A short glossary
Flamenco words to know
Nine words that explain a flamenco show before it starts: cante, baile, toque, palo, compás, falseta, palmas, jaleo and tablao.
Reserve your seat at City Hall ↗Flamenco words at a glance
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Cante | Song |
| Baile | Dance |
| Toque | Guitar playing |
| Palo | A flamenco form |
| Compás | Rhythmic cycle |
| Falseta | Guitar interlude |
| Palmas | Hand-clapping |
| Jaleo | Calls of encouragement |
| Tablao | Stage or venue |
Why the words help
Flamenco has its own vocabulary, and a handful of terms turn a bewildering hour into something you can follow. These nine come up in programme notes, in the artists' own talk and in what the audience shouts. You do not need to memorise them. Skim the table above, read the short notes below, and use each word as a handle for something you can watch or hear in the room.
Cante, baile and toque
UNESCO describes flamenco as an art that joins cante, baile and toque. Cante is the singing, baile is the dancing and toque is the playing of the guitar. Together they make up almost everything on stage, apart from the percussion that surrounds them. If you only learn three words, learn these, because they tell you where to look: at the voice, at the feet or at the hands on the strings.
Palo
A palo is a flamenco style or form, classified by rhythm, mode, chord progression, verse form and place of origin. Wikipedia says more than fifty exist. Some are sung unaccompanied, others with guitar. Soleá and bulerías are palos, and so are the many fandango-family forms. When a programme names a palo, it is telling you what rhythm and mood to expect, much as a classical programme names a sonata or a waltz.
Compás
Compás is the rhythmic cycle of a palo, and the word also means metre in Spanish. It is the one thing flamenco will not do without: if no guitarist is available, the compás is carried by clapping or by knuckles on a table. Many palos share a twelve-beat cycle, but with accents in different places, which is why a soleá feels heavy and a bulerías feels quick even though both count to twelve.
Falseta
A falseta is the melodic phrase a guitarist plays between the verses of a song. It is the guitar's own moment: a short solo, often decorated, that sits between chord patterns accompanying the singer or dancer. When the singing stops and the guitar takes the stage on its own, you are hearing a falseta. A good one can be the moment the room goes quiet, and it rewards watching the player's hands.
Palmas
Palmas are the hand-claps that keep flamenco's rhythm. Wikipedia describes the bulerías clapped in groups of six beats, which creates counter-rhythms inside the twelve-beat cycle. The claps can be hollow, with cupped hands, or sharp, with stiff fingers against the palm, and performers also snap their fingers and stamp. When several people clap together at different points in the cycle, the effect is of more people than are on stage.
Jaleo
Jaleo is the rhythmic clapping and the calls of encouragement shouted to singers, guitarists and dancers. Typical calls are olé and así se canta or así se baila. Wikipedia calls jaleo an integral part of the art and notes that it takes training: three skilled jaleadores can sound like ten. In a theatre it appears as a murmur of encouragement from the cast, and as applause from the audience.
Tablao
A tablao is a venue where flamenco shows are staged, and the word also names the wooden platform a dancer works on. Wikipedia dates the tablao venues to the 1960s, as successors to the older cafés cantantes, the cabaret-style rooms where professional flamenco had grown since the 1840s. City Hall Theatre is a theatre rather than a classic tablao, with seats facing a stage, but the idea is the same: a room built around one performance.
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