How to count it
In the seguiriya you do not count the 12 beats one by one, but 5 pulses, and each one has its own length: 2, 2, 3, 3 and 2 beats of the wheel. Two short, two long and one short: hence that uneven stride that makes it so much its own, and that is so hard at first.
The app’s wheel draws it on the soleá clock: the 5 pulses fall on 8, 10, 12, 3 and 6, the same places as the soleá accents. What changes is where you start: the seguiriya begins on 8, and the pulses are numbered from there.
| Counted as | On the wheel | Lasts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 2 beats |
| 2 | 10 | 2 beats |
| 3 | 12 | 3 beats |
| 4 | 3 | 3 beats |
| 5 | 6 | 2 beats |
Why it starts on 8
If you put a seguiriya next to a soleá, its pulses line up with the soleá accents, but counted from 8. It is like the soleá compás started from somewhere else: the same path round the wheel, with a different starting point.
The app’s recordings start playing on that pulse, and the wheel starts on it too. Press play and count the 5 pulses with it, without worrying yet about the beats in between.
What tempo it is played at
In the app it is recorded at 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220 and 230 beats per minute, and you can set it from 80 to 230 without changing pitch; the first time, it starts at 168. It is a wide range, so you can practise it from very slow to quite lively.
Note: the number counts beats of the wheel, not pulses. A seguiriya compás has 12 beats and 5 pulses.
| Beats per minute | One compás lasts |
|---|---|
| 110 | 6.55 s |
| 120 | 6 s |
| 130 | 5.54 s |
| 140 | 5.14 s |
| 150 | 4.8 s |
| 160 | 4.5 s |
| 170 | 4.24 s |
| 180 | 4 s |
| 190 | 3.79 s |
| 200 | 3.6 s |
| 210 | 3.43 s |
| 220 | 3.27 s |
| 230 | 3.13 s |
How to practise it with the metronome
A sequence that builds up step by step:
Count the 5 pulses
Choose Full and count the 5 pulses with the wheel, without thinking about the beats in between.
Feel the short and the long
Say the short pulses quickly and stretch the long ones, as if each word lasted as long as its pulse: ‘o-one, two-oo, three-ee-ee, fou-ou-our, fi-ive’.
Relate it to soleá
Put on a soleá and count its accents starting from 8: the path is the seguiriya’s, just at a different speed.
Start slowly
Set it to 80 and speed up with the Speed trainer once you no longer get lost.
Strip back the accompaniment
Switch from Full to Instruments and keep a single instrument. Turn on the Click if you also want to hear the beats in between.
What you can practise it with in the app
In Full you hear the whole accompaniment; in Instruments, each instrument separately, with its own pattern and volume. With Fills turned on, every few compases one of them rounds off with a recorded fill: here there are fills on cajón, frame drum and tinaja.
- Full
- 2 accompaniments
- Frame drum
- 3 patterns
- Cajón
- 2 patterns
- Palmas
- 2 patterns
- Tinaja
- 2 patterns
Frequently asked questions
How many beats does the seguiriya have?
It is counted in 5 pulses, which together add up to the 12 beats of the soleá compás: they last 2, 2, 3, 3 and 2 beats.
Seguiriya or siguiriya?
Both spellings are used for the same palo. In the app it is called Seguiriyas.
Which other cantes are sung por seguiriya?
The same toque is used to accompany, for example, the serranas, the livianas and the cabales.
Where do its accents fall?
On 8, 10, 12, 3 and 6 on the soleá clock: the same places as its accents, counted from 8. If you see other numbers elsewhere, it is almost always the same compás counted from a different beat: what never changes is its shape, two short pulses, two long ones and one short.