''Martinetes'' (, sing. ''martinete'') are a

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

palo Palo may refer to: Places * Palo, Argentina, a village in Argentina * Palo, Estonia, village in Meremäe Parish, Võru County, Estonia * Palo, Huesca, municipality in the province of Huesca, Spain * Palo, Iowa, United States, a town located wit ...

'' 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 a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. 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 Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

siguiriya ''Siguiriyas'' (; also ''seguiriyas'', ''siguerillas'', ''siguirillas'', ''seguidilla gitana'', etc.) are a form of flamenco music in the cante jondo category. This deep, expressive style is among the most important in flamenco. Unlike other pal ...

. 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 ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

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 (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

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 modern ...

. The

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

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

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 Spanish music Andalusian music Vocal music Spanish folk music Spanish dances {{music-genre-stub