Music Exchanges & Jams - San Francisco Tango Exchange 2006

Welcome to the San Francisco Tango Exchange, June 22-25, 2006!

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Music Exchange / Jam / Rehearsal

Calling all tango Musicians and Vocalists: don’t forget to bring your instrument (and vocal cords) with you to SFTX! We will be having a Music Exchange, a Jam, a Rehearsal, and maybe even a mini-performance.

The Music

For the purposes of the Jam and Exchange, we will be working with the songs available for download at www.tangojam.com. We will put special emphasis on five of these songs for both the Exchange and the Rehearsal. They are:

El Flete
Malena
A La Gran Muneca
Siluenta Portena
Romance de Barrio

More information about some of the songs (piano music, lyrics, etc.) can be found at www.todotango.com. We encourage musicians and vocalists interested in the Jam/Exchange to get familiar with these songs beforehand, as it will make our time together more productive.

The Exchange

We envision the exchange as a forum for musicians to discuss musical ideas (tango phrasing, accompaniments, dynamics, etc.) in a format structured enough to facilitate the exchange of ideas, while remaining free enough to encourage spontaneity and discussion. Bring your instruments to the music exchange to demonstrate musical ideas!

The Jam and Rehearsal

At the Jam, we will be playing songs “a la parrilla”, as well as finding interesting ways of putting the music together, applying ideas from the exchange, and most of all, having fun!

At the Rehearsal, we will refine what we have worked on and prepare songs for a small performance at one of the Sunday milongas.

Musical Proficiency

We encourage all musicians (and curious onlookers) to come and check out the music exchange. Often novice musicians, or even non-musicians, have ideas that are fresh and new, and more experienced musicians can learn from them. However, we hope to avoid discussion of basic music theory that strays too far from the core tango discussion.

For the Jam/Rehearsal, reasonable site reading skills, ability to improvise accompaniment, or a great ear for music will be useful. In place of this, you are welcome to download the music and learn the songs to the best of your ability beforehand – in fact, we encourage musicians to do this!

Note: If you are not sure of your level, come and try it out. If it is too far over your head, you can bow out, observe, or only join in on parts you know. This will be a low pressure environment!