Fado

History and character

Fado is the urban song of Lisbon, documented from the 1820s–1840s in the working-class neighborhoods of Alfama, Mouraria, Bairro Alto and Madragoa, among sailors, prostitutes, bohemians and the common people; the first legendary fadista is Maria Severa (1820–1846), who sang in the taverns of Mouraria. The name comes from the Latin fatum, fate. The key feeling is saudade (the aching longing for something lost or far away), together with fatalism, love, jealousy, the sea, the city and poverty. There are two traditions: Lisbon fado (sung by women and men in the casas de fado and in taverns) and Coimbra fado, tied to the university, sung by men in academic dress, often as a nocturnal serenade, with a Portuguese guitar of different tuning and construction.

In the 20th century fado moved from the taverns to radio, records, film and revue theaters; under the Salazar regime (Estado Novo) it was censored and regulated (licenses for fadistas, control of lyrics) but also promoted as a national symbol. Amália Rodrigues (1920–1999), the “Queen of Fado,” took it around the world from the 1950s (Barco negro, Coimbra / Avril au Portugal) and, with the composer Alain Oulman from the 1960s, gave it learned poetry (Camões, David Mourão-Ferreira, Pedro Homem de Mello). Other historical names: Alfredo Marceneiro, Hermínia Silva, Carlos Ramos, Lucília do Carmo, Fernando Maurício, Carlos do Carmo (Lisboa, menina e moça), the guitarist Armandinho and the great virtuoso of the Coimbra guitar Carlos Paredes (Verdes anos, 1962).

From the 1990s a new generation renewed the genre without betraying it: Mariza, Camané, Ana Moura, Carminho, António Zambujo, Cristina Branco, Gisela João, Ricardo Ribeiro, Cuca Roseta, Kátia Guerreiro, with international productions, strings, double bass, and forays into pop (Ana Moura with Prince and the Rolling Stones). UNESCO inscribed fado on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list on November 27, 2011.

Scales and keys

Fado is tonal (major and minor) with a very expressive use of the alternation between minor and parallel major and with vocal ornaments. Roman numerals in minor are relative to natural minor.

Minor (fado menor and traditional fados in minor)

• Natural 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 — E minor: E F# G A B C D; harmonic: E F# G A B C D#.
• Characteristic note: the leading tone (D#) of harmonic minor on the dominant B7, and the b6 (C) of lament; in the melody the augmented second C–D# appears in the ornaments.
• Chords: i (Em) iv (Am) V7 (B7) VI (C) III (G) vii° (D#°).
• Use: the fado menor (one of the three basic “traditional” fados) revolves around i–iv–V7–i; the melody is free and ornamented over a fixed accompaniment.
• Common mistake: using the minor v (Bm) in a cadence: in fado the dominant is always major with a seventh.

Major (fado corrido, fado mouraria, fado canção)

• Formula 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 — D major: D E F# G A B C#; A major: A B C# D E F# G#.
• Chords: I IV V7, with II7 (V7/V) and VI7 (V7/ii) as secondary dominants.
• Characteristic note: the 6 and the leading tone on which the voice leans in the final phrases.
• Use: the fado corrido (faster, in 2/4, I–V7 accompaniment) and the fado mouraria (major, I–V7–I with a characteristic rhythm) are, along with the menor, the three traditional fados over which endless letras (lyrics) are improvised.

Alternation of minor ↔ parallel major

• Many fados move from minor (verse) to the parallel major (chorus or second part) or vice versa: E minor → E major (E F# G# A B C# D#).
• Characteristic note: the changing third (G → G#): light within the saudade.

Ornaments and vocal intonation

• Voltinhas (small melodic turns), melismas, appoggiaturas, glissandi, accents on key syllables, the emotional “quebra” (breaking of the voice); tempered intonation but very flexible.

The guitarra portuguesa and its “scales”

The Portuguese guitar plays countermelodies and introductions in the same key, with scales in thirds and sixths (the double stops of the paired strings) and trills; the trinado (fast tremolo with index finger and thumb, the “unhas”) sustains long notes.

How to choose

Fado menor and fados in minor for deep saudade; corrido and mouraria in major for lively, ironic or neighborhood fados; minor/major alternation for songs that “open” toward hope; Coimbra fado favors the lyrical major and the serenade.

Harmony

Simple harmony, free voice

• Traditional fado rests on two to four chords: i–iv–V7–i (minor), I–V7–I (major), with occasional IV and II7.
• Slow, regular harmonic rhythm: one chord per bar or two; the accompaniment stays fixed while the voice and the guitarra portuguesa ornament.
• Secondary dominants: II7 (V7/V) before the V7 in major (D – E7 – A7 – D in D), VI7 toward ii.
• Cadences: always V7–I/i; the fadista often stops on a fermata on the V7 before closing.
• Fado canção (song-fado, with chorus and song structure): richer harmony, modulations to the relative and parallel keys, passing diminished chords (Alain Oulman for Amália: more learned harmonies, minor-major, chromaticism).
• New fado: added chords (add9, maj7, 6), double bass and piano, string arrangements (Mariza, Carminho, Ana Moura).

The accompaniment “trio”

• Guitarra portuguesa: introduction, countermelodies between phrases, doublings in thirds, trinado under long notes.
• Viola de fado (classical guitar): chords and alternating bass, “marked” rhythm.
• Viola baixo (acoustic bass) or double bass: tonics and fifths.

Voicing

The viola uses first-position chords with alternating bass (tonic on the strong beat, fifth on the second) and chords on the upbeat; the guitarra portuguesa plays double stops (thirds and sixths) in the mid-high register.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

• Fado menor and slow fados: slow 4/4 with great rubato; the viola keeps a soft pulse (bass on 1 and 3, chords on 2 and 4), which is suspended at the fermatas of the voice.
• Fado corrido and fado marcha: livelier 2/4 or 4/4, alternating bass (oom-pa), viola accent on the upbeat.
• Fado valsado: 3/4 (bass on 1, chords on 2 and 3).
• Marchas populares of Lisbon (Santo António festivities): marked 2/4, march rhythm.
• Microtiming: the voice continually anticipates and lags behind the accompaniment; the musicians “listen” to the fadista and adapt.
• Swing: none, but the viola has a slight “floating” of the eighth notes in the corridos.

Drums

Percussion in fado

Traditional fado has no percussion: the rhythm section is the viola (classical guitar) with the acoustic bass.

How the “section” thinks rhythmically

• Viola de fado: the thumb plays the bass (tonic on the strong beat, fifth or third on the second), the fingers play the chord on the upbeat: it is the “drum set” of fado (bass = kick, chord = snare/hi-hat).
• Viola baixo / double bass: doubles the tonics, sometimes in pizzicato with passing notes.
• Guitarra portuguesa: fills the spaces between phrases, sustains long notes with the trinado.

In modern fado

Light percussion (cajón, brushed cymbals, frame drums, shaker) appears in some productions by Mariza, Ana Moura, Carminho or in orchestral song-fados; it should be kept discreet and very low, never on every beat.

Typical mistakes

Adding a pop drum set; quantizing the viola; putting percussion under rubato singing.

Bass

• Viola baixo (four-string acoustic bass) or double bass: tonics and fifths on the strong beats, small passing notes toward the chord change.
• Viola thumb: alternating tonic–fifth bass (Em: E–B; B7: B–F#).
• Register: 40–200 Hz, soft and woody sound; the bass must never cover the fadista's chest voice (which is often contralto or mezzo-soprano with strong harmonics at 150–400 Hz).
• Modern fado: double bass with bow in slow fados, more melodic lines.

Harmonic instruments

Guitarra portuguesa

• Pear-shaped chordophone with 12 steel strings in 6 courses, Preston “fan” tuning machines (key-type).
• Two models: Lisboa (vibrating length 445 mm, “Lisbon” tuning in D) and Coimbra (470 mm, tuning a whole step lower, in C; Coimbra guitarists name the notes as in Lisbon, so the instrument behaves as a transposing instrument).
• Most common Lisbon tuning: B – A – E – B – A – D, with the three low courses in octaves.
• Technique: played with the fingernails of thumb and index (“figueta”: thumb-index alternation), trinado, rasgado; function of countermelody and introduction (the introductory “guitarrada” and the interludes).
• Great performers: Armandinho, Jaime Santos, José Nunes, Fontes Rocha (with Amália), Carlos Paredes and Artur Paredes (Coimbra), today Ricardo Rocha, Pedro Jóia (guitar), Ângelo Freire, Luís Guerreiro.

Viola de fado

Classical guitar with steel or nylon strings (depending on the tradition), chordal accompaniment and alternating bass.

Others

Viola baixo, double bass, piano (fado canção, Carlos do Carmo), strings (modern arrangements), accordion (in some popular fados and in the marchas).

Melody and vocals

• Voice as protagonist: chest register, dark and full timbre, great dynamics (from whisper to restrained cry), rubato, fermatas, phrases broken by emotion.
• Ornamentation: voltinhas, short melismas, glissandi toward the note, “quebra” (the voice deliberately cracking), tight, controlled vibrato on long notes.
• Lyrics: decisive (it is said that fado is “diz,” spoken, as well as sung); verses of 4–10 lines (quadra, quintilha, sextilha, décima), on folk or learned poetry (Camões, Pessoa, Florbela Espanca, David Mourão-Ferreira).
• Improvisation: in traditional fados the melody is varied with each performance; the same fado menor or corrido hosts hundreds of different lyrics.
• Voices: female (mainly contralto and mezzo-soprano) and male (tenor and baritone); in Coimbra fado a lyrical male voice, almost “bel canto.”
• Chorus: absent in traditional fado; the audience keeps silent out of respect (the casas de fado ask for silence).
• Effects: none in the traditional style (dry voice, small hall reverb); in modern productions wider reverbs, never Auto-Tune.

Instruments

Guitarra portuguesa (Lisbon and Coimbra models), viola de fado (classical guitar), viola baixo (acoustic bass) or double bass, voice; in modern fado also piano, strings, cello, accordion, light percussion, clarinet.

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Augmented Strings — Strings for orchestral fado: Soft string pads (in the style of Mariza's and Carminho's arrangements): slow attack, no synthetic edge in evidence, low-pass filter at 8 kHz so as not to compete with the guitarra portuguesa.
• Piano V — Piano for fado canção: Piano accompaniment in the tradition of Carlos do Carmo: chords in the middle register, moderate pedal, voice always in the foreground.
• Mellotron V — Vintage colors: Tape strings and flutes for retro reworkings of fado (1960s atmospheres).

Song structure

Traditional fado

Fado canção

Verse – chorus (refrão) – verse – chorus, often with a minor/major change between verse and chorus and a composed introduction.

Coimbra fado

Strophic serenade, often with long introductions by the Coimbra guitar; the instrumental guitarradas (Carlos Paredes) are pieces in their own right.

Duration and arrangement

Pieces of 2:30–4:30; minimal and transparent arrangement; in modern productions strings or piano enter only in the second half or in the final chorus.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

The intimacy of a casa de fado: very close, warm and dynamic voice at the center; bright, crystalline guitarra portuguesa on one side; viola and bass on the other, soft; small hall space (0.8–1.4 s). References: Amália's recordings of the 1950s–60s, Camané and Mariza in the 2000s (Mariza, Transparente, 2005, produced by Jaques Morelenbaum with strings), Carminho (Alma, 2012).

Voice

• Large-diaphragm condenser mic at 20–30 cm (the chest voice is powerful: watch the peaks), pop filter.
• EQ: high-pass at 70–90 Hz; −1/−2 dB at 250–350 Hz if it swells; presence +1/+2 dB at 3 kHz; +1 dB at 10 kHz for air; watch 1–2 kHz on the cries (dynamic EQ).
• Compression: opto (LA-2A or similar) 2–3:1, 3–5 dB of reduction on the peaks; possibly a second light compressor; the dynamics must stay wide.
• Saturation: very light tube warmth.
• Space: soft room or plate 1.2–1.6 s, pre-delay 30–50 ms; no obvious delay.
• Automation: follow the lyrics, raise key words that get lost in the pianissimos.
• Never obvious pitch correction.

Guitarra portuguesa

• Condenser mic at 20–30 cm aimed between the soundhole (the “rosette”) and the neck, possibly a second mic at 60 cm.
• EQ: high-pass at 120–150 Hz (the instrument is high and metallic); −2 dB at 1–2 kHz if nasal; +1 dB at 6–8 kHz for sparkle; watch for the peaks of the rasgados.
• Compression: 2–3:1, attack 10–20 ms, release 100 ms, 2–3 dB; the trinado must stay even.
• Panning: L 30–50 (or R, depending on the live arrangement); reverb a bit longer than the voice's to “open it up.”

Viola de fado

• Mic at 30 cm at the 12th fret; high-pass at 80 Hz; −2 dB at 200 Hz; compression 2:1.
• Panning: opposite side from the guitarra (R 30–50).

Bass (viola baixo, double bass)

• Mic at 20–30 cm (+ DI if there is a pickup); high-pass at 40 Hz; −2 dB at 250 Hz; light 3:1 compression; center.

Strings and piano (modern fado)

• Strings: hall 1.8–2.2 s, high-pass at 150 Hz on the violins, levels 4–8 dB below the voice.
• Piano: pair at 1 m, high-pass at 40 Hz, −2 dB at 300 Hz; moderate panning.

Buses and groups

Voice, guitarra, viola + bass, strings/piano; a shared hall reverb and a plate for the voice.

Sidechain

No (at most a light ducking of the strings under the voice in orchestral productions).

Master

• Indicative target: −16/−12 LUFS integrated for traditional fado, −14/−10 for modern productions; true peak −1 dBTP; LRA 6–12 LU.
• Chain: light EQ, very slow glue compression (1.5:1, 1 dB), transparent limiter.

Common mistakes

• Over-compressing the voice (the “quebra” and the breath are lost).
• Guitarra portuguesa too loud and shrill.
• Long, modern reverbs that push the fadista away.
• String arrangements that cover the guitarra's countermelodies.

Reference tracks for the mix

• Amália Rodrigues — Barco negro (1955).
• Carlos Paredes — Verdes anos (1962).
• Mariza — Ó gente da minha terra (Fado em mim, 2001).
• Camané — Sempre de mim (album, 2008).
• Carminho — Alma (album, 2012).

Reference listening

• Amália Rodrigues — Barco negro (1955)
• Amália Rodrigues — Coimbra (Avril au Portugal) (anni '50)
• Carlos Paredes — Verdes anos (1962)
• Amália Rodrigues — Estranha forma de vida (anni '60)
• Alfredo Marceneiro — A casa da Mariquinhas
• Carlos do Carmo — Lisboa, menina e moça (1976)
• Mariza — Ó gente da minha terra (2001)
• Camané — Sempre de mim (album, 2008)
• Ana Moura — Desfado (2012)
• Carminho — Alma (album, 2012)
• António Zambujo — Lambreta (2014)