Tango Music
Leaders can speed up their understanding and successful execution of dances if they know the music.
Wear out your CD, ipods, iphones, whatever. Wear. Them. Out. Period.
Followers also need to know the music, yet to start - usually do just fine if they are dancing regularly at milongas.
Places to get an Overview of Tango Music:
Tom Stermitz's Music Page: Great place to find what music to buy.
ToDo's Tangos The Music: especially good for in depth info on History, Orchestras, Lyrics, etc.
Listen Right Now:
"70 of the Most Danced Tangos"
Milongas
Vals
Places to Get the Music:
Amazon, Itunes, Spotify, Pandora
What about Nuevo/Alternative/Neo/Fusion Music?
For Some Definitions, Click HERE.
Tango music is complex (polyphonic), and has a certain walking beat - alternative music is most successful if it follows these basic requirements - otherwise tango dancers get bored with repetition and simplicity. The only thing that saves a simple song is knockem dead lyrics and vocals. Milongas are possible for faster music, but no faster than 100-110 bpms is best.
Where do I get this music?
Most of the music I use I have heard and recognized at festival milongas, or had in my own collection already, or found from other DJ’s playlists posted on the web. iTunes is a major source, with occasional backup, especially in the case of world music, from Amazon. I also curate music from carefully seeded playlists on Pandora.
Where do I get info about DJing?
Notice who the DJ’s are at the festivals, what and how they are playing music. There is a reason they are hired to play for a national audience.
Some of them have websites with helpful information.
Note: Some DJ's share some of their playlists. However, this is equivalent to giving you their work, which they have spent hundreds of hours (and sometimes dollars) and often years of time collecting. DJ's love to talk shop and help folks learn how to become their own DJ. It is an art that takes skill and a broad knowledge of the subject. (See the 92 page Guide Below.)
DJ guidelines:
Tango DJ.org
Homer’s Page
El Corte DJ Manual (92 Page pdf)