La Cumparsita (tango)

Gerardo Matos Rodríguez · Level 4 (Intermediate) · 20th century · Piano

A Uruguayan tango that became the anthem of the genre: a minor-key theme over the marked tango bass, with dramatic accents. The most famous of all tangos, written around 1916 in Montevideo by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez, then a student. G minor, 2/4, 63 bars (about 3 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• The left hand marks the beats, crisp and steady; the right hand plays the accents and contrasts, between staccato and legato. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. For chords, shape the hand in the air before landing, all notes together. Start hands separately in Wait mode, then put hands together at a slow tempo before speeding up gradually.

Source : PDMX / MuseScore · CC0 1.0