FELIPE & AYANO
TANGO
Tango Music
Learn about Argentine Tango music to dance better!
A beginner's guide to listening to tango music (article)
TANGO STORIES by Michael Lavocah (book)
Get to Know Twenty Orchestras (book)
Listen to the 60 essential milongas!
Listen to the 60 essential vals!
Expand your repertoire with this list!
If you're going deeper into tango
In Argentine Tango, we dance to the music
from the Golden Age (1935-55).
There were many orchestras that had distinct style.
This list includes important orchestras that are classic
of the genre, and we keep dancing to them to this day.
(the image on the right shows the hierachy of orchestras)
Listen to the songs over and over until
you can humm the melody when you hear the intro!
Once you get used to the genre, all tangos will sound familiar.
Can you tell the differences between orchestras?
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general mood (describe in 3 ways using adjectives, emotions, colors or sceneries)
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instrumentation
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how is the beat accentuated?
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how do they play the ending note?
If you want to study in-depth, copy & fill out this spreadsheet.
Can you...
1) find the beat?
2) find the arc of the phrase?
3) feel when the music is ending?
4) describe how each song makes you feel?
(use adjectives, season, scenary, colors, etc)
5) identify which instrument carries the melody?
6) describe what other instruments do?
If you're already familiar with TANGO101 list,
it's time to move on to TANGO201.
This list includes songs with singers,
more melodic tangos that might be harder to find the beat at first.
Keep listening till your body starts moving!
If you know these tangos, it'll cover 90% of the songs that are played in the milongas (dance parties).