Flamenco Fridays featuring Solearas. Soleares (plural of soleá, pronounced [soleˈa]) is one of the most basic forms or palos of Flamenco music, probably originated around Cádiz or Seville in Andalusia, the most southern region of Spain. It is usually accompanied by one guitar only, in phrygian mode “por arriba” (fundamental on the 6th string); “Bulerías por soleá” is usually played “por medio” (fundamental on the 5th string). Soleares is sometimes called “mother of palos” although it is not the oldest one (e.g. siguiriyas is older than soleares) and not even related to every other palo (e.g. fandangos family is from a different origin).

Soléa develops in (altered) Phrygian mode “por arriba” (fundamental on the 6th string), with the III degree of the mode altered to a major 3rd when resolving to I.

To adapt to the singer’s vocal range, guitarists can use a “cejilla” (capo) to play in any key while preserving the known chord positions. Modern guitarists often play soleá using other chord positions or even changing the tuning of the guitar to experiment with new sounds, especially in solo instrumental pieces.

The typical flamenco progression iv, III, II, I (an altered Phrygian cadence) is heard several times during the development of the song. In E altered Phrygian, the progression would be Am, G, F, E (the E chord should be Em in a diatonic Phrygian cadence, but its diatonic third – G – is altered to a G♯).