Enrique Rodriguez and the Missing Bing

(Warning: my music education is pretty much nada, so please forgive my usage of such technical terms as, well, "bing", for instance.)

Enrique Rodriguez
King of the Missing Bing

Melina and Detlef dancing to "Llorar por una mujer"

Scenario - You and your partner are dancing to the lovely "Llorar por una mujer" and you can hear the smooth phrasing build to the traditional end and listen for the end "bing" that signals "this is the end of the song" so you can end your dance smoothly on the beat. Except the bing doesn't come. The song just ends.....

No "bing". Sort of like hearing someone sing "Happy Birthday" except at the end, the last line just goes, "Happy birthday to."

Welcome to the tangos of Enrique Rodriguez, King of the Missing Bing.

Rodriguez gets quite a bit of play at milongas, locally anyway, and his pieces have a nice balance between strong rhythm and silky melody that make dancers pretty happy. (Except for the endings.) I should clarify that not all of this tangos drop the last bing, and neither do his vals or milonga selections.

It's also not just a scholarly interest at work here - I want to dance well to Rodriguez and, because of this particular characteristic, his tandas are a little easier to pick out now. I may not get the first song, but once I hear the ending - I'll have an idea of what I'm in for in the next 2-3 songs.

So I listened to his arrangements and watched dancers on Youtube to see how they cope with the missing "bing" - some dancers are ready, some are caught midstep (like I almost always am). However, if you get familiar with the sound of Enrique Rodriguez' arrangements it can really help interpretation of the music on the dance floor.

Once I was familiar with a few selections, I gave "Danza Maligna" a listen. It not only incorporates Rodriguez's signature missing beat at the end, but uses breaks and pauses much the way Biagi does in a few of his tangos. Very exciting stuff!

Danza Maligna
Music by: Fernando Randle
Lyrics by: Claudio Frollo

Lyrics (Castellano) can be found HERE.

Further Reading:

Todotango's page on Enrique Rodriguez .

Check out ArgentineTango.com's section on Basic Metric and Rhythmic Patterns in the Argentine Tango & Dancing the Phrases.

TejasTango's Article on Learning to Dance Argentine Tango Improvisationally.

Tango and Chaos's Dancers' Guide to Finding the Music

Summaries of the styles of various orquestras at Total Tango.

Several playlists and compilations at Mandragora Tango - including a list of restored Enrique Rodriguez selections.

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