Petenera
Song with a 'copla' of four, eight syllable, verses that on singing generally become six, due to the repetition of one of them and the adding of another from elsewhere.
It is one of the most curious flamenco styles. Its history is uncertain, although there is a certain consensus that its name comes from a singer from Paterna de Rivera (Cádiz), known as 'la Petenera'.
It is surrounded by superstition, since its first words speak of burials and funerals, the majority of gypsies still don't accept it. It is avery old type of song that even proceeds the so called 'plañideras', but its transition to flamenco didn't occur until the XIX century, when Medina el Viejo created what is now known as the 'petenera chica'. Later on, 'la Niña de los Peines' made a more adorned version, difficult to execute and now known as the 'petenera grande'. It is accompanied 'por arriba' and its beat is relatively free style, because in some places it is fixed to 6/8.
