RHYTHMIC FUN WITH FLAMENCO

Flamenco is an intensely artistic, and infinitely rhythmic, form of music from Southern Spain. Flamenco "palos" are the traditional forms that provide the overarching theoretical and emotional context for the music itself. Each palo has its own characteristics--a particular rhythmic pattern within which musicians will usually be able to perform a certain number of traditional songs. 

Let's try one! Songs that fit within the SOLEÁ palo use the soleá rhythm, a 12 beat pattern with emphasis on beats 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Try clapping that out, counting from 1-12, only clapping on the numbers that are bold:1 234 56789101112.

The image in this post is flamenco dancer and dance educator, Amy Schofield, "La Éimi" -- https://www.laeimi.com/ -- teaching complicated flamenco rhythms to toddlers and their parents in such a seamlessly joyful way at an All Around This World workshop years ago in Philadelphia.