In Spain, it is often said that the Sevillana and the Fandango de Huelva “van a tres”, meaning they are palos in triple meter. However, this belief is a half-truth, rather like describing the period of a year as a mere succession of days, without mentioning weeks or months. In 1966, Spanish musicologist Hipólito Rossy had already noted the real metric structure of the Sevillana: “The most distinctive feature of sevillanas is the rhythmic combination. The singing is clearly in duple meter, while the dance is in triple.” More recently, this metric overlapping has also been identified by other authors in the Fandango de Huelva and, outside flamenco, in the Jota. At the same time, this polymetry has been one of the main issues of the author’s musicological research on flamenco. Through figures and audio examples of the guitar accompaniment and the sung melodies, this article—originally presented as a lecture-workshop—first identifies the duple and triple elements displayed in both the Sevillana and the Fandango de Huelva, dubbed the cross-meter genres of flamenco. Secondly, through a pulse-level analysis, it also explores the metric hierarchy between these elements. This analysis leads to the cross-meter formula, which involves the interpretation of the term compound meter as hypermeter. Finally, the article presents a compilation of the most characteristic hand-clapping patterns of the Sevillana and Fandango de Huelva, inviting the reader to experience the puzzling rhythm of these genres from the standpoint of practitioners.

Keywords: flamenco, Sevillana, Fandango de Huelva, cross-meter genres, pulse-level analysis, hypermeter, hand clapping, palmas.