Eurico Cebolo - Beau Bledsoe

As I've mentioned before, there is very little information available to learn Fado or the Portuguese guitar. There is also very little to suggest that Fado is indeed a healthy, vibrant art form. In fact Fado has been placed on the UNESCO endangered cultural heritage list. Many of the of the materials one encounters seem to be from another epoch all together.

Eurico A. Cebolo is a publisher of music instruction books in Portugal similar to Mel Bay here in the U.S.  I bought a beginning Portuguese guitar method from the site of Ron Fernandez  a month or so ago and it's filled with great chord charts and scale studies. 

But the best part of this book is the rather unusual aesthetic of the publisher. 

Portrait of Eurico

And some of the things he writes....

Have a look at some of the wonderfully trippy book covers from Mr. Cebolo. I really love the big blocky fonts.

I just had to share.

- Beau

Our Research & Online Fado Resources

In an attempt to put together thorough materials for this project I have been searching in the most simple and common way to do so these days; online. It is surprising, although maybe it should not be, that there is not a wealth of information on the internet regarding fado. There are some great resources for learning about fado and compilations of scores and books for purchase but they are few and far between compared to extensive resources I found when I started diving into Brazilian music 5 years ago. Also, it is lucky I can get my way around a Portuguese language site since a vast majority of the sites I have found are not translated into English. We have gotten our hands on some great books and recordings through online purchasing and through the local University library. However, we are in need of more resources to reference and the only option is to pool our funds for more specialized books (often times expensive text books for courses on fado). Even though it is making things a little more difficult, it is good for someone like me who too often forgets that not every answer, every resource, and everything relevant can be found online.

For those following our progress we thought it would be a good idea to share what we have found, so that if you are inclined, you may have other resources to explore fado. Check back to our blog and website frequently to get updates on our progress and find more posts about other great fado resources.

http://www.portugal.com/information/fado

http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/genre/content.genre/fado_717/en_US

http://fadotradicional.blogspot.com/

http://www.guitarraportuguesa.org/

We are also doing everything we can to get in touch with those who are behind all of the sites and blogs on fado that we have discovered in hopes that they are receptive to collaboration, and we can work together on the goal of further popularizing fado here in the United States and elsewhere!


~Jordan

Learning music - Beau Bledsoe

I have a process when learning a new instrument or style of music. I will plunge my self head first into the source of inspiration that made me interested in the first place. In this case Portuguese guitar virtouso, Carlos Paredes. His Composition "Verdes Anos" has haunted me for over a decade blowing around in my head like a dust bunny. I received my Portuguese guitar two days ago from luthier Dave Bucher (a really great instrument) and the first thing I did was tune it up and attempt to learn this haunting melody.

guitarra Portuguesa by Dave Bucher

I found a transcription (musical score made from a recording) on a Portuguese guitar forum but like so many transcriptions on the internet it's not even close. So here it is, my first transcription. BTW, if you're a guitarist and want play this, the instrument is tuned, 1st string to 6th, A, G, D, A, G, C.

Click here for pdf version

I find this a great way to learn music. I use a program called "audiospeed" to slow down, loop and retune  recordings and video. Verdes Anos is a classic tune in Portugal so there are many videos of players on youtube to choose from. I simple watch their fingers slowly and write down what I see and LISTEN very intently. Then I'll make a nice score using the Finale program. I get a real kick out of making nice scores for some reason. It's like learning a new language and publishing your results. I learned to play the guitar in the same way by dropping needles onto slowed down vinyl records (yes I'm that old). This is also how I approached the oud, flamenco guitar and many other styles.  To me it feels like a portal to another place. I can be in 17th century London,  Andalucía or a fado bar in Lisboa. Also I will dream Verdes Anos for a few days. This ALWAYS happens. I believe it's my brain wiring up what it's learned and practicing.

Audiospeed

Fado in the Kansas City Summer Heat

Last weekend Shay and Jordan had the chance to perform a few fados with their Brazilian group Mistura Fina, which includes Michael McClintock on guitar in the video below, during their performance for the Kansas City Guitar Society's "Concert in the Park" series this past Sunday (see very rough video below). I was struck by the audience’s response to the fado we performed.  It was at the end of an hour set and it was over 100 degrees but the audience seemed renewed, excited, and surprised by the fado and the contrast between the Brazilian music we were performing and the Portuguese fado. It seems that fado can not be performed without demanding attention and quiet from the audience which I think is in line with the conservative and traditional nature of how fado is performed (referring to the black shoal and how the vocalist is to hold a certain pose and not move their bodies too overtly). It was striking how the mood of the performance changed for the final three pieces as we performed a selection of modern fado including Rosa Branca and O Gente da Minha Terrra originally performed by Mariza, and Os Buzios originally performed by Ana Moura (See video below for a short rough clip of Os Buzios).

~Jordan

 

Learning the history fado - Jordan Shipley

I have been working on general transcriptions and arrangements of a handful of modern fado composition and new recordings of classic fado but just recently started to embark on learning about the traditional forms of fado and the characteristics that define each form. We are in the process of filling out are set list and I am excited about the great resources we already have that will make us able to add in great songs that will be examples of the wide range of fado forms. Reading through translations that we have been able to find and doing my best rough translations from my knowledge of Brazilian Portuguese is a great lesson in the cultural history of Portugal, and especially of Lisbon and Coimbra, as many of the songs are a beautiful description of the life of the people in different neighborhoods in those cities. There are many nostalgic love songs for each city and their diverse various neighborhoods.

The evolution of fado, from the different musical influences absorbed by fado over the years, to the different castes of society that took part in the creation of the music is very fascinating to me. I look forward to reading more about how fado went from the music of those in society who were looked down upon and on the fringes of society, to being performed by Portuguese royalty. I have read in Donald Cohen's book "Fado Portugues" that the term fadista was at one time used as an insult to anyone believed to be unseemly or outcast from society, and I am fascinated to learn more about that transition and the history of fado.