How to improve musicality

[opendoor]

..ou can't dance to Pugliese as if he's D'Arienzo.

Well said!

 

[WhiskeyPapa]

Try to recognize the following rhythmic patters, shown in a musicality workshop with Gustavo Casenave.

I know this is from long ago, but I was impressed to see the 3-3-2 reference (Pugliese’s Negracha, for example)… but dancing 3-3-2 is something rather advanced. (I’m writing this before looking at the YouTube…)

To answer the OP: It is critical to understand the underlying rhythmic pattern (in contrast to the melodic beauty)….
For starters:
1) 4 x 1/4 beats equally stressed (or close to it), often D’Arienzo
2) 1st and 3rd beats (of 4) stressed (the most common pattern for tango)—Di Sarli often.

Start with those—Listen to D’Arienzo and D’Sarli songs and try to conduct them with your hand, then try to tap them your foot, then try to shift your weight from one foot to the other in time with the underlying rhythm. The most standard “walk” is to step on the first and 3-rd beat. It’s a good fallback for lots of music. Ignore the melody for starters.

Dancing syncopa requires rather good basic technique ( 2-3 years of systematic practice to start on that issue, I suspect—maybe that’s pessimistic)

Milongas and Valses are a separate world, as is Biagi who has passages where he stresses the 2nd and 4th beats.. switching to that syncopa from a standard 1 & 3 step requires both an ear and decent technique.

“Dance what you feel” is an approach for beginners (nothing wrong with that). The downside is that you will often blend the underlying rhythm with the melodic line… which can lead to confusion.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

The downside is that you will often blend the underlying rhythm with the melodic line… which can lead to confusion.

But one can switch, as the music emphasizes one element or the other.

 

[opendoor]

“Dance what you feel” is an approach for beginners... can lead to confusion.

I think it's a mentality thing. I danced intuitively as a beginner and still do it now at the end. When I dance, I turn off the rational part of my brain. I know all the rhythms, can analyze the arreglo and compare it with other recordings from the time. I can often address the first violinist and bandoneonista by their first name. But everything fades away on the dance floor.

 

[WhiskeyPapa]

But one can switch, as the music emphasizes one element or the other.

Absolutely! That is true musicality. But you have to distinguish between the underlying rhythmic pattern and the melodic line(s) and not blend the two into a chaotic mash of frantic steps. It is easier and safer to start with the underlying rhythm and dance to that.

 

[WhiskeyPapa]

I think it's a mentality thing. I danced intuitively as a beginner and still do it now at the end. When I dance, I turn off the rational part of my brain. I know all the rhythms, can analyze the arreglo and compare it with other recordings from the time. I can often address the first violinist and bandoneonista by their first name. But everything fades away on the dance floor.

But you got there by making the distinctions. Of course, it’s great for your musicality to be so ingrained that you don’t have to think about it. I need another 5-10 years to get there!

 

[opendoor]

..need another 5-10 years to get there!

Sorry, maybe never. There is no better or worse, more advanced or less. Diversity is our wealth on the dance floor. I'm a natural scientist, I did a lot of statistics and math for my Ph.D. But I've longed for the life of an artist all my life. Now, at the moment of retirement, I can perhaps compensate for my former life. It's just a shame that my knee osteoarthritis is putting a limit on my dancing career.

 

[TTanguero]

It is easier and safer to start with the underlying rhythm and dance to that.

I half agree. In the absolute beginner stage, yes. But I very quickly started dancing more to the melody than the beat, and actually found it's in a way easier as a beginner, because lyrical movements are often slow movements, so you have time to think about types of movement – whereas just relentlessly dancing to the beat gives you no time to think.

It was pretty much two years before I no longer had to think about types of movement, and could Just Move.

It may be a personal thing, because although tango music was new to me, singer-songwriter was my favourite genre, so I naturally listened most to the singer, and from there the violins.

 

[ArbeeNYC]

Absolutely! That is true musicality. But you have to distinguish between the underlying rhythmic pattern and the melodic line(s) and not blend the two into a chaotic mash of frantic steps. It is easier and safer to start with the underlying rhythm and dance to that.

Yes, I'd agree with that. Also, that switch is clearer in some orchestras than in others (in some it doesn't occur at all, in others frequently).

 

[ArbeeNYC]

whereas just relentlessly dancing to the beat gives you no time to think.

They're also much harder to differentiate clearly. 4/4 may be straightforward but the various syncopas are not, plus the strange rhythm changes you get with some music.

 

[Bailango]

Some people are more disposed to respond to the melody and some to the rhythm. This debate exists in other dances too. Ability to recognize a rhythm but naturally respond to the melody, or the opposite, is also dictated by a dancer’s natural inclination.

The dance works but gets interesting where one partner is inclined to dance to the rhythm and the other to the melody.

Blending your dancing to melody and rhythm works well for a lot of tango music.

 

[Rabbit]

Some people are more disposed to respond to the melody and some to the rhythm. This debate exists in other dances too. Ability to recognize a rhythm but naturally respond to the melody, or the opposite, is also dictated by a dancer’s natural inclination.

I frequently get complimented on rhythm. It isn't even my main focus musically, maybe it's the easiest for most people to perceive