618  Tango Music and Time Signatures and Does Tango Music Swing?

Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 13:54:27 -0500
From: Stephen Brown <Stephen.P.Brown@DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: Tango Music and Time Signatures and Does Tango Music Swing?

Janis Kenyon wrote:

>I have always felt a PULSING of four beats in tango music. It was
>only recently when I saw sheet music for several tangos, that I
>realized it really IS written in 2/4 time. ...

>And then there are those which are written with a time signature
>of 4/8 which tells the musician that there are four beats to a
>measure with an eighth note receiving one beat.

I have tango sheet music (published in Buenos Aires) that is written in a
variety of time signatures: 2x4, 4x4 and 4x8.

The time signature on sheet music is not always relevant in determining
whether music is played in 2x4 or 4x4 time.. Musicians can easily make
music written in 2x4 time sound like 4x4 time or music written in 4x4 time
sound like it is written in 2x4 time. Different tango orchestras
frequently played the same tangos in different time signatures, some in 2
beats per measure and some in four. The difference is all in the use of
accents.

-----Technical music theory digression----

As Janis said 2x4 music is two beats per measure with a quarter note
getting one beat, but in 2x4 time the first beat of each measure is
typically accented (emphasized). The result is as follows: ONE, two, ONE,
two, ONE, two, ONE, two.

Music that is written in 4x4 calls is four beats per measure with a quarter
note getting one beat. The first beat is typically accented strongly and
the third lightly. The reuslt is ONE, two, Three, four, ONE, two, Three,
four.

To make music written in 2x4 sound like 4x4, all one has to do is diminish
the accent on every other accented beat as follows: ONE, two, One, two,
ONE, two, One, two.

To make music written in 4x4 music sound like 2x4, all one has to do is
increase the accent on the third beat equal to that on the first beat as
follows: One, two, THREE, four, ONE, two, THREE, four.

There are really only minor technical differences between music written in
4x8 and that written 4x4. The accenting of the beats which is what is most
relevant to dancing would be the same.

-----end digression-----

Janis wrote:

>Perhaps tango music wouldn't "swing" if it were written in 4/4 timing.
>I like the fact that it does swing for me. It's the feeling I'm
>referring to.

Most swing music is written in 4x4 time. What makes it swing is a
particular form displacement of accents within the quarter notes. As is
explained in music theory books, the quarter note is divided into three
rhythmic parts. The sound is played for 1/3 of a quarter note. The second
part is played for 2/3 of a quarter note. The longer held portion shifts
the accent to the second played sound. This description is only an
approximation; the amount of swing varies by player and the effect the
player is trying to achieve. (By the way, the notation remains as though
the music was written without the swing beat. It is the musicians that
create the swing beat.) The result of playing in swing time is a strong
displacement of the accent within each beat toward the end of the beat.

In tango, musicians also shift the emphasis toward the end of the beat, but
this effect is accomplished through displaced timing and stretched notes
(which is sometimes referred to as loose playing), not through the use of a
swing beat. This kind of playing should not be confused with swing,
whatsover.

Try dancing tango to a Frank Sinatra swing tune like "Fly Me to the Moon"
and you will see what I mean. Dancing tango to this music will make some
steps seem pinched and others oddly delayed. The feeling of tango is
completely lost.

With best regards,
Steve

Stephen Brown
Tango Argentino de Tejas
https://www.tejastango.com/