WORKSHOP

Interpretation of Argentine Tango for Strings, Bandoneon and Piano

I- OBJECTIVE

The implementation of techniques and resources to achieve the training of strings,

bandoneon and piano musicians so they can enter the professional world of Argentine
Tango, for a proper and ductile interpretation, adapting to the various styles that make
up the identity of the genre.

At the time of enrollment in the course, the student will be given a booklet with all the
musical scores that are going to be studied and interpreted with the arrangements for the
orchestra and with their original recordings. In this way the students will attend the
course with a previous knowledge of the topics to be developed.

II- PROGRAM AND WORK PLAN

Tango is a popular music with old roots; its creation sources were improvized,
systematized in the repetition, codified from the popular taste and transmitted orally.
This stylistic and formal corpus can only be apprehended from an intuitive appreciation
and reproduction of what is heard and seen. For the approach of this rich tradition we
propose:

• The performance of teachers playing in class, confronting what is written with what is
modified or recreated.

• The audition of Phonographic Records of the great interpreters in the history of the
tango, pointing out the modifications and resources that they introduced.

Day 1
ANÍBAL TROILO Style
Theme to work " Danzarín " (“Dancer”)
Optional: " Melancólico (“Melancholic”)

Day 2
CARLOS DI SARLI Style/D’ARIENZO Style
Theme to work "A la gran Muñeca"
Optional: "Loca "

Day 3
MILONGA AND WALTZ Style
“Nocturna” (Milonga)
“Desde el alma "(Waltz style) (from the soul)
Day 4
OSVALDO PUGLIESE Style
Theme to work: " The Yumba "
Optional: "A Evaristo Carriego”

Day 5
PIAZZOLLA Style
Theme to work: "Adios Nonino"
Optional: "Libertango"

Day 6
Concert with all the themes that have been studied.

III- STYLISTIC RESOURCES

• The melodic role par excellence, with a range going from nostalgia and sadness to
heroism and playfulness, according to the proposal that each author or arranger makes
for his sound and identity.
• “El marcado” in different styles
• The percussive role, with the marking (Canyengue) and the percussion with
indeterminate sounds (Chicharra, drum, whip and knocks in the box).

I- MELODIA

a) Melodic-rhythmic aspects
1. Phrasing in time: with modification of the rhythmic values according to the different
styles: D 'Arienzo and the short semiquaver, Pugliese and the re-shaped form of the
quaver, Di Sarli and its elongated black and white, etc.
2. Rubato: Accelerating and retarding, the abandonment of the pulse as a vehement
resource of interpretation in Pugliese and Piazzolla.
3. Pause: The use of the pause in the notes that initiate the solos as well as in the
culminating points of the solo or the melody to be interpreted.

b) Singing Aspects
1. Portamento in the strings: the use of the glissando, both ascending and descending to
accompany the melody's turn, when it helps or enriches and when it is a pseudo
resource of dubious musical sense.
2. Double string: as a power resource to highlight an entry or as a resource of virtuosity
to capture the attention of the public.
3. Vibrato in the strings: notes that are attacked without vibrato to highlight them, notes
that are intensely vibrated to create a crying effect, speed changes in the vibrato. The
melody in the fourth string in Pugliese, La Vaca in D'Arienzo , gypsy vibrato in
Piazzolla and others.
4. Vibrato in the Bandoneón: The use of the free hand for the vibrato
5. Phrasing in the Bandoneón: Comparative study of the different attacks to enrich the
solos and to emphasize the important notes of the melody.

II- MARKING
1. Marking technique in Bandoneon and Piano
2. The marking with arc in 4 tempos and 2 tempos and the different kinds of
syncopation: simple, double, with trawls, etc.
3. The development of marking from an American Cipher
4. The marking on the strings as a complement to the marking of the Bandoneon and the
Piano.
5. The “soli” marking of the row of strings, rhythmic variations and cells to enrich it.
6. The “pizzicato” as a rhythmic percussive element.

III- PERCUSSION
1. Beats on the Bandoneon box
2. The "Strapatta” and the" Canyengue” on the Contrabass
3. La Chicharra, "to the ground" and "in offbeat". Fundamental rhythmic cells, their
improvisation and their writing. Their Technique.
4. The simple and double drum, with rattle. Its´ Technique.
5. The ascending and descending whip in Piazzolla
6. The whip with certain notes, as a means of prolongation of the melody.
7. Percussion beats to accompany the solos of other instruments. The folkloric beats and
the beats in 3 + 3 + 2

Other elements that may arise in class

IV- THE PERSONAL ARRANGEMENT

Tango is played many times without a musical score, and in many other occasions, the
modernity of the language can lead to improvisation in front of the public.
The stimulation to the student so as to self-produce his/her own arrangements will be
gradual and constant throughout the course.
• We must start with the exact melody as it was published or recorded for the first time
and then compare it with different later versions.
• From this game of differences we rescue the elements that were used to enrich, vary or
simply attach the identity mark of the arranger, composer or interpreter.

On the basis of the student's production, the analysis of the "added" or "substituted" will
be sought in class, generating new musical forms.

V - PLAY BY MEMORY AND "A LA PARRILLA"

It will be sought that gradually, the student learns by heart, the phrasing required to
retain the complete melody of the tangos studied.
On the basis of these fragments learned by heart, together with the understanding of the
harmony that sustains the accompaniment, the student will be encouraged to improvise
small rhythmic and melodic fragments, to the extent that their skill and imagination
allows it. For this, the teachers will first exemplify the entire learning process, which
"yeites or leitmotivs" are the best known, and which scales allow in each key the
improvised tunes.

VI- CLASS MODEL

Didactic strategy.
A series of objectives will be outlined, listing the results that the students must achieve.
It will be especially sought that the technical or musical difficulties that are introduced
to solve are not simultaneous in different areas.
Identical planning of steps and results will be done for stylistic achievements and self-
production of arrangements
What is relevant is, what is within the reach of the student's technique and
comprehension, and what implies a step beyond for the student to the present level in
his or her education.
On the technical solidity, the development of the interpretation of creative styles and
processes will be sought.

1. Group Practice: stimulating participation in the tango practice ensembles or in the for
the arrangement to be played, so that the sound of the violinist student joins the whole
total in a rhythmically and melodically consistency.
2. Training of small groups: with duos and trios that allow the production of music and
nuances together
3. Videos and Audios: An attempt will be made to take advantage of all the
technological advances of the 21st century, especially regarding the audition and view
of the greatest exponents of the genre. The recording of what is produced by the
students will also be stimulated, as aid so that the students objectify their progress and
their own production.

VII- OUR EXPERIENCE

The modification of the known and the introduction of the new is a process that requires
the active participation of the teacher and the student, in a feedback where the objective
and the real are displacing prejudices and fears.
The resistance to change, to take the new, must be defeated from the reduction of the
student's personal anxiety and stimulation to work. It will seek to develop the natural
conditions of each one: talent, dedication, perseverance, memory, intellect, strength.
Each student has the key to their own impulse, which is ultimately the force that will
lead to learning.
In playing together, in the game of imitating one to another, the deepest mechanisms of
emulation and learning come to light, which are vital in the development of the skill to
play an instrument. Music must be assimilated as a living fact and in permanent change.

Diego Lerendegui & Nicolás Enrich