Soleá (Manuel Granados)

Welcome back everyone! I’m very excited to announce that today I am launching a new “Student Repertoire” series that will cover many of the pieces I teach in private lessons and workshops. The main purpose of the series is to help my private students and workshop attendees have access to a detailed video of each piece both at a regular speed and at a slow speed with a close-up view. It should also be very useful for self learners out there who may want to learn the piece on their own using the close-up view the slow speed. Please note that this video is not intended to be an instructional video. For instruction, please reach out to me directly.

The piece for today is titled “Soleá” by Manuel Granados. Soleá — plural = “soleares” — is not only the title of this piece but also one of many styles of flamenco music. It originated around the mid-1800s and is one of earliest styles of flamenco music. The soleá is a 12-beat style of flamenco with accents typically either on the 3, 6, 8, 10 & 12 or the 3, 7, 8, 10 & 12. The primary scale used for the style of “soleá” is the Spanish Phrygian scale which includes both a minor 3rd AND a major 3rd — although the major 3rd for harmony is only used for the *tonic chord* (i.e., the home-base chord). Soleares are traditionally written in either E or A Spanish phrygian and are characterized by their slow tempo (quarter-note = 70-100BPM), their heavy and dramatic expressive quality and the usage of the Andalucían Cadence (which I discuss in another video).

*NOTE: It is very important to understand that Flamenco music is originally based on the singing. The guitar’s roll was traditionally accompaniment. It was only after Ramón Montoya, the first solo concert flamenco guitarist in history, that the guitar started taking on its soloistic roll in parallel with its accompaniment roll. Please reach out to me if you have any questions.