The Argentine Tango Music

Sydney Tango teacher and studio owner Graham, focuses on the music of Tango, we live musicality and focus both on the music and the quality you bring to the music you choose to dance to. How to dance the music, how to hear the music so you can dance to it, and more importantly how to adapt what you already dance if you are an existing dancer.

If you are a beginner we teach you right from the start the importance of being able to use the music you hear to express your own creativity when you dance.

The music stacks up in layers. There is the base layer, which is the main beat, that changes from orchestra to orchestra and even song to song. Most orchestras play very similar music in certain yearly time periods, i.e. if you know the structure and the end to one song, you have a good chance of understanding it for most if not all of the songs that orchestra plays in that time period.

Then the melody is on top of that. Sometimes a solo from a Bandoneon or a Paino. Sometimes changing the timing or leaving a pause. Sometimes stronger and louder or sometimes soft and gentle.

All these elements can be expressed and some would argue should be expressed in keeping with the orchestra and the texture of the dance and the available floor space.

Yes the time period also affects Tango music, most orchestras re-recorded the same songs at different times with different arrangements. There is a saying “success leaves clues”. Many Tango orchestras have played for decades, and at least one orchestra played for 50+ years. The music has evolved over time for each orchestra including different instruments, but within each time period and indeed over the entire lifetime there are many similarities that make it easier once you hear them.

Once you know the clues, your dancing will become richer and far more musical.
Why is this so important?

There is a lot of structure to Tango music. In almost every Tango there is Legato, meaning slow, more romantic, elegant music. Then it changes from Legato to Staccato meaning faster rhythmical music. There is Quatro tempo or 3/4 tempo, Syncopa, or Syncopations. There is the closing of a phrase, and the opening of the next one marking a very definite change in the music.

Argentine Tango is an improvised dance shared with a partner. These musical changes create challenges for the unwary and un-initiated. Dancing to the music means you should be able to express the structure of the music but also the texture of the music. Does the music suggest short, sharp, quick, small steps? Or more elegant movements with much more time? Does it change a lot as Pugliese’s music does?

There are seven main orchestras in the golden era of Argentine Tango. Sydney’s Tango Delight studio and it’s teachers, focus on one orchestra per term, helping you to understand the differences between the orchestras, to make your Tango dancing a much more rewarding and fulfilling experience.

We help Followers understand when it is good to improvise and how to do it well. We help Leads understand what a good clear lead is, and how to give your Followers time for their own self-expression and enrichment. How to express Tango, not just with steps, but with musicality and quality of movement, even if you are only a beginner.