I am going to introduce this essay by saying that this is my view of tango music. DJs, professional musicians, tango dancers and fans of tango music are more than welcome to their own thoughts on the subject. I am going to also make some assumptions about your knowledge of Argentine tango and not spend a lot of time defining tango terms.

Often tango dancers think about the types of music played at a milonga based upon tanda structure. That structure is typically tango, tango, valz, tango, tango, milonga.

This structure suggests there are three types of music: tango, valz and milonga. I suggest that there are at least eight different types of music that we dance to. I will further suggest that there are at least two different dances we do during the milonga.

What are the eight types of music that I am suggesting?

I offer that there are four types of tango music, three types of music and one type of valz.

I break the substyles down as follows:

tango has four substyles: rhythmic, lyrical, romantic, dramatic

milonga has three substyles: lisa, traspie, candombe

valz, well, is valz.

Here is my take on these different musical types.

Rhythmic tango is driven by a steady and dependable compas. It feels the most “danceable” because it feels like it has a steady, dependable “beat”. It often has a staccato feel.

Lyrical tango is light and airy. Its compas is also light. This music feels like a walk in a Parisian garden on a beautiful spring day. This music is often filled with harmony and violins.

Romantic tango is likely the type of music a non-dancer would think of as what is danced all night. This is the music which most approaches the idea of “being in love for 12 minutes”. I think of this music as often having the wonderful vocals that steal our hearts.

Dramatic tango is the kind music that seems to either keeps dancers off the floor or makes dancers just want to climb inside each other. This music is intense. It often has strong staccato and harmonic elements. The tension between the two is often what creates the drama.

Valz is valz. I say that because I don’t feel that there is much variety in it. Certainly, different orchestras add their flavors to their valz, but I don’t feel that they create that much difference for the dancer. Valz is flowy and circular to me no matter the orchestra. The downbeat of the ¾ time is such a strong driver regardless of the orchestra.

Milonga lisa is a fairly flowing type of milonga. It is the kind of milonga the feels like “fast tango” and it is easy to fall into a marching pattern in this kind of music.

Milonga traspie is technically a type of step, but I suggest that the step type is invited because of the syncopations of the rhythm. Whereas milonga lisa happens almost entirely on the 1 and 2 beats, milonga traspie has a basic rhythmic cell that follows the pattern of “and-2 and-1”.

Candombe is really its own music altogether. It can be sprinkled into a milonga tanda or the milonga tanda can be three candombes. Condombe in a milonga is unique because of its very complex rhythms and use of actual percussion. No other tango music routinely uses percussion instruments.

You are more than welcome to disagree with these categories, reorganize them, add or subtract to them. However, the main point is that when we go to “dance tango”, there is a tremendous amount of variety in the types of music we will hear during the milonga. I am, of course, leaving out the variety of elements within each song that can provide inspiration to a dancer (different instruments, vocals, etc.).

If tango is feeling you can dance, then I suggest that eight different types of music offer the dancer eight distinct opportunities for emotional expression. If a dancer approaches each of these categories in the same way, with the same texture, and the same feelings with the same steps and sequences, they are missing a tremendous opportunity for expression.

How do you conceive of the different types of music you hear at a milonga? How do they influence your dancing and your connection to your partner?