mick laBriola

The basic compás for Farruca is a bar of E7 with a distinctive melody (b-c#-d- b) on the second string followed by a bar of A minor. The four-bar llamada that ends long phrases in Farruca sounds like a standard cadence in A minor. Farruca also includes a four bar phrase comparable to a turnaround in jazz that the guitarist uses to return a piece to its original tempo after the dancer has accelerated the tempo for a footwork passage. The accompaniment for the letra in Farruca closely follows the melody, without room for variation and substitution found in more traditional flamenco forms. However, the letra is distinguished by surprising changes in tonality and modality, and with a sometimes irregular length.