[Tango-L] What is tango music?

[Janis Kenyon]

If you are a musician with musical scores of tangos in hand, it wouldn't
take you long to find one unique characteristic in every piece of tango
music.  It is standard for a piece of music to end on the tonic of the key
in which it was composed.  All tangos end on the tonic but with two extra
notes added--the dominant and tonic tones of the scale--the "chan chan"
which distinguishes tango music from all other types.  No other music ends
this way.  The dance was named for the music called tango.  All composers of
tango followed this music form when composing tangos and valses.  If you are
dancing tango steps to other music, you are not really dancing tango.

I have the sheet music for several tangos and valses to know this is true.
Listen to Tristezas de la Calle Corrientes written by Domingo Federico with
lyrics by Homero Exposito and recorded by Miguel Calo with Raul Beron
singing.  I have the sheet music in my hands to know it is written in A
minor.  The lyric ends on the word cruz! on A, but the music continues with
the dominant (fifth) and tonic (first) of the A minor scale.  This makes it
tango from a musician's point of view according to the musical structure.

I doubt there would be such a debate on Tango-L if more dancers knew
something about music and/or studied with tango musicians in Buenos Aires.


Janis
www.totango.net/milongueros.html