''Martinetes'' (, sing. ''martinete'') 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'' belonging to the group of the ''

tonás Tonás () is a palo or type of flamenco songs. It belongs to the wider category of Cantes a palo seco, ''palos'' that are sung a cappella. Owing to this feature, they are considered by traditional flamencology to be the oldest surviving musical fo ...

'' or ''

cantes a palo seco The Spanish term Cantes a palo seco refers to a category of flamenco palo (flamenco), palos (musical forms) traditionally sung a cappella or, in some cases, with some sort of percussion. The category comprises the following palos: * Tonás * Martin ...

''. As the rest of the songs in this group, it is sung with no accompaniment. In some

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

shows for the stage, though, it is accompanied by percussion played with the compás of siguiriya. The percussion instruments chosen for this are frequently a hammer and anvil, to evocate the origins of this ''palo'', attributed to Gypsy smiths. It is not probable, though, that they were real work songs: they demand too much effort and faculties to be sung while carrying out a heavy task like that of a smith. They were more probably sung in family gatherings. Although martinetes are often classified under the toná group on the grounds that they share its

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

nature, the melody types differ strongly from the rest of tonás, so it is now generally considered to be a different ''palo''. A characteristic that differentiates them from the tonás, normally in major mode, is their modulating character, constantly going from

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 ...

phrygian mode : The Phrygian mode (pronounced ) can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek ''tonos'' or ''harmonia,'' sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set of octave species or scales; the medieval Phrygian mode, and the m ...

. 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 martinete is the cuarteta romanceada: four eight-syllable lines, rhyming in assonance abcb. The subject matters often contain allusions to persecution, prison, and the environment of the forges. Carceleras are usually considered a subclassification of martinetes, with prison as the subject matter of their lyrics. The debla, a rather rare style, is considered by some flamenco fans as a type of martinete, while other consider it as a palo on its own.

Sources

* Álvarez Caballero, Ángel: ''La discoteca ideal del flamenco'', Planeta, 1995 * Martin Salazar, Jorge: ''Los cantes flamencos'', Diputación Provincial de Granada * Rossy, Hipólito: ''Teoría del cante jondo'', Credsa, second edition, 1998 (first edition 1966) Flamenco styles Music of Spain Music of Andalusia Vocal music Spanish folk music Spanish dances {{music-genre-stub