Argentine Tango, As Digested by a Classical Musician

Everything I learned about Argentine Tango - beyond Piazzolla - presented through the lens of a classical pianist/composer.

There is so much more to this genre than I had previously understood and assumed. The grounded rhythm, emotional contrast, and lyrical elements of Tango allured me into this study, and I did a deep-dive into the culture culture surrounding this music with the help of some Tango experts from Buenos Aires and around the world. As a tribute to this experience, I write my own tango - a piece for solo piano that blends elements of Tango with my own compositional voice.

00:00 Deep dive into TANGO!!
00:42 History of Argentine Tango
01:35 Social Culture and Dance
02:59 The Rhythm of Tango
04:05 Chords and Improvisation?
04:45 Rhythmic vs Expressive Melodies
05:10 The Harmony of Tango
05:49 Orquesta Típica vs Guitar Ensembles
06:38 The Bandoneon
07:31 Astor Piazzolla
08:43 Writing My Original Tango
09:43 Articulations & Expression
10:25 The Tempo of Tango
11:11 Tango Meets Beethoven
12:18 Finding the Right Pace
12:57 Performance of "First Tango"
15:54 Outro

Pablo Estigarribia, piano
Teaching online lessons and books available
Instagram @pabloestigarribiaok

Sebastián Henríquez, guitar
Books and courses available
Instagram @sebhenriquez

Adolfo Trepiana, bandoneon

Inés Muzzopappa, dance
Instagram & FB: @inesmuzzopappa

Eleanor Durrant, dance
Instagram: @spikylellie

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As always, thank you so much for watching, and thank you to all of you that leave comments.

#tango #piano #argentina

[andrewhuang]

Your videos just keep getting better!!

[nachocast]

As an Argentinian interested in tango music, it makes me very happy to see such an informed and respectful video essay on a genre that's key to our heritage. Thank you very much, Nahre, for all your passionate work and dedication :)

[UnthawedGuitarist]

Nahre Sol is my favourite musician on youtube, there's something compelling about her approach to deconstruction of genres, the insight and respect; the creativity and peaceful vibe of the videos. Truly nice.

[hello_leandro]

The First Tango sounds like a tango for a Ghibli's anime. Half Piazzolla, half Hisaishi. Love it!

[CalebSmedra]

I'm a simple pianist. I see Nahre Sol, I click.

[MatiasLunaMusica]

Nahre, argentinian composer here. Amazing composition, it sounds like tango, but also really personal. But also i want to point out, your spanish sounds great also! That shows how much respect and effort you put when approaching other cultures

[tacitozetticci]

There's no way Nahre Sol
isn't going to become (and stay) a great name among contemporary composers like Morricone. Keep immersing yourself into new genres, this is always so interesting!

[jazzfan]

This is a great little introduction to tango music. As someone who has danced tango (as a total amateur) for about 12 years, and has DJed a couple hundred milongas (milonga is the word for a tango party, as well as the word for a lively subgenre of tango music), I'm going to add a few comments. Your description of the collision of rhythms from different cultures in tango music is excellent. I would offer a simpler description: tango music is what you get when you mix simple folk music forms with the emotionalism of Italian opera (tango was especially popular among the Italian immigrants in Argentina, and most of the key musical figures are of Italian descent, thus names like Di Sarli, Troilo, Canaro, Lomuto, etc.). Piazzolla -- from the dancers' perspective -- is in a different category. He saw that the emotionalism in tango could be allied to more complex forms and made into "serious" music for the stage rather than the dance hall. You will not find Piazzolla's music played at most tango social dance functions, though it is often used by stage performers (all of whose dancing is pre-choreographed, in contrast to social dancers who are, of course, making it up as they go along) because of its sophistication (and beauty, of course). The tango composer whose music is, arguably, most like Piazzolla's but who is still in the repertoire for social dancers, is Pugliese. By the way, I really enjoyed your solo piano piece. It is in the style of Piazzolla, I would say, but takes Piazzolla into new territory. Love it. I hope you do an entire album (do albums still exist?) of tango pieces. I would happily buy and listen. Thanks for the great video. 🤓

[joaquinwittenstein]

the argentinians are soo cool, they have an amazing culture and the best food in the world!! they are so humble too, they are simply the best, grettings from argentina

[Syroos]

The beginning of your "First Tango" reminds me of Piazolla's Oblivion.
Very nice.

[lawofseven]

Lots of love from Brazil to you, Nahre, and to my argentino hermanos! Great work!! ❤🙏

[DannyPlass]

Here I find myself staring out of the window in Buenos Aires listening to your piece. I really loved this video. Thanks!

[tetsi]

"$X, As Digested by a Classical Musician" is truly one of my favorite series on youtube.

[travisspringer]

I’m freaking out about this video right now! I’m apart of what is believed to be the only high school tango orchestra in the US. We have 2 directors, one plays the bandoneon and the other plays violin. They have both traveled to Argentina and were able to see Julian Peralta and his group Astillero live. We play anywhere from the golden age of tango to modern. My instructors have also flown out a bandoneon player and a dance instructor for a week (his name is Ben Bogart, look him up on youtube!). Bogart was able to teach our group so much about Tango and even taught us how to dance a Tango. Tango is one of the most underrated genres of music and I hope more people discover it over time!

[russellrivero]

Thank you so much Nahre! My family is from Buenos Aires and we own an Argentine restaurant here in America. So I’m listening to Tango aaall day! This video was so educational and helped me appreciate my heritage even more. You inspire me!

[truecuckoo]

Very interesting little peek into Tango. Thank you so much 🙏🏼 I love those accented energetic quarter note things. It’s so unmistakably Tango! I felt like your piece was very film score-ish, mixing dreamy dance sequences with drama sequences, and eventually a non disclosing longing of an ending.

[MattMusicianX]

I love your "As Digested by a Classical Musician" videos Nahre!!!!

[subjectline]

So happy with how this came out, it was an honour to take part in your research ❤❤❤

[mumbledg]

I'm an Argentinian and a tango fan. When I saw the video thumb I was curious about your approach to tango, afraid if it wouldn't end up being too superficial, uninformed or touristy. Not at all, you went very deep, super well researched and the guests are great, congratulations! Liked your First Tango too! it would be cool to hear an arrangement performed by an orquesta típica or perhaps some smaller group.

[pianoforteyt]

Nahres videos never fail to amaze me! They are always so creative! 😁