HORACIO SALGÁN - TANGO COURSE

Book excerpt: Writing this Tango Course is both an obligation and a great pleasure for me. It is an obligation because I would like to contribute something (of all the things that I owe) in return as an appreciation of having been fortunate enough to educate myself in the Orchestras, where I learned to play Tango. The Orchestras were a crucible where the ideas of its members and/or other creative musicians experimented, played, and came together to create playing styles, rhythmic forms, etc. These contributions were what took the Tango, little by little, to such a high musical level. Nowadays, it is not at all easy to belong to an Orchestra, considering the fact that so few can subsist. This makes it more difficult for those who want to have careers in Tango music to acquire the vast knowledge necessary for playing and interpreting it. Let us not forget that the Orchestras have always been the best schools for such an apprenticeship. It is also a great pleasure to be able to transmit and share that what I have learned, trying always not to leave anything out (that is my real intention) by relying on my memory which fortunately still helps me. I never intended for my conclusions to be taken as the absolute truth, nor wanted to win something over anyone, in anything. This course just shows my position, and the ideas with which I have always worked. We will deal here with the Tango in versions which, in my understanding, are genuine manifestations of itself. I love the Tango because I love good music, and I got into it to learn to play it, not to change it. If my versions and arrangements have something different about them, it is only because this is my language, and I have expressed myself through it. I will also talk about the incorporation of new contributions and changes, as long as they are authentic within the genre. The many streams of opinion may or may not coincide with what will be said in this course. Considering the broadness of the theme and the flexibility which should govern artistic creation, other concepts may prove constructive as well. I sincerely hope that this course will be useful to someone, Horacio Salgán