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Tango Dancing Music

I am often asked about tango music:
  • What types of tango music are there?
  • Where can I buy it?
  • What music do you recommend for dancing?
  • What are those special pieces of music that you sometimes play?

    Types of Tango Music

    As with the dance itself, so it is with the music, and there are no fixed definitions for tango music. For some people a piece of music is tango and good for dancing to, for others it is not. Having said this there are overall categories that are used by the majority of tango dancers:

    Milonga
    A music with African influences, that a lot of people say was the pre-cursor to tango. The music is faster than tango and quite fun to dance to. Usually a closer embrace and smaller steps are used, movements tend to be simpler because everything is faster. Dancing to milonga can be very fast with multiple steps on one beat, and is often referred to as "milonga t.shtmlie".
    Tango
    No explanation needed
    Tango Vals (Waltz)
    The European Waltz (Vals) seems to have influenced tango music and produce tango vals, with the 1,2,3 rhythm. Usually very beautiful and flowing.
    Tango Milonga
    Somewhere in-between tango and milonga is tango milonga.
    Tango Nuevo
    New tango music, although not always. I have heard tango music that can easilty be described as Tango Nuevo, but was composed and played in 1920!
    Non-Tango (Specials)
    Music that was not composed as tango, but tango dancers have found it works, and tell each other about it.

    Where to get Tango Music From

    You can buy tango music in most music stores - look in the world music section under the "world music" heading, and be careful that you buy something you like to dance to. If you live in Cambridge then you can go to "Borders" in the town centre where you can listen to CDs before you buy them.

    We have found that you can buy a lot of reasonably priced tango music in Spain, Argentina, Holland and Germany. Also within the international tango scene you will meet people that sell music on, often bought from Argentina, and they will often have a portable CD player with them so you can listen before you buy.

    Check out the links page for internet sites relating to tango music.

    Tango Music Recommendations

    Tango music is often sold by composer and/or orchestra. The composer and orchestra is often one and same as orchestras were often named after the leader. Below is a listing of the tango orchestras whose music we use for dancing here in Cambridge:

    Carlos Di Sarli
    Juan D'Arienzo
    Osvaldo Pugliese
    Rodolfo Biagi
    Miguel Calo
    Roberto Firpo
    Franciso Canaro
    Ricardo Tanturi
    Anibal Troilo
    D'Agostino Vargas
    Alfredo de Angelis
    Pedro Laurenz
    Osvaldo Fresedo
    Alfredo Gobbi
    Leopoldo Federico
    Domingo Federico
    Julio De Caro
    Florindo Sassone
    Mariano Mores
    José Basso
    Hector Varela
    Edgardo Donato
    Astor Piazzola

    More Modern Orchestras (still alive)

    Hugo Diaz
    Quinteto Real
    Los cosas de a lao
    El Arranque
    Sexteto Canyengue
    Color Tango
    Sexteto Mayor

    What are those special pieces of music that you sometimes play?

    • The "Greek Tango": Nephelis Tango : Haris Alexiou
    • Hijo de La Luna :Montserrat Caball
    • Androgyne : Quartango
    • Malena : Adriana Varela
    • Oblivion : Astor Piazzolla
    • Middel of the Moment : Fred Frith
    • Di Goldene Pava : The Klezmatics
    • Johan Hedin : Angel Archipelago