The problem of musicality and musical styles of flamenco

This article is devoted to the problem of musicality and musical abilities, emphasizing personal perception and interpretation of music. These categories are viewed in the context of the personal-activity approach. It is stated that musical abilities are manifested in three varieties: listening to music, performing it and composing. It is emphasized that musicality of a person is expressed in the following abilities: the ability to feel music emotionally by ear, the ability to recognize the pitch of a sound, the ability to remember and reproduce melodies, as well as to create new ones. The authors reveal the features and principles of performing styles on the example of flamenco music and dance. The article provides a brief overview of musical features of some flamenco styles, such as solea, sigiriya, cana, allegrias, etc. The emotional component, the performing manner and the rhythmic peculiarities of these styles have been considered. Along with the existing classifications of flamenco styles, the article provides an authors’ classification, emphasizing the perception level of complexity by a non-native of Spanish culture. According to the authors' observations, the most difficult for Russian performers are the original styles of cante jondo singing, which has a musical size of 3/4. The article also reflects the modern development of flamenco music, which widely uses elements of jazz, rock and other trends. It is stated that the ethnically diverse fundamental principle of flamenco was the reason for such a rich rhythmic and musical palette of this art.