Flamenco palos to listen for

What a palo is

Wikipedia treats a palo, or cante, as a single traditional form within flamenco. The Spanish word normally means a stick or a pole; in this setting it works like 'suit' in a pack of cards, a way of sorting songs. The sorting criteria include rhythmic pattern, mode, the shape of the lyric stanza and origin. Wikipedia adds that the concept is a popular, sometimes inconsistent way of sorting songs, so expect edges to blur. In the 1990 classification by Christof Jung that it cites, the cante chico group includes bulerías, sevillanas, tangos gitanos, rumba gitana and zambra.

The solemn end: soleá and siguiriyas

Wikipedia ties soleares and siguiriyas most closely to Romani music culture and notes that their solemnity earns them the label cante jondo, deep song, set against the festive pace of tangos and bulerías. One classification it cites, by Christof Jung in 1990, puts soleá and siguiriyas in the cante grande group. The venue's site refers to the deepest palos without naming them.

Bulerías, the fast finale

Wikipedia describes the bulería as a fast rhythm on a twelve-beat cycle that originated among the Calé Romani people of Jerez in the nineteenth century and often ends a flamenco gathering. It allows the greatest freedom for improvisation, and the dancer needs speed, agility and control. The venue's own site names bulerías as the joyful style that contrasts with the deeper palos, so it is the one to expect as the energy lifts.

Tangos and their relatives

Wikipedia groups tangos with bulerías as cantes that are fast and festive, as opposed to the deep song of the soleá family. Wikipedia notes that tangos, like tientos, run in duple meter, where most other palos, soleares and bulerías among them, run in a form of triple meter. Valencia's tourist board lists tangos among the contents of the show at El Toro y La Luna, with no promise for any one night.

Read next: Guitar, palmas and cajón

Rumba flamenca

Wikipedia describes rumba flamenca as a palo that grew up in Andalusia and belongs to the family called cantes de ida y vuelta, songs that went to the New World and returned in a new shape. Its instruments are flamenco guitars, hand-clapping, occasional body slapping, castanets and the cajón. Wikipedia gives it a slower tempo than bulerías and fandangos, and says its guitar strumming pattern is absent from other flamenco styles.

Sevillanas, the folk cousin

Wikipedia describes sevillanas as folk music and dance from Seville and the country around it, derived from the seguidilla and shaped by flamenco in the nineteenth century. It adds that visitors to Andalusia often mistake the dancing at fairs for flamenco, and that people who want to learn flamenco dance usually start with sevillanas. Valencia's tourist board lists sevillanas among the contents of the show.

How to use the list

Nothing here is a running order, because the venue says a different group of house artists and friends takes the stage each night. Use the palos as a way to follow what you hear: solemn deep song, fast and festive bulerías and tangos, or a rumba with its Cuban-influenced swing. If you want a first taste of what the evening includes, the guide to the tickets explains the options and what each gives you. The names are less important than the contrast: Wikipedia's own sorting shows that the same evening can move between the solemn and the festive.

Read next: Toro y La Luna tickets