A | | |A(a tempo) |A(double) |A (a tempo) G7 |A |A | | |C | |Bb

| |A |

1ST FALSETA, 2ND FALSETA COMPS (straight fours) |Bb |A |Bb ESCOBILLA (double time) |Dm |Dm |C |Bb |Bb |A |Dm |Dm |C (2nd time, end a tempo) 2ND LETRA (Y entre . . . ) |Bb |A |Bb/g Bb/g# (a tempo) |Dm |Dm |Dm G7 |F |Bb |Bb/g Bb/g# |C |F |Bb/g Bb/g# COMPS (Straight 4s) |Bb |A | |A |C |A |C | |Bb |Bb |Bb |Bb |Bb |Bb (double) |A |A |A |A |A |A |A | (repeat) | (repeat) | (repeat)

|A |C |A |A

|Bb | | |

2ND ESCOBILLA (as above) TANGOS (SEE TANGOS CHORDS)

GLOSSARY
Baile: Dance. A amenco dancer is a bailaor or bailaora, as opposed to a classical dancer, bailarn or bailarina. Cajn: (Lit., box) A rhythm instrument from Peru introduced into Spain in the 1950s and now commonly used in amenco. Cante: Flamenco singing. Comps: Beat. In amenco, comps refers to a palos underlying rhythmic cycle. More than just the number of counts in a rhythmic pattern, the comps of a given palo also determines which beats are accented, the kind of accents used, the way counts are grouped, and the rhythmic feel of a palo. Tangos and tientos are both counted in sets of four, but are accented differently and have different rhythmic feels. Contra tiempo: Counter time or off beat. This occurs when a amenco musician or dancer accents the and count between beats (+ 1 + 2 + 3). Desplante: (Lit., uprooting) A break between sections of a dance, which is a longer or more difcult llamada. Desplantes tend to be percussive and include bold, strong gestures. Escobilla: (Lit., brushing) A long footwork section, traditionally to a xed, arpeggiated chord pattern on the guitar. Falsetas: Short melodic phrases on the guitar, idiomatic to the palo being performed. These are generally prepared rather than improvised and set the mood, key, and tempo of a piece. Glpe: A strike. In amenco this can be the strike of the dancers foot, the guitarist tapping on the guitar, or striking castanets together. Jaleo: Shouts of encouragement such as Ol!, Anda!, and Eso es!. Jaleos are also longer group chants or songs that are performed by a company of amenco artists between musical or dance numbers in a staged show. Letra: The lyrics sung. Traditional amenco singers sing collections of letras instead of songs, and youll often hear a singer per7 forming a variety of traditional and original letras within a given palo. Llamada: (Lit., a call) A rhythmic phrase used by a singer, dancer, guitarist, or percussionist to indicate the beginning or end of a section. Phrase endings are also called remates. The two words are often used interchangeably. Macho: Many amenco pieces end with a short selection from a faster palo with the same basic rhythmic structure. For example, the tientos on this CD ends with a macho of two short passages from tangos. Marcando: (Lit., marking). Dance steps used to mark time or allow for lyrical gestures, as opposed to the rhythmic footwork patterns known as taconeo. Palmas: Rhythmic hand claps. A performer who performs only palmas is a palmista or palmero. Palo: Flamenco form. Literally, a palo is a stick, such as the stick a dance teacher uses to beat out rhythms. The term has come to refer to amenco forms in general, such as tangos or tientos. Rasgueado: Guitar strumming. There are many different rasgueado patterns in amenco. The pattern used depends on the palo, the tempo, what the singer is doing, what the dancer is doing, and where you are in a piece. Remate: Conclusion. The rhythmic footwork pattern a dancer uses to round off a phrase. Often used interchangeably with the word redoble (doubling up). Respira: Breath. It is common for singers to let a few cycles of comps pass between lines in a letra, particularly after the rst line. A dancer might ll in this respira with a short passage of footwork, or a guitarist might play a short falseta. Salida: (Lit., exit/going forth) A dancers entrance or exit. Also an alternative name for the temple. A dancers exit is also called a cierre (closing), particularly when the dancer ends without going off stage. Subida: A sudden change in tempo, such as a fast footwork passage in the middle of a slow piece as in the tientos. Taconeo: Footwork, heelwork. Also referred to as zapateado. Temple: The opening vocalization in which the singer uses simple syllables (La, Le, Ay!, etc.) to tune the voice and set the mood and tempo with the guitarist. Toque: Guitar playing. Although this term, which means touch, can be applied to any musical instrument, in amenco it generally refers to the guitar only.