''Cartageneras'' () are a

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

palo Palo may refer to: Places * Palo, Estonia, village in Meremäe Parish, Võru County, Estonia * Palo, Huesca, municipality in the province of Huesca, Spain * Palo, Iowa, United States, a town located within Linn County * Palo Laziale, a location ...

belonging to the category of the '' cantes de las minas'' (in English, songs of the mines) or ''cantes minero-levantinos'' (eastern miner songs). As the rest of the songs in this category, it derives from older

folkloric Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as tales, myths, legends, proverbs, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material ...

fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating in Portugal and Spain, usually in triple metre, triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, tambourine or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is u ...

styles. The origin of this particular style is attributed to traditional fandango from the miner area of Cartagena in the province of

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

, in southern Spain. Although earlier singers like Rojo el Alpargatero contributed to its development, it was Antonio Chacón who determined its definite flamenco form and made it popular in other areas. The

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

of the Cartagenera is the usual for

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating in Portugal and Spain, usually in triple metre, triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, tambourine or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is u ...

. Originally, it was played in the same key and mode as the rest of fandangos. But since Ramón Montoya (Chacón's usual guitarist), all the Cantes de las minas started to be sung in the key of D

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, modulating to F# phrygian at the end of the stanza. The chord used for the F# is in fact a rare chord, formed with the notes (from the 6th to the 1st string) F#, D#, F#, G, B, E. It was also at this time that the ''cantes de las minas'' started to lose their ''abandolao'' rhythmic pattern to become cantes libres (with no defined rhythmic pattern). This palo contains a short list of ''cantes''. Only two or three (depending on the authors) are classified under this name.

Sources

* Álvarez Caballero, Ángel: ''La discoteca ideal del flamenco'', Planeta, 1995. * Martín Salazar, Jorge: ''Los cantes flamencos'', Diputación Provincial de Granada. Flamenco styles Music of Spain Music of Andalusia Vocal music {{music-genre-stub