10 minutes tango DJing guide

Becoming a good tango DJ takes time, energy and a lot of love for what you do. But your first steps don’t have to be that hard. In fact, it’s much simpler than many people think.

Now, there are many ways to begin, but in my experience these 5 steps are all you need to set yourself up for a great start. I’m not promising instant glory (though it’s not impossible); I’m just pointing out what you have to do to build a solid base.

In past few years I mentored and advised many people. Some have become rising star DJs, while others unfortunately gave up DJing and dancing for personal reasons. From these experiences, I can conclude that to become a good DJ you need two basic ingredients: passion and strategy. I can’t help you with the first one, but I can show you how to build your strategy and what to focus on first.

I see sharing my experience and knowledge as an investment in the quality of the global tango community – even though some of the people who benefit from it may (and some already do) become my competition.

🙂

So, you’ve decided to become a tango DJ. You have your own laptop – what’s your next move? Where do you go from there?

Let’s start!

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1. Consistency is everything

If you want to become a good DJ, you need to play music at least twice a month. The more, the better.

This is your beginning, and you need to talk to the organizer of your local milonga about joining their DJing team. If that’s not an option, consider organizing your own milonga – no matter how small, it’s a place where you’ll learn the basics.

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2. Building your collection

There are many ways to build your music library: from the most simple one – to download it from internet for free – to exchange music with friends and other DJs, buying collections online, or even traveling to Buenos Aires to buy it there.

This article is mainly for beginners, which is why I’m giving you a list of 15 orchestras every beginner must have. Be sure to choose music recorded between 1930 and 1950.

The reason is simple: music from this period and these orchestras is highly danceable, and you can’t go wrong using it.

Check out my article on danceability:

The principles of danceability

Now, here’s the list of must-have orchestras:

• Adolfo Carabelli
• Angel D’Agostino
• Anibal Troilo (with Francisco Fiorentino)
• Carlos Di Sarli (with Alberto Podesta, Ernesto Fama or Roberto Rufino)
• Edgardo Donato
• Enrique Rodriguez
• Francisco Canaro (with Ernesto Fama or Roberto Maida)
• Juan D’Arienzo (with Alberto Echague or Hector Maure)
• Miguel Calo (with Raul Beron or Raul Iriarte)
• Orquesta Tipica Victor
• Osvaldo Fresedo (with Ricardo Ruiz or Roberto Ray)
• Osvaldo Pugliese (with Roberto Chanel)
• Pedro Laurenz
• Ricardo Tanturi (with Enrique Campos)
• Rodolfo Biagi (with Jorge Ortiz)

Of course this is just the beginning – in time you’ll discover much more. My recommendation is to start your collection focusing on these orchestras with the mentioned singers.

Another important thing when you start is to have few key pieces of information:

• the track name
• the orchestra name
• the singer(s)
• the year of recording

Over the years I’ve seen many organizational systems. Some DJ’s are unorganized and play by instinct, while others are meticulously obsessed with having every detail about their music. I’ve even seen collections with info about where each track was purchised, and, when and where it was played.

I find both extremes unhelpful. My approach is to keep only the basic info and focus on other, more important things. Here’s how I do it: find the key info about the track and rename the file (or the tags) like this:

<orchestra> (<singer>) – <year> – <song>

For example, using this format for the song “Abandonada” the filename would look like this:

Francisco Canaro (Ernesto Fama) – 1939 – Abanadonada.mp3

You can, of course use a tagging system, which is what it exists for – but I started this way, and I ques it’s now a matter of habit. Many music players have in-build tag editors, but there are also many standalone editors out there – just make a quick search and you’ll find one that suits you.

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3. Tandas for beginners

Don’t try to collect every piece of music you can find. When you’re starting it’s enough to have just four songs from each orchestra listed above: 4 tangos, 3 milongas, or 3 valses.

Quantity doesn’t matter – focus on the quality of your choices.

I don’t mean the quality of the sound (although that also matters), but the quality of your selection. If you’re not sure what’s good choice pay attention which songs are well accepted by the dancers at your milongas, and also read a bit about orchestras on Todotango – the articles usually mention the most popular recordings.

You might also want to check my article:

Am I a good DJ?

I usually create a folder and copy the songs I plan to play together, naming it according to my impression – for example “D’Arienzo – Mandria”.

Each orchestra should have few of these pre-created tandas. Keep in mind that the best approach is to make sure all the songs in a tanda to have the same singer and were recorded around the same time.

For your first set, you’ll need no more than one tanda from each orchestra. One tanda lasts approximately 12 minutes. If you use 15 orchestras listed above that’s 15 tandas – already enough for a set of 3 hours, the usual time of a small local milonga.

When you’re starting, avoid experimenting with other orchestras. If you need more tandas, create additional ones using the same orchestras but with different singer combinations (or instrumentals).

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4. Killer cortinas

It might sound funny, but sometimes the cortinas can create a better atmosphere than the tango music itself. That’s why it’s important to choose energizing music that isn’t piano- or violin-based for your cortinas.

I recommend keeping consistency with the cortinas as well – don’t experiment with different genres of music at the same milonga.

Also, use pre-created cortinas. Make them around 1 minute each, and don’t forget to add some fade out at the end – since to dancers that the cortina is ending and they should find a partner. A good tool for creating cortinas is Audacity, a free, open source music editor thath’s simple and easy to use.

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5. Structure your milonga

The first step is to learn the basic structure of a tango DJ set. I assume you already know this, but just in case, here’s how you should order your tandas:

tango → tango → vals → tango → tango → milonga → tango → tango → vals →…

Tango tandas have 4 songs, milonga and vals tandas have 3 songs each. If your DJing set has 15 tandas, you’ll typically play around 10 tango tandas, 2 vals, and 1 milonga tanda (or vice versa).

Don’t forget to always announce the last tanda and finish the milonga with “La Cumparsita”!

Here are a few recommendations for milonga and vals tandas. Since they are specific, I suggest beginners stick to some of these combinations.

Valses:

• Alfredo De Angelis (with Carlos Dante and/or Julio Martel)
• Juan D’Arienzo
• Rodolfo Biagi

Milongas:

• Francisco Canaro (with Roberto Maida)
• Edgardo Donato
• Juan D’Arienzo

I know that many will want to add a lot to this quick guide – I’ve left out some important details to keep it short and clear. My intention is to motivate the beginners to take their first step, not to focus on how much more lays ahead.

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Becoming a tango DJ is a journey, and like any journey, it starts with small steps. Stay focused and intentional: build your collection carefully, create solid tandas, and learn how to read the vibe of the milongas.

Remember, this guide is just the beginning. Use it to get started – over time, your knowledge will grow, and your instinct will sharpen. As you gain confidence in your choices and reading the mood, you’ll becomea DJ who helps people have unforgettable time.