Glossary of flamenco terms
This is a glossary of terms that relate to flamenco arts.
A
;aficionado: one interested in flamenco;aflamencado: flamencoized
;a golpe: A tap, it can refer to a particular footstep by the dancer or a tap on the guitar, but it can also just refer to any tap
;alboreá: the Gypsy wedding song sung in the soleá compás
;alegrías: festive compás of the cantiñas group; one of the cantes chicos
;alzapúa: guitar-playing technique that uses solely the thumb
;ángel: see duende
;a palo seco: without accompaniment
;apodo: nickname, which Gypsies receive for life
;arranque: spontaneous outbursts of uncontrolled emotion that a performer may emit
;a seco: playing the guitar rasgueado, with the fingers of the left hand damping the strings
;atravesarse: for the guitarist - cutting corners and rhythm during a falseta, making the dancer's job difficult
B
;babeo: repeated meaningless sounds such as 'bababa' in the middle of words;bailaor, bailaora: flamenco dancer, as opposed to 'bailarin', which is any other dancer.
;baile: flamenco dance; other types are referred to as 'danza'
;baile de mantón: a dance with a shawl
;balanceo y vaivén: swaying of the body and hips. Balanceo is gentle; vaiven is violent
;bamberas: song form for swings
;bata de cola: dress with a train
;bonito: "pretty"; in other words, not good flamenco
;braceo: a dancer's use of the arms
;bulerías: song form; an evolving rhythm that started about a century ago
;bullanguero: festive; adjectival form of bulerias
C
;cabal: final version of the siguiriya; literally, honest, exact, complete.;café cantante: prime venue for flamenco in the 19th century
;cambio: change of key and lightening of tone to end a song
;campanilleras: songs that originally came from a religious brotherhood who would go to prayers to the sound of handbells - hence the name, which means "bellringers"
;cantaor, cantaora: flamenco singer ; other singers are often called a 'cantantes'
;cante: flamenco song; other songs are cantos
;cante pa'adelante: literally, "singing from in front"; singing not done for dancers, often with the singer seated
;cante pa'atras: literally, "singing from behind"; singing for dancers, often with the singer standing
;cantes de ida y vuelta: songs brought back from Latin America
;cantes de levante: songs from the eastern province of Grandada, Jaen, Almeria, and Murcia
;caracoles: a song form which started as a street snail-vendor's song in Zarzuela
;cartageneras: song form derived from the taranta, with a florid vocal line, more "artistic" and decorative than forceful and rough
;castañuelas: castanets
;cejilla: capotasto or capo, used by guitarists to raise tone of all strings; a mechanical 'barré'
;chufla: any festive and frivolous song
;cierre: close of a series of steps or a line of song
;coba: flattery, often with something false in it
;coletilla: a short form of estribillo
;compás: a measure or bar; flamencos use the word to mean both the name of the type of twelve-count and the rhythmic skill of a performer
;contratiempo: cross-rhythms; including syncopation and rubato
;copla: verse of cante flamenco, as against the cuple of a canto
;coraje: a way of performing that shows impetuosity or daring
;corrido: ballad, or also a romance
;corte: the way the singer ends a musical phrase
;crótalo: Phoenician and Roman form of castanets
;cuadro: a flamenco troupe
D
;debla: a form of toná. It is an old song form, now seldom used;dejes: the way the singer ends a phrase
;desgarro: literally "tear, rip"; wilderness, heartbreak
;desplante: technically, a point in the dance that marks the end of a section. In fact, a high point, a climax in the dance at which the dancer pauses and the audience applauds
;diapasón: the neck or fingerboard of the guitar
;ducas, duquelas: Caló word for "sorrows"
;duende: literally, "spirit" of "demon"; suggesting possession. Flamencos may prefer the word ángel or el age
E
;escobilla: literally "broom"; the section of a dance in which the bailaor/a does an extended zapateados;escuela bolera: a graceful and balletic form of the old bolero; dance in 3/4 time popular in the last century
;estampa: look, appearance by the stance, positioning, form, and dress
;estribillo: short phrases sung repeatedly at the end of a song; the last section of a dance done with singing, where the cantaor/a sings while the baile is danced; see 'coletilla'
F
;falsetas: solo passages on the guitar, short melodies played at the start and between verses of a song;fandangos: an old family of song forms; thought to be of Moorish in origin; very popular in the early/mid 20th century
;farruca: folk song adopted from northern Spain, now above all a dance; once "only performed by men"
;figura: a star; a performer who has achieved a name and fame
G
;gachó: Caló word for non-Gypsy;gancho: literally a "hook"; by extension, anything that gets to you, that "hooks" you
;garra: literally "claws"; guts, force
;garrotín: song adopted from northern Spain
;gesto: tapping the face of the guitar with the second and/or third finger while playing
;granaína: form of Fandango in free rhythm that in many ways stands apart, from Granada
;guajira: an ida y vuelta song; now meaning "girl", word from Yucateca, a native language of Cuba
;guasa: joking in bad taste, rustic trickiness
;guitarrero: guitar builder
H
I
;ir con tiento: to move slowlyJ
;jaberas: form of Fandango from Malaga;jalear: to stimulate a performer, to encourage with words and/or palmas
;jaleo: vocal encouragement given to performers, when the audience calls out such phrases as ezo!, arsa!, olé!, toma!, vamo
;jarana: "spree" when a group enjoys themselves doing flamenco
;jipio: a cry used by the singer to find his pitch or simply put into the middle of a song
;jondo: the Gypsy pronunciation on hondo ; formerly applied to the song forms, but now used often to describe a manner of singing
;juerga: a lively flamenco party, often with only cante a golpe.
K
L
;letra: copla of a song taken at its literary value; section of a dance when the cantaor/a is singing the lyrics, doing the tercios;ligado: in guitar, sounding the note with the fingers of the left hand only
;llamada: literally "call"; the opening of a dance
M
;macho: usually a three-line verse used as remate to the siguiriya; usually in a major key;malagueñas: song form characterized by its sad, elegiac tone. The city and province of Malaga are considered the home of the flamenco fandango
;mutis: the exit made off the stage by the bailaors
;marcar: to mark time, done by bailaors, usually while the cantaor is singing; 'marcajes'; see desplazamientos
;martinetes: songs of the blacksmith, can be performed to the rhythm of hammers beating an anvil; in compás similar to the siguiriya
;melisma: series of notes sung on a single syllable of the coplas. To the ear unaccustomed to it, the sound may seem like unmusical wailing
;milonga: a type of folk song from the Río de la Plata area of Argentina, where it is still very popular
;mineras: best described as watered-down tarantas
;mote: see apodo
;mudanza: see punteado
N
;nanas: lullabyesO
;oposición: refers to the asymmetry of flamenco; e.g., in dance, if the arms are going one way the face will look the otherP
;Palillos: flamenco name for castanets;palmas: hand clapping. It is intricate art, requiring skill and knowledge of compas.
;palmas altas: percussive effect performed with the fingers of the right hand on the left palm, resulting in a sharp sound; also called palmas claras and palmas agudas
;palmas sordas: muted clapping done with cupped hands ; also called palmas graves
;palmero: performer of palmas
;palo: song form; literally, a suit of cards. Palos fall into two main categories: those done in free rhythm and those done in rhythm
;paso: step or a series of steps
;payo: sometimes thought to be the Calo word for non-Gypsy, but in fact prison slang for an easy mark, a sucker. The Calo word for non-Gypsy is gachó
;pellizco: literally, "nip, pinch"; that quality that turns you on
;peña: flamenco club
;peteneras: Legendary or real, la Petenera was a girl from Cadiz, notorious for her beauty and hardness of heart. A 19th century writer mentions hearing 'peteneras' sung in a voice that conveyed "inexplicable sadness."
;picar: to pluck on a guitar
;pitos: finger snapping
;playero: lamenting
;por arriba: on guitar - in the hand position for the key of E
;por medio: on guitar - in the hand position for the key of A
;punteando: steps and movements that are not part of the zapateado, including 'paseo' and 'mudanzas'
Q
R
;rasgueado: on guitar, a drumroll effect created by using the backs of the fingers, i.e., the fingernails, striking the strings one after another;remate: way of ending a song, either by raising a pitch, changing to the major, or simply speeding up, in a strong decisive manner
;roas: Sacromonte form of the alboreá
;romances: songs in a form of toná, now when done with a guitar, it is usually played in a soleá rhythm
;romeras: songs of a girl traveling on a pilgrimage
;rumbas: a song form influenced by Cuban rumba
S
;Sacromonte: a hillside in Granada with cave dwellings, in which Gypsies used to live. It was one of the heartlands of Gypsy flamenco, with a style all its own;salida: start of the baile
;saeta: a song of passionate devotion to Christ or the Virgin, often aflamencao
;sevillanas: non-flamenco song that has been flamencoized in various ways due to its popularity, including the hand and arm movements of the dancers
;siguiriyas: heart of cante jondo. It expresses anguish, lament and despair, and has been described as an outcry against fate and the quintessence of tragic song
;soleares: As song, the soleá lies at the heart of flamenco, together with siguiriyas and toná. As dance, it stands alone—at least for women
;son: all sound accompanying the flamenco song: guitar, palmas, pitas, knuckle tapping
;sonanta: flamenco slang for guitar
;soniquete: literally, "droning"; it is applied to performers being what-jazz-players-call "in the groove"
T
;tablao: the venue for a tourist-oriented flamenco show;tablas: literally, "boards"; the stage on which the dance is performed; tiene tablas means "to be an experienced performer"
;tangos: probably the oldest flamenco song form in a simple rhythm of 2/4 time, as reflected in the time beaten by the palmeros; not the same as "el tango argentino"
;tanguillos: songs of Cadiz; festive, light, sometimes mocking, and always suitable for Carnival
;tapa: the face of the guitar
;tarantas: a mining song of free rhythm and by far the hardest to sing, demanding tragic intensity as well as unusual control, both vocal and artistic, in the melismas
;templar: to tune
;temple: tuning or temperament
;temporeas: songs of the farm - harvesting and threshing songs
;tercio: a short section ; lit. "third"
;tientos: a song form, similar to the tango
;tocaor, tocaora: guitarist; from "tocar"
;toná: oldest flamenco, gypsy-Andalusian song, probably from romances or corridas
;toque: guitar playing
;torsión y convulsión: stages, usually in the soleá, wherein the dancer reaches a more or less ecstatic state
;trémolo: on guitar, playing high notes with the fingers in quick succession to make a continuous sound
;Triana: the traditional Gypsy quarter of Sevilla, now yuppified
U
V
;vibrato: repeated meaningless sounds uttered during the song, such as jajaja, but unlike babeo, not within a word;vito: Andalucian folk song and dance in fast 3/8 time
;voz afillá: hoarse voice like that of El Fillo, a 19th-century singer; this quality is also known as rajo
W
X
Y
Z
;zambra: a form of Sacromonte tangos, a noisy fiesta originally of the Moors;zapateo, zapateado: the form of "tap" dancing peculiar to flamenco; from zapato
;zorongo: an old song and dance in 2/4 time, revived by Federico Garcia Lorca; also called 'zarongo'