If we were to analyse this Am, G, F, E progression in terms of being in the key of A natural minor (C Aeolian Mode), we get: i VII VI V What immediately becomes clear is that this progression is not pure diatonic harmony, it leans outside of that box. However, a closer look reveals a few secrets. On the face of it, it looks like four very basic chords, nothing earth-shattering. An example being Por Levante which uses a capo on the second fret and the Am, G, F, E progression which gives Bm, A, G, F♯. There are other more modern/contemporary versions, usually achieved by transposing the same chord progression/shapes using a capo on the second or fourth fret. As far as I know, these two, Por Arriba and Por Medio, are the two traditional versions, probably dating back to when the guitar was first used in Flamenco, so perhaps four hundred and fifty years old or more. There are other versions of it, for example starting on Dm (so Dm, C, Bb, A), known as The Andalucían Cadence Por Medio. More accurately it’s an ostinato (repeating pattern) not a cadence (the final part of a section of music where everything resolves). More fully it’s known as The Andalucían Cadence Por Arriba. More or less, when you hear this term - Andalucían Cadence - it actually refers to a very specific four-chord repeating pattern. (You may find this Scale and Mode Spellings resource useful whilst reading this). However, it has to be said right from the word go that there are literally hundreds of posts (some really good) on YouTube by authentic contemporary Flamenco players. In terms of me passing on to you anything other than a mere hint of the flavour of Flamenco, I’d say I could probably go slightly better than a short note. Local artist, Evaristo Guerra ’s phenomenal painting above encapsulates everything I see and feel every day that I am here (unfortunately the photo above of this painting does not do it justice, it’s huge and vibrates with colour). However, I am surrounded by Flamenco’s essence whilst here in Andalucía, on a daily basis, almost everywhere I go. Relatively speaking I know close to nothing about Flamenco, I am not a Flamenco guitarist, not by any stretch of the imagination - at best I can knock out some Flamenco-ish sounding chords and toplines. Initially, I could not firmly grasp whether this post should be a quick note in passing or a full-on article.
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