Stylistic norms of tango music — its main materials and techniques

Chapter 2, ‘Stylistic Norms of Tango Music — Its Main Materials and Techniques’, introduces the ‘model’ — which encompasses the stylistic norms of tango music — as well as the terms used in the book — which are supplemented with explanatory annotations, including score excerpts, quotes and notes on the aspects dealt with in the subsequent chapters. This is necessary in order to establish tango’s constituent elements and techniques, which facilitates a better understanding of their distinct use in the hands of Julio De Caro, Osvaldo Pugliese, Horacio Salgán, Astor Piazzolla and Gustavo Beytelmann as well as the innovations they introduced. The different tango rhythms (tango, vals criollo, milonga ciudadana and campera); the treatment of bars, beat and pulsation; articulations; ways of playing (fraseo, cuadrado, solo, tutti, etc.); the accompanimental rhythmical patters (marcatos and syncopations); kinds of speech (rhythmical/melodic); and distinctive melodic features of tango are all described and illustrated in detail along with special effects and techniques for the instruments (chicharra and tambor in the violin, strappata in the double bass, campanitas in the piano, box slaps in the bandoneon, etc.). Finally, an overview of arrangement, composing and performance practices and techniques is provided alongside a description of the available tango scores.