Sevillanas is where almost every flamenco guitarist meets their first dancer. It is four short coplas, each in three parts, and it is danced at every feria, every fiesta and every student show. If you can accompany sevillanas cleanly, dancers will ask you to play.
Here is a complete sevillanas accompanied live for real dancers and a singer. English learning notes accompany this performance. If you use the player’s caption controls, check the available English track; default caption display depends on the player and your settings.
What the guitarist actually does
- Start every copla. The dancers wait for the guitar. The intro (前奏 on screen) sets the tempo and the key, and the singer comes in on your cue.
- Keep the three parts clear. Each copla has part 1, part 2 and part 3, and the dancers change figure at each one. The chord change and the rasgueado accent tell them where they are.
- Close with the dancers. The last chord of each copla lands with the dancers’ final pose. Late is worse than early.
- Do not rush the pause. Between coplas there is a breath. Count it. Then start the next one.
Six sevillanas you should know
In Japan and in Spain the same six songs come up again and again: Mira la cara a cara (Am), Pasa la vida (C), El adiós (Em), Viva Sevilla (E), Mi guitarra (por medio) and Fue tu querer (Em). My course Accompany the Dance: Sevillanas (Vol.2) teaches all six with the dancers and the singer in the room: 19 main lesson videos including explanations in the original Japanese audio, model performances and close-ups, plus 14 bonus play-alongs (7 without guitar and 7 without singing), for 33 videos in total. English reading notes are provided under all 33 videos. The 65-page English booklet has the score, TAB and Spanish lyrics with translations. English CC is available on all 33 Sevillanas videos: translations for spoken lessons and brief orientation captions for performances. This does not mean a continuous translation of the singing.
Start free: watch the 36-second Sevillanas accompaniment sample and listening exercise, or try the free Sevillanas lesson and guitar-free practice. No signup is needed. Browse all 18 sample topics.
I am Toshi Ikegawa, a flamenco guitarist in Tokyo. I have accompanied more than 1,000 dancers in Japan and Spain and wrote the best-selling Flamenco Guitar Textbook in Japan. Questions about accompanying dance: info@vivafla.jp, English is fine.
