SOLEA: the mother of all flamenco palos

When I teach the flamenco 12 count to a group of new beginners, I usually start in Solea because it’s slow enough for them to grasp the concept of the compás. But then I move them onto Solea por Bulerías when we actually start learning a choreography. Why? Because Solea as a complete dance is difficult BECAUSE it’s so slow. LOL!

Solea is one of the heavy hitters of flamenco. It’s profound, somber and the mother of all palos (rhythms).

It’s a 12 count, but unlike the other 12 count palos, this one tends to start on 1 rather than the 12 for the letra. Also, the end of the compás is emphasized.

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 –12

The structure of a dance of Solea is similar to all the others:

• Salida (singer & guitarist start, dancer makes entrance)
• Llamada (rhythmical accent from dancer that “calls” the singer to sing)
• 1st Letra (1st verse)
• Llamada
• 2nd Letra
• Falseta (guitar interlude)
• Escobilla (footwork section)
• Bulería (fast ending letra)
• Estribillo (chorus that the dancer ends with)

Of course, there are many variations to this structure. There can be more letras and falsetas. Or there can be more spots for different escobillas. The dancer could even add a letra of Solea por Bulerías after the letras of Solea and before the Bulería. Options!!! Choices!!!

The actual letra of Solea is pretty standard in its structure with a total of nine compases and variations are not the norm (but they’re always there!) If you’ve ever studied poetry, you can look at the letra like this: AB C AB DE DE

1. first line [A]
2. second line [B]
3. break (respiro or remate) [C]
4. repeat first line[A]
5. repeat second line [B]
6. (primer cambio) first transition- first line of couplet [D]
7. second line [E]
8. (segundo cambio) second transition- repeat the first line of couplet [D]
9. repeat of second line [E]

Here is my own Solea, performed in 2024 with Tony Triana, Ana Quintero & Johnny Sandoval. Can you follow along and name all the parts? I’ll break them down below.

0:00 falseta

1:16 singer salida

1:58 falseta- dancer salida

3:12 llamada

3:50 first letra

5:18 falseta

6:13 escobilla

7:28 second letra

8:50 falseta

9:58 escobilla

11:00 palo seco escobilla

13:18 buleria

13:40 final