415  Singing Tango Music

Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 17:06:07 -0700
From: "Bruno E. Romero" <romerob@CADVISION.COM>
Subject: Singing Tango Music

Dear Tango List:


Would like to find out if anybody has any ideas as to how to dance to
singing tango music. Do we follow the instruments and not the singer's
voice? I find it much easier to dance to the voices of Beron, Pomar,
Serpa, Fiorentino, etc. With other singers I find the music becomes
repetitive. Sometimes I wonder if dancers choose singing and mellow music
where the beat and compas of the music is soft so that they are able to
dance with more
figures and thefore they feel they are not caught dancing off beat to the
music. Any comments in this regard wll be appreciated.

Bruno Romero
Calgary, Alberta, Western Canada

Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 09:03:44 -0700
From: "Bruno E. Romero" <romerob@CADVISION.COM>
Subject: Singing Tango Music

Would like to find out if anybody has any ideas as to how to dance to
singing tango music. Do we follow the instruments and not the singer's
voice? I find that it much easier to dance to the voices of Beron, Pomar,
Serpa, Fiorentino, etc. With other singers I find the music becomes
repetitive. Sometimes I wonder if dancers choose singing and mellow music
where the beat and compas of the music is soft so that they dance with more
figures and thefore they feel they are not caught dancing off beat to the
music. Any comments in this regard wll be appreciated.

Bruno

Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 08:10:41 -0800
From: Jai Jeffryes <doktordogg@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Singing Tango Music

--- "Bruno E. Romero" <romerob@CADVISION.COM> wrote:

> Would like to find out if anybody has any ideas as
> to how to dance to
> singing tango music. Do we follow the instruments
> and not the singer's
> voice?

That's a terrific question. Are you familiar with
"back phrasing"? That's a rubato interpretation in
singing that you hear all the time in show music and
pop music. Think Barbara Streisand. Essentially, the
singer sings late, delaying resolution of phrases
(sometimes as much as entire measures), while the
rhythm section (piano, guitar, bass, drums) lays down
an unwavering pulse.

This is a very common technique of rhythmic
embellishment, and typically choreographers for shows
line up steps with the rhythm section no matter what's
happening with the voices, because that's what defines
the pulse of the music.

All styles of vocal music have some sort of common
practice of rhythmic embellishment (rubato) that sets
a fluid melodic interpretation against a solid
rhythmic underpinning, whether it's Tony Bennett or
bel canto Italian music.

Now Gardel is the only singer I've ever heard who does
the opposite of back-phrasing, singing everything
early, a kind of "front phrasing". I don't know if
this is a general style of singing from Argentina or
if this is a stylization unique to him, but it's very
pronounced, particularly in the recordings I've heard
of him singing with guitar accompaniment. His beat is
perpetually ahead of the guitar.

If I were going to dance to those songs, I'd want to
follow the guitar. However, this form of rhythmic
embellishment is so different from what I've heard,
it's pretty hard not to be distracted by the voice. I
find it difficult to line up with the guitar.
Furthermore, it can be pretty hard to make out the
guitar in the background sometimes.

This is why when I hear this music, I sit down. It
tends to be the case that vocal music is intended for
listening anyway, not dancing. This wasn't a rule
invented by cantankerous "tango police". It's simply
a choice that is sensible for precisely the reason you
brought up.

There's a lot of vocal music I like, and I'm quite
happy to dance to it if it's danceable. However, if
the rhythm of the song makes it more of a listening
experience than a dancing one, I like to sit out and
listen.

Jai