TONAS

Tonás is the name given to a palo or type of flamenco songs. It belongs to the wider category of Cantes a palo seco, that is, palos which are sung without accompaniment or a cappella. Owing to this feature, they are considered by traditional flamencology to be the oldest surviving musical form of flamenco. The first flamenco singer known in history, Tío Luis el de la Juliana, who lived in Jerez de la Frontera in the last third of the 18th century was said to have excelled in this palo.
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n. surface, exterior or upper boundary of a thing

(SONG FORM. CANTE JONDO) From the word Tonada, meaning tune or popular song. They are widely believed to be the earliest flamenco song forms. Included in this group are the MARTINETES (songs of the blacksmiths), CARCELERAS (songs of the prisoners), DEBLA (of obscure origin) and perhaps even an early form of Siguiriyas. Tonas are song-stories that were neither played of danced. They were sung 'a palo seco', which means unaccompanied except perhaps with the rhythmic beating of a palo (stick) on the ground. In the case of the Martinetes, the song would be accompanied by the sound of a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil.