What do "por arriba" and "por medio" mean?
They are two playing positions of the fretting hand.
To play por arriba means to play in E, with the root note on
the 6th string (the uppermost string). It means to play in the "up" position.
To play por medio means to play in A, with the root note on
the 5th string. A basic A chord is played on the middle strings, so flamencos
say "por medio", which means "in the middle".
It's as simple as that. See the page on andalucían
cadence for the chords used in these two positions.
These terms refer to the physical playing position rather than
absolute pitch because the cejilla (capo) is used a lot in flamenco and it changes
the pitch of the guitar.
What
is compás?
What
are palos?
What
are falsetas?
What's
the difference between a flamenco guitar and a classical guitar?
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