We know that it’s a four count. Sometimes we can count it in 8’s, but *really* it’s in 4’s. So, it starts on 1 and ends on 3 for the strong ending. I hear it as starting on 2 ending on 4 with a silent one.

1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-

1-2-3-4-1-2-3

But what *is* a compás of Tangos? Is it one count of 4, two counts of 4, two counts of 8???? I remember being at a workshop with Concha Jareño and she asked the musicians what they thought. All had different answers!!! However, I will say this, I think of one compás as two counts of 4, but a whole measure as 4 counts of 4. Listen to the music enough and you’ll hear it, plus a bunch of variables!!

When danced in tablao, generally, a Tangos dance will be danced one dancer at a time and have the simple format of letra, escobilla, estribillo for each one.

So, an entire Tangos set with multiple dancers might like look like this:

• Falseta (guitar solo)
• Entrada (ay, ay, ay)
• Singer sings a few letras
• Dancer goes out and does llamada and dances a letra, maybe a falseta and maybe short escobilla
• Dancer leaves with estribillo (ending chorus)
• Next dancer, etc
• Perhaps the guitarist plays a falseta in between
• Last dancer calls other dancer to join for the final, which is usually a subida that ends in a llamada on stage.

What I’ve described is what is typical in an American tablao so there are variations- more falsetas, no escobillas, etc.