So you’re planning your trip to Spain and one of the most intimidating things is Flamenco. You want to watch it live but not too sure you’ll understand. Alright, let’s break this down in a very simple way so next time you’re around, you’ll truly enjoy what you see.

Before I forget, this is the video in case you prefer to watch a more complete version:

WHAT IS FLAMENCO?

What is Flamenco really? A song, a dance, a costume? Well, it’s all that and more. Flamenco is an art form having songs, dances, and instrumental music connected with southern Spain. And if we think how Flamenco started, we need to mention the folkloric musical traditions of Gipsy people in the Spanish region of Andalusia, as well as Extremadura and Murcia. The fusion between the gitanos and people from Andalusia, Moors and Jews built some of the key foundations for Flamenco.

There’s also a popular belief that Flamenco was likely inspired by the music of India, brought to the European continent by members of the gypsy culture bringing with them songs, dances, and musical instruments. On the other hand, there are some other people, who believe that flamenco existed in Andalusia long before the Gypsies arrived from India.

In any case, whatever the real origin was, Spain is the industry standard for Flamenco and everyone will agree on this.

Let’s the 5 key things you need to know to enjoy a live Flamenco performance.

#5 WHAT IS “CANTE”?

Cante is the singing. There are dozens of classifications of Flamenco songs and some examples are alegrías, bulerías, malagueñas, fandangos, etc. Most of flamenco songs can be classified into one of 3 categories:

  1. Cante jondo (deep song). It is a complex song style with heavy emotional components. Common themes for a cante jondo are death, no hope, doubt, strong pain, and so on.
  2. Cante intermedio (intermediate song). The cante intermedio is less complex and more lively and can go with guitars, castanets, and hand clapping.
  3. Cante chico (light song). The cante chico is the simplest of the three styles. It typically has a quick, light rhythm and deals with lighter themes such as love, humor, etc.

#4 WHAT IS “BAILE”?

Baile is the dancing, and typically performed with some guitars and singers.

In flamenco, the baile works very closely to the cante to tell a story. The baile expresses a lot of emotion through the arms and body movements. Male flamenco dancers usually do some intense footwork while female flamenco dancers focus more on the movement of the arms, hands, and fingers.

#3 WHAT IS “TOQUE”?

Toque is the guitar. There are several differences between traditional guitar and flamenco guitar, both in the instrument itself and how it is played such as thinner top, less internal bracing, a tap plate in the flamenco guitar… but probably the most important ones are in the technique:

Flamenco guitar players use their legs a lot to hold the guitar in a different way to the traditional classical guitar. They also use very often a “capo” to match the singer’s vocal range. And when it comes to fingers taps, Flamenco is king.

Of course there are more differences but those are the obvious ones.

#2 WHAT IS “JALEO”?

One of the most fascinating aspects on a flamenco performance are those gestures and shouts that go with the singing or dancing.

During the performance it’s common to hear the artists or people in the audience shouting “Olé” as well as compliments and words of encouragement.

Jaleo really is the screams, the congrats and positive expressions that artists or the audience give spontaneously and emotionally to drive the artists to the next level. It’s just a natural reaction and so important for this form of art called Flamenco.

#1 WHAT IS “PALMAS”?

Clapping has been part of flamenco even before most of the instruments. It’s accurate, reliable and complementing the performance extremely well.

The clappers are called “palmeros” (clappers) and sometimes the singers are the clappers themselves. They have a challenging job as they need to pay a lot of attention to the beat, verses and the whole workflow to quickly react. Because flamenco is about improvisation and quick adjustments.

So clapping is truly like another instrument during the performance.

Now that you learned all this with me, let’s go and watch a live performance in the “tablao” (Flamenco venue) in Barrio Las Letras in Madrid. For this, it might be good to watch the video.