The Traditional Structure of the Seguiriya

When following the traditional structure, the seguiriya proceeds as follows:

• It begins with a strong guitar strumming, which introduces the singer.
• The first lyrics are short and emotionally intense, topped off with guitar strumming.
• This is followed by a brave singing verse, which is also finished off with the guitar, giving way to the change of lyrics.
• The seguiriya ends with the guitar, strongly playing to the beat.

Singing and Coplas

It is believed that the seguiriya comes from the plañideras, among other reasons, because of the type of singing, which is very somber and uses death as its main theme. Besides, it can be recognized for its lyrics full of moan, also called quejíos. These features are why the seguiriya are considered a pure cante jondo (profound song or deep song), which came along before the palo seco (the dry style of flamenco that isn´t accompanied by guitar music).