Cante – Grupo III A: Tonas, Siguiriyas, Soleares, Bulerias por Solea, Canas, Polos, Livianas, Serranas Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A solo flamenco singing round in the slow, weighty palos of Grupo III A, from tonas and siguiriyas to soleares, polos and serranas, sung to guitar and marked out of 100.

Cante – Grupo III A gathers the deeper, slower palos of the flamenco repertoire into one solo singing round: tonas, siguiriyas, soleares, bulerias por solea, canas, polos, livianas and serranas. Most of these are sung with a long, serious line and a free, expressive delivery, and a singer who enters the group chooses which palo to present. Unlike a regional group, the test here is not a place but a family of forms and how deeply the singer can enter one of them.

The rules the template is built from split the third group of cante in two. Grupo III A holds the palos listed above, while Grupo III B holds the livelier ones such as bulerias, tangos, tientos and peteneras. The first group of cante belongs to the mining cantes and the second to the fandango-derived cantes, so each singer is compared with others singing the same kind of material and not with a performer in a completely different style.

The template carries it as an individual item, open to both genders in the Open (16+) group, sung in Spanish and scored as Marks out of 100 with a ten-minute limit on the clock. In the source competition entry is by online or postal application with a photograph, a short biography, a video and a bank certificate, the minimum age is 16 and former winners of the top trophy are barred. Those are the organiser’s rules; the template records the item, the group, the clock and the score.

An organiser runs it as a staged competition. The source rules move from a video screening through selection rounds held across Spain to semi-finals and a final, and on eTalenter the same item can be scored again at each stage so one setup is reused while the advancing singers are carried forward. The source rules also ask finalists chasing the top cante trophy to sing a cante from Grupo II or Grupo III as well as their mining cantes, so a strong performance here can count beyond its own round.

Where Cante – Grupo III A: Tonas, Siguiriyas, Soleares, Bulerias por Solea, Canas, Polos, Livianas, Serranas is run

On eTalenter this item is used in one template, built from the published rules of a long-running flamenco singing, guitar and dance contest held in La Union in the Murcia region of Spain. The palos in this group belong to the wider flamenco tradition rooted in Andalusia, so other contests that include them are mostly flamenco festivals and penas in Spain; each event’s own notice sets its classes and rules.

• Spain (flamenco tradition rooted in Andalusia; contest held in Murcia)

Key facts

• Individual item: one singer, usually with a guitarist accompanying, one score
• Grupo III A of the cante classes, covering tonas, siguiriyas, soleares, bulerias por solea, canas, polos, livianas and serranas
• Open (16+) group, both genders, sung in Spanish
• Scored as Marks out of 100, with a ten-minute limit on the template clock
• Source rules require the singer to be at least 16 and bar past winners of the top trophy
• The livelier palos such as bulerias, tangos and tientos are a different class: the template lists them under Grupo III B, not here

On eTalenter, Cante – Grupo III A: Tonas, Siguiriyas, Soleares, Bulerias por Solea, Canas, Polos, Livianas, Serranas is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Cante – Grupo III A: Tonas, Siguiriyas, Soleares, Bulerias por Solea, Canas, Polos, Livianas, Serranas is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 10 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Cante – Grupo III A: Tonas, Siguiriyas, Soleares, Bulerias por Solea, Canas, Polos, Livianas, Serranas

What a Cante – Grupo III A: Tonas, Siguiriyas, Soleares, Bulerias por Solea, Canas, Polos, Livianas, Serranas panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Command of the chosen palo: the singer should show the shape, phrasing and mood that belong to the form they picked and not drift into another palo midway
• Voice and breath control: long, slow lines held in tune and carried to the end of the verse, with breaths placed where the thought ends and not inside a word
• Compas and rhythm: whether the singer and guitarist keep the pulse of the form together, including the free passages and the return to the beat
• Depth of expression: ornament and emphasis that grow out of the verse and deepen it, as against added for show
• Interpretation of the text: clear, correctly pronounced Spanish, with the meaning of the verse carried in the voice
• The template records one total out of 100 and does not print a split; a panel that wants separate headings agrees its own before the round

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Cante – Grupo III A: Tonas, Siguiriyas, Soleares, Bulerias por Solea, Canas, Polos, Livianas, Serranas under Scoring Setup, or start from our judging and score tabulation guide.

How to prepare for Cante – Grupo III A: Tonas, Siguiriyas, Soleares, Bulerias por Solea, Canas, Polos, Livianas, Serranas

How entrants and their teachers usually get Cante – Grupo III A: Tonas, Siguiriyas, Soleares, Bulerias por Solea, Canas, Polos, Livianas, Serranas right on the day:

• Read the notice first for the time limit, the group, the entry deadline and whether the round is a video screening, a live round or both
• Choose the palo that suits your voice and learn how it differs from its neighbours in this group before deciding on your verses
• Rehearse with the guitarist who will play on the day and agree the key, the introduction and where the guitar will wait for you
• Plan your breathing across the longest lines, mark where you breathe and keep the same plan every time
• Record yourself and listen for pitch that drifts on long, slow phrases and for words that are not clear
• Warm the voice before the round and keep a calm routine so nerves do not tighten the tone
• After a loss, ask whether command of the palo, breath, rhythm or expression cost most, and rehearse that one element alone before the next round
• Ideas, not rules: sing the same verse in two palos from this group and record both, then check that a listener can hear the difference in phrasing and pulse

Frequently asked questions

Is Cante – Grupo III A: Tonas, Siguiriyas, Soleares, Bulerias por Solea, Canas, Polos, Livianas, Serranas judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Which palos are in Cante – Grupo III A?

Tonas, siguiriyas, soleares, bulerias por solea, canas, polos, livianas and serranas, as listed in the template. Bulerias, tangos, tientos and the other livelier palos are in Grupo III B.

Is Cante – Grupo III A judged individually or as a team?

Individually. The template records one singer, one performance and one score out of 100.

Can I choose any palo from the list?

The template names the palos that belong to this group. The event notice says whether a singer picks one on the day or is assigned one, so check it before you rehearse.

How long can the performance be?

The template clock is set to ten minutes. The event notice states the exact running time for each round.

Want the full judging picture? Read our judging and score tabulation guide, or browse every on stage competition item.