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Flamenco Forms
Caracoles
bySusana
Navalón
Translated by Yasha
Maccanico
The name of this palo (form) comes from the lyrics of the chorus, in which the
word “caracoles” is insistently repeated. It belongs to the same
group as the cantiñas, it has the same beat. Although its origins
are Andalusian, there was even a time when it was thought that
it was from Madrid, due to the fact that the lyrics of the best-known
caracoles made several references to the Spanish capital. The dance,
which has links with alegrías and the soleá, may be related to
the classical caracoles of the dance companies using castanets.
They used to be performed in the cafés cantantes (late nineteenth
and early twentieth century establishments serving drinks that
staged performances of singing, playing and dancing) and are most
suitable for women. |
|  It is a flamenco dance that is most suited to women, and as a consequence it
features, like soleares or peteneras, a large number of undulating
movements.
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| Dance |
It is a flamenco dance that is most suited to women, and as a consequence it
features, like soleares or peteneras, a great number
of undulating movements that are in agreement with the
light punteado (plucking of individual strings) and the
cadenced melody of the music. Its predecessor may be
another dance, from the so-called modern school of castanets,
which was known as “caracoles clásicos”.
The meter is the same as that of all cantiñas, in twelve
beats:
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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| Guitar |
| The guitar playing is exclusively in a dominant C major and, in order to seek
out the tonality of the singer, it is necessary to use
a brdige as only the left hand playing position is used
in its execution. Towards the end, the melody may experience
a change in tonality, moving to E major and F major,
but it immediately returns to C major and dominant C
major, which are its basic chords. The measure is the
same as the one for soleares, alegrías and bulerías.
Both the rasgueos (strumming) and the falsetas, or variations,
must be four-beat groups.
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| Its lyrics tend to be amusing, and at times saucy, with the word “caracoles”
introduced between verses, in the form of a chorus. |
| Singing |
Its lyrics tend to be amusing, and at times saucy, with the word “caracoles”
introduced into the lyrics between verses, in the form
of a chorus. Its origins date back to the nineteenth
century and popular tradition gives Tío José el Granaíno
credit for the creation of this form of singing. However,
the person who exalted and made them famous was Antonio
Chacón, who added some musical details and transformed
some of their lyrics to include references to Madrid.
This resulted in people believing that they were a cante
(style of song) from Madrid. This style currently forms
part of the repertoire of certain cantaores, including
Naranjito de Triana and Chano Lobato.
As a palo, it belongs to the category of the cantiñas
and, musically, it is very close to alegrías and mirabrás.
It is a cante whose coplas (poetic compositions, in verse,
used as lyrics) consist of a series of strophes, with
verses of varying length.
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Getting
started in flamenco
What is meant by cante jondo, duende, jondura, quejío, garbo…?
Everything you need to know to get started in flamenco.
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You
can start dancing straight away
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Paso
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Flamenco Forms
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