By way of conclusion

We did not want to draw up an exhaustive inventory of new tunings created to date, and others might join this still open catalogue in the future. As a conclusion we can state that the general object of altering tunings is to free the tonalities that were shackled in the traditional E tuning. The consequences are a widening of the sound spectrum, a gain in resonance due to sympathetic strings vibrations, the optimal exploitation of harmonic resources, a certain renewal of inspiration, and progress in reading the fingerboard. Let’s repeat -this is important- that the different styles could in this way be set free from their original tonalities, those imposed by cante accompaniment.

However, altering tunings are not without their handicaps. Since each one is dedicated to a single tonality, all the advantages that we have seen are effective only in that one tonality (key), and the composition is a captive of it. In other words, the atypical tunings seem to be more pledged to the semi-darkness of recording studios than to stage spotlights, as it is hard to change the tuning between each piece during a public performance. In flamenco guitar, at least, the natural E tuning continues to be the universal base. Others are destined to be little more than passing excursions.
In addition, the search for new tunings meets an instrumental rationality only, rather than a musical rationality in a more general sense. As a matter of fact, by being more pragmatic than theoretical, this quest is very flamenco. This is both an undeniable step forward and a rooting of the flamenco guitar into its identity and its specificity, as proved by the predominant centering on Phrygian mode.

Despite superb results, this is not the only possible creative direction. Sometime before this recent infatuation, without any change in tuning, the guitar made great progress by rediscovering tonalities already in use but not fully explored. This is the case, for instance, with the G-sharp of the minera, really reinvented by Paco de Lucía with Llanos del Real. Without any change to the E tuning either, new tonalities appeared in flamenco, such as C-sharp (A structures shifted by four frets, not to be mistaken for the C-sharp of the rondeña), or E-flat (D structures shifted by one fret). Notice that these new tunings, all used in the Phrygian mode, are not dedicated exclusively to a specific style; they are versatile and demonstrate the general trend toward disconnecting palos and tonalities.

At this stage we cannot escape the evidence: the most influential figure in modern flamenco, the one who is the symbol of modernity, Vicente Amigo, never resorts to altered guitar tunings. This proves that he has chosen to avoid what can be seen as an artifice in order to orientate himself toward the richer, more learned, but more difficult way that is the art of modulation. This is an art, wherein lies part of the magic of his playing, and it has been mastered by few others (Paco de Lucía, and Manolo Sanlúcar in his last release Locura de Brisa y Trino). If we add that this knowledge is instinctive to him, we get a better measure of his genius. Thus, the intro of Córdoba (soleá from his recent recording Ciudad de Las Ideas) seems at first listening to belong to the conventional E tonality, por arriba. But not later than at the third compás comes a progression that leads, in eight bars, to E-flat which is the real tonality of the piece. It follows this pattern:

Am C7M E7M BMajor EMajor B7M EMajor EflatMajor

We feel both admiration and amazement. This is magnificent, yet, for brief moments we keep wondering where we are. Let’s recall the intro of his granaína, Morente, which was built up on the same idea, modulating from E-flat to B. One could be tempted to speak of the art of shifting, an aesthetics of uncertainty rich with infinite possibilities.

Vicente Amigo is the model for a whole generation, and as a consequence we can state without much risk that the future of the flamenco guitar lies in mastering modulation, the art of the subtle change from one tonality to another. Already significantly enriched with the art of improvisation, inherited from Paco de Lucía, the flamenco guitar has now entered its maturity. These advances, however, bear another side by giving a more jazzy profile, with the risk of losing some of its flamenco identity. That is another discussion.

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