[Tango-L] What to call the normal tango walking beat?

[Ruben Malan]

Jamie,

You are all right in your more precise appreciation regarding this issue.
There is a potential "confusion" when inaccurate statements are exposed 
here.
Most of the tango music intended for dancing has been composed in 2/4 ("el 
dos por cuatro" is quasi a synonym of tango in BA and South America )
The musical analysis indicates that there are TWO beats (2/4: 2 
nominator=how many; 4=denominator= what,  4 represent a quarter)  the 
beat-unit is the quarter note.
It was a previous discussion not too long ago regarding this meter 
preference, 2/4 and 4/4 in tango music.

Commonly, the musically untrained listener or dancer, confuses the term 
beats with the other components or sub-division of the beats which are the 
eight notes.
Therefore, they generally hear FOUR "beats" (four eight notes) per measure. 
Then the confusion of terms and denominations arises.
The 2/4 tango meter is simply a succession of more regular strokes basically 
and rhythmically interpreted  as follows, with correspondences added:

STRONG  -  weak;     HALF-strong  - weaker.
quarter                  ;     quarter
eight,            eight  ;     eight,                   eight.
one second            ;     one second
STEP                    ;     STEP
Slow                     ;     Slow                          .
quick       quick     ;     quick                  quick.

Tango music written in 4/4 meter (or even 2/2 = two divided half notes per 
measure), is perhaps simpler and more practical.
Perhaps, many dancers are thinking in the same terms: of 4 beats units or 
measures. Here then, the origin of the confusion and the use of  musical 
terms inaccurately.
The stressing relationship of the tango "clicks"or strokes then remains the 
same but the "aural beats" more logically corresponds to the correct musical 
beats which in this case (4/4)
is the quarter note (half a second or QUICKS) and the normal steps (SLOW = 
one second ) are the half notes which carries two beats.

Best regards,

Ruben









----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jamie Gifford" <tango at cocolisa.com>
To: "Ruben Malan" <rubenmalan at comcast.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 11:18 AM
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] What to call the normal tango walking beat?


> Hi Ruben,
>
> Thanks for your input. I agree, if you assume the music is written in 2/4, 
> then the normal walking beat corresponds to a written quarter note. And, 
> the old (early 20th century) tango scores I've seen all used a 2/4 time 
> signature.
>
> But, although tango scores used to be published in 2/4, I wonder if that's 
> still the "normal time signature" for tango. I've not seen any examples of 
> modern sheet music for "dance tango", but it would be interesting to know 
> if editors are still using 2/4 or whether they've changed to 2/2 or even 
> 4/4 (doubling all the note values), which may be more well-known time 
> signatures for scores intended for modern consumption. In which case, the 
> normal walking beat would correspond to a written half-note.
>
> I just did a Google Images search for "Piazzolla Libertango sheet music", 
> and the scores that show up in the results are in either 4/4 (common time) 
> or 2/2 (cut time); in both cases, if someone tried dancing AT to 
> Libertango, the walking beat would correspond to a half-note in the 
> written score.
>
> Do you have any insight into modern tango publishing conventions and the 
> time signatures that are used these days? Or does almost nobody publish 
> tango dance music any more so the time signature convention is effectively 
> frozen in time?
>
> Kind regards,
> Jamie
>
> On 28/09/11 11:34, Ruben Malan wrote:
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jamie Gifford" <tango at cocolisa.com>
>> To: <tango-l at mit.edu>
>> Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2011 12:11 PM
>> Subject: [Tango-L] What to call the normal tango walking beat?
>>
>>
>>> My question is: of those of you that are familiar with the terms "half
>>> note/minim" and "quarter note/crotchet", which would you associate with
>>> the normal tango walking beat? Is it a half note or a quarter note or
>>> something else?
>>>
>>> Jamie
>>
>> Argentine tango motions commonly allows (but is no limited) for steps, 
>> walk, (and dance) on the half, quarter, eight, and even sixteen notes
>> (blancas, negras corcheas y semi-corcheas), assuming that the music is 
>> written in a 2/4 time signature.
>> The most common though, are the walking steps on the quarter notes 
>> followed by steps on the eight notes.
>> Therefore, SLOW =  (a quarter=one beat=one step) (walked or on place)
>> And QUICK (usually in pairs) = (an eight note=half beat=one shorter 
>> step).
>>
>> Additionally, even if dancers are ON PLACE (no-displacement), there may 
>> be body motions underlining the musical symbols mentioned before,
>> interpreting the musical texture and depending on the creativity of the 
>> leader.
>> So, at this point, it is convenient to have in mind that AT dancers may 
>> also "dance" without necessarily walking all the time.
>>
>> Ruben
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
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>>> Tango-L at mit.edu
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>>>
>>
>
>