[Tango-L] Recognizing Tango Music

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

I am looking through the first few chapters of Horatio Salgan's course on tango that I was able to purchase through Ben Bogart's efforts a few months ago.  

Salgan says a few interesting things about the accompaniment of the tango.  By accompaniment, he's referring, I think, to "the harmonic background and the rhythmic structure for the piece of music or song".  You can check out wikipedia for a description of "accompaniment".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accompaniment

One thing he says about the accompaniment is that it is a consequence of the melody.  Thus, if someone called him and said that he had written a typical waltz but needed an accompaniment, Salgan could basically whip it up without hearing the melody.  However, if the caller said that he needed a tango accompaniment, Salgan would need to hear the melody first.  He describes this special relationship between melody and the accompaniment as being unique compared to other genres of music.

He also says "...the use of the 'four' and the 'syncope' must never be ignored.  These rhythmic schemes function to center the tango, and thereby SET AND DEFINE THE GENRE."  He had in bold lettering what I wrote in caps.  By "four", he's referring to 4 beats to a measure.

Hope this helps.

Trini de Pittsburgh