Cantes a palo seco

The Spanish term Cantes a palo seco refers to a category of flamenco palos

Palos

Palos may refer to:Places*Palos de la Frontera, a municipality in Spain*Cape Palos, cape on the Mediterranean coast of Spain*Palos Township, Cook County, Illinois*Palos Heights, Illinois*Paloş , a village in Caţa Commune, Braşov County, RomaniaEvents...

 (musical form

Musical form

The term musical form refers to the overall structure or plan of a piece of music, and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections...

s) traditionally sung a cappella

A cappella

A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

 or, in some cases, with some sort of percussion. The category comprises the following palos:

• Tonás
  Tonás
  Tonás is the name given to a palo or type of flamenco songs. It belongs to the wider category of Cantes a palo seco, that is, palos which are sung without accompaniment or a cappella. Owing to this feature, they are considered by traditional flamencology to be the oldest surviving musical form of...
  
  
• Martinetes
  Martinetes
  Martinetes are a flamenco palo belonging to the group of the tonás or cantes a palo seco. As the rest of the songs in this group, it is sung with no accompaniment. In some dance shows for the stage, though, it is accompanied by percussion played with the compás of siguiriya...
  
  
• Debla
• Carceleras
• Saetas
  Saeta (flamenco)
  The Saeta is a revered Spanish religious song, whose form and style have evolved over many centuries. They evoke strong emotion and are sung most often during public processions.-Performance:...
  
  
• Trilla
  Trilla
  Notes*"All I Have in this World" excepts from the film Scarface and contains a samples of "Scarface" by Geto Boys*"The Boss" contains a samples of "Broken Wings" by Mr...
  
   or Trilleras.

In fact, almost any palo can be sung unaccompanied, especially in private juergas (parties), where there is often no guitarist available. Even in professional settings, some palos which are normally accompanied by the guitar, like seguiriya, bulerías

Bulerias

Bulería is a fast flamenco rhythm in 12 beats with emphasis in two general forms as follows:1 2 [3] 4 5 [6] 7 [8] 9 [10] 11 [12]or...

, or even soleá

Soleá

"Soleares" is one of the most basic forms or "palos" of Flamenco music, probably originated around Cádiz or Seville in Andalusia, the most southern region of Spain...

, are sometimes heard 'a palo seco'.