Flamenco Chord Progressions

Flamenco Chord Progressions aka The “Andalusian Cadence”

Traditional Name Por Arriba (Traditional Open)

Por Medio

(Traditional Open)

Por Levante

(Por Arriba Capo 2)

Por Granaina

(Por Medio Capo 2)

Por Minera

(Por Arriba Capo 4)

Tonal Key

Modal Key

Progression

A minor (C major)

E Phrygian

Am – G – F – E

D minor (F Major)

A Phrygian

Dm – C – Bb - A

B minor (D major)

F# Phrygian

Bm – A – G – F#

E minor (G major)

B Phrygian

Em – D - C –B

C# minor (E Major)

G# Phrygian

C#m – B – A – G#

F# minor (A major)

C# Phrygian

F#m – E – D – C#

Por Rondena (Por Medio Capo 4)

Harmony can be thought of three ways: (1) Minor Key: I – bVII – bVI – V (2) Major Key: VI - VI – V – IV – III (3) Modal Key: IV – III – II – I I like to think of it modally: e.g. For E Phrygian, just think of the tune as in C Major except I just think of E as the tonic. All the chords are in C Major, they are just put in a different order, therefore for improvisation purposes the C major note group is still used. The final two chords, (e.g. the F and E in the por arriba) are really your home. Its typical just switch back and forth between them for a while. This is another reason why the modal conception is good, these are your I and II chord in the modal conception. NOTE: Really all these guys learn only the 2 forms (por arriba, por medio) and then just use the capo on the 2nd or 4th fret to achieve the other keys. This is because the open chords are very important to the sound.