Clic on the speakers to hear the samples
You can hear some wind noise behind the first two cuts. Sorry!

"I'm going to give you a little demonstration of some seis genres. Let's start with the Seis Mapeyé. Its a genre that the troubadours use a lot when they want to improvise..because it's a slow genre..."
[See an article in Spanish about the Mapeye by Dr. Cirilio Toro]

"...as well as the Seis con Décima. This is another genre the troubadour uses a lot."

"There's the Seis de Andino too."

[In his book, Folklore Puertorriqueño, Paquito López Cruz affirms that "This seis carries the name of Julián Andino, notable violinist, composer and ochestra leader."]

"The Seis Fajardeño was used in the Cantatas de Rondas in the old days. ¡And that's where they'd stay till dawn, indeed!"

[The notable folklorist José Enrique Ayoroa Santaliz informed us that the name of the Seis Fajardeño didn't come from the name of the town of Fajardo, but rather from a notable personage with the last name Fajardo.]

"The jíbaro, well, he as created...even from other countries, inspired from their music...we have the Seis Tango. And from that point the troubadour takes off, as far as he can, all the way to the end. Until the muse leaves him!"

"We also have a Seis Araucano, which our Victoria Sanabria often sings. Moralito recorded it a lot. And Luz Celenia [Tirado] besides". [then he says the following about the Seis Araucano:] "I've also heard this called the Seis Veracruzano".

"The Aguinaldo Cagueño the aguinaldos. [DM: But there's another style to the Cagueño ¿right? (he sings a fragment)]  Yes, but that is in a scale that falls withing the Seis de Andino. And since it fits into the same aguinaldo, those inspirations occur from the mind of the musician, right? But at least that's the root of the music itself, the musical component that the troubadour hangs on to to create his décima".

"The most traditional aguinaldo we've got. We know it as the Orocoveño. It's the one everyone knows.í"

"You've got the Isabelino, that everyone sings all over like during a parranda, which it's perfect for."

"Another one we created was the Seis Montebello. That's the idea. And from there, sure, well you can create many inspirations. But it is basic to the troubadours song."

"The El Dorado. It's actually comes to be a Seis Chorreao, but iin a minor key."

"Then we have the Pampero. This is the famous Pampero tango-style.".

"We have the Seis Gaucho too. And you can start to sing from that point on. And so you see, we have seises derived from other genres."

"Not to many people sing this one, which is the Seis Enramada, which goes like this...[plays] ...it one genre that few people sing to it. A beautiful genre."

"This one, people have to have a lot of breath and phrasing to sing ...yes, yes, because they are genres that go on and on, and you have to have good lungs to..."

"We haven't done this one yet. The Celinés is...[plays] ...and it goes on like that from there too."

"[WC: Are there more that one Seis Chorreao, ¿or several?] ..the Seis Chorreao as it is, is the traditional one, as its widely known, because it is a fast genre. You can take a slower genre and speed it up and do it Seis Chorrao style. That is, you can give it that feeling.  [DM: Well, there are different styles like the del Dorado] ... Sure, the Seis del Dorado can be a Seis Chorreao, except that it's in minor key. [DM: Can you show us theChorreao?] ... Yes [plays] ...Note how I did it in minor key? Then the del Dorado is like this...[plays] ...which has the same structure.

"[WC: Can you do another Chorreao?]... Those little frills, well you make them up. There are times you shouldn't use them, because the singer some times gets thrown off beat, he can't...you shouldn't use them if you want everyone to sound their best".

"Yes. The Seis Viequense. It's the Cante Hondo de Vieques".

"Here's another viequense that Nereida Maldonado recorded with Paquito's group, Paquito López Cruz. Let's see if I remember the melody...[plays] ...[DM:¿Isn't that the Seis Villarán?] ...It's like it, but what changes sometimes is the same rhythm that's given to the vocal part and...it's recorded this way as Paquito's viequense [We  think Vidal was actually referring to the recording that Maria Esther Acevedo did with Claudio Ferrer's group. DM]

" ...[DM: It ends up been another style of the Chorreao, no?]  Yes, as they're both fast...because the melody is done by the troubadour". 

"... it's like they've just created this Seis Marumba, that if the troubadour carries the melody, the instruments keep playing this all the time... [plays] ...and the troubadour is really in charge, because the instruments just keep doing the same thing over and over."

"The Milonguero... [plays] ...and there you have the Milonguero. Buit then, the Milonga..."

"That the Seis Milonga. There some genres that many singers are confused about. Right now I playing it in the key of E, but now anybody says, "no, that one's in G!" It's supposed to be in any key that you can sing it in. It doesn't have to be in G!."

"This is one of the most traditional Christmas tunes."

"This one reminds me of the late Priscila Flores, who loved this genre, and Priscila is the one who sang it the best."

"...and from there we go on. As one can remember them. There is a wide variety to please any audience, without ever having to repeat a single one. But many learn a décima in just one genre, and they record it and they don't want to get out of that one. And then, what are you going to do? My job is to accompany them. His job is to interpret and ask for a genre and you got to comply. And this is the way with the Puerto Rican cuatro. But the true traditional orchestra is cuatro, guitar and güiro. The bongó was added to it later, since, do you know that the bongo is a Cuban instrument? But it was made to fit into our music. But the true traditional orchestra is cuatro, guitar and güiro."

[DM: That was the one Nieves did.] I think it's the real Seis Tumbao".

"That's the original Seis de Ceiba that has a lot of derivates out there."

"This is a precious genre, and many people don't play it in the key its supposed to be in: to many sharps and flats. Some people, if it has to many flats, it makes it hard for them."

[WRC: The Seis Yumac is closely linked to the great troubadour Germán Rosario, known as the Jíbaro de Yumac. Yumac is the name of the town of Camuy backwards.]

"The Mayagüezano, at least I got to record it with the late Priscila Flores...[plays]...Its on an LP that someone borrowed without asking me and it never returned to my hands..."

"..and from there the troubadour develops it."

"There's the Punto Cubano also ...[plays]...and from there the troubadour does his quartet, the cuatro returns and repeats that little part, and the troubadour finishes of with the last six stanzas...[DM: Germán Rosario sang some beautiful Puntos ]...Yes, that was his specialty."

"And the Seis Joropo which I just remembered...[plays]...and from there the troubadour continues on down the line."

"This is the one I've always known as the Seis Cuesta Abajo".

"There's a number I've always like, a waltz by Jose Antonio Monroseaux. It's called El Sueño de una Princesa "[A princesses' dream].