Building a Tango Music Playlist
Building a Tango music playlist is a big step towards a great ballroom experience. Often the tango recordings available in music stores are not well suited for social dancing and need to be mail ordered.
Tango is one of the most versatile musical and dance styles, adapting to changing styles quickly. This version is a good example of that flexibility.
1. Caminito – Camanito
Classic Tango dance music is appreciated by lovers of the genre around the world. Whether dancing to it at home or with friends, there are many songs that should be in any music lover’s library.
The song Caminito is one of those classic tango songs that every dancer should have in their collection. It’s a melancholic and sentimental piece that captures the complexities of love.
Gotan Project is a group of musicians who use electronic elements to create their sound, but never lose the tango feeling that makes this genre so unique. Their track Mi Confesion is an excellent example of how far you can go in modernizing tango music without losing its innate rhythmic and melodious entanglement.
2. Hernando’s Hideaway
The tango has been embraced by cultures around the world. When musicians from other countries compose tango music, it takes on the flavor of their native styles while still maintaining the innate structure of the genre. GoTan Project is one such example, with this track from their third album that blends rap with the beat and feel of danceable tango.
Originally written for the musical The Pajama Game, it became so popular that several places around the world were named Hernando’s Hideaway after the song. It is a tango in long meter with a melodious lyrical theme. This style of tango was very popular in the early 20th century. Then, tango changed again in the last few decades of the century with New Tango, which incorporated orchestral influences of tango’s history with a lyrics focus on contemporary themes.
3. Pa’ Bailar
Tango music evokes romance, passion and energy like perhaps no other style of music. It is a living passion embodied in the movement of dancers swaying, turning and weaving through each other.
This is an incredible tango album with vocal and instrumental tracks from Osvaldo Fresedo and his orchestra. Fresedo was an innovator who bridged eras from the old guard, through the smooth golden age, and into the concert era. Many tango musicians apprenticed under his direction.
Francisco Lomuto started his career in pop, rock and renaissance music before taking tango lessons and starting his long recording career. He was a master at using the classic 2×4 rhythm and at writing lyrical, emotional songs for dancing. This song is a perfect example. He wrote this song for Roxana Suárez and Sebastian Achaval to dance.
4. Mi Confesion
The best tango songs evoke an emotional connection, and this ballroom dance favorite is no exception. Its verses depict a magnetic pull between longing and escape, creating a sensual allure that makes it perfect for a memorable wedding dance.
Tango changed in the last years of the 20th century when new music emerged that blended orchestra-based influences with lyrical style focused on contemporary themes. This new style is known as NewTango.
Tango is a genre of dance music that originated in Argentina and Uruguay, influenced by regional folk music and European classical dance music. It is played by tango sextets and larger ensembles called orquesta tipica. It is often performed in the easily danceable time signatures of 4/4 and 2/4. It has also become part of the repertoire of great classical musicians, such as Yo-Yo Ma and Daniel Barenboim.
5. La Malinche
Tango is a popular dance style that is performed and composed by musicians all over the world. It is a beautiful and sensual style that has gained popularity over the past century, with it being now a staple of ballroom dancing.
Tango music typically has a slow rhythm and is often accompanied by sombre lyrics. It is also known for its emphasis on the melody and a freedom for improvisation that is influenced by its old jazz origins.
Argentine tango music is traditionally played in the easily danceable time signatures of 4/4 or 2/4. It can be instrumental or include a vocalist. It is commonly performed by a tango orchestra, or orquesta tipica. Many famous classical musicians have recorded tango songs, including Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim, Gidon Kremer and Placido Domingo.