A listening key
Flamenco palos: the forms to know
Palos are flamenco's traditional forms. Soleá, alegrías, seguiriyas, bulerías, tangos and the fandango family: what each is and how they differ.
Book the palace flamenco show ↗Quick answer
Palos are the traditional forms inside flamenco, and Wikipedia counts over 50. They are grouped by origin, by mood and by rhythm. Soleá, alegrías, seguiriyas, bulerías and tangos are the ones most often named. No show can promise a particular palo on a particular night, but knowing a few helps you hear the differences when the singer and guitarist begin.
Palo, defined
Wikipedia defines a palo, or cante, as any of the different traditional musical forms in flamenco. The word means a suit of cards, and the article calls the classification a loose one. Palos are grouped by traditional origin, by musical origin, by mood and by their compás family. The mood grouping, which Wikipedia credits to Christof Jung in 1990, divides them into cante grande, cante intermedio and cante chico: the most serious, the middle and the lighter forms.
The soleá family
The soleá is a rhythm built on a 12-beat cycle, and Wikipedia says most of the family's palos are traditionally considered Romani in origin. Alegrías belongs to the cantiñas group inside the family, alongside romeras, caracoles and mirabrás. So when you hear that a palo is in the soleá family, you know its pulse before you know its words. The guitar tends to make the cycle easy to feel, and the dancer's steps return to the same beats.
Seguiriyas: the deep song
Seguiriyas is part of the cante jondo group, the deep song, with a solemn character. Wikipedia says it uses a 12-beat pattern and is more strictly associated with Romani music culture. The article on cante jondo says that, for the composer Manuel de Falla, the siguiriya was the song type at the core of the group. If a show includes one, expect a change of mood: slower, heavier and quieter than the palos around it.
Bulerías: fast and festive
Wikipedia classes bulerías by rhythm alone, regardless of mode or stanza, and says that unlike the soleá it can include 6-beat and 3-beat sections. It describes the form as fast and festive, and the article on flamenco calls it the emblematic palo of the compás. It is often where the clapping and calls of jaleo are loudest, and it is a common way for a show to lift its energy before the end.
Tangos, tientos and the fandango family
Tangos belongs to a family in duple metre, four beats to the bar, and Wikipedia says tientos is a slower, more syncopated form of tangos. Fandangos began as folk dances that were popular across Spain and Ibero-America in the 1700s, with regular forms in three or six beats and later free forms with no fixed rhythm. Malagueñas belong to the fandango family and are sung in free rhythm. Wikipedia mentions cartageneras and the murciana among free forms derived from fandangos, and says eastern fandangos began in eastern Andalusia and Murcia.
How to use this at a show
Do not go in with a checklist. Wikipedia describes a loose system, and a programme can change from night to night. Instead listen for three things: how many beats the guitar seems to cycle through, whether the mood is solemn or festive, and whether the singer's line is fixed to the rhythm or free of it. Those three clues will sort most of what you hear into a family, which is all most listeners need. The show at the Marbeuf Palace is a good place to practise.
Read next: Flamenco at the Marbeuf Palace
Frequently asked questions
How big is the palo catalogue?
Wikipedia counts over 50 palos, grouped by origin, mood and rhythm.
Which palos will I hear at the show?
No palo is promised, because the programme changes. The ticket is for dancers, singers and guitarists.
What is cante jondo?
Spanish for deep song: the gravest tier of flamenco singing, per Wikipedia.
Which palo is the most festive?
Wikipedia describes bulerías as fast and festive.
Sources