Milonga Rhythm Trainer

A free, browser-based rhythm trainer for milonga: practise dancing a tiempo, the double beat, the habanera and traspié. Two compases of two beats, counted 1 y 2 y, with a dot for the sixteenths in between. Dark bars sound; tap any bar to switch it on or off. The tall bar is beat 1, the medium bar beat 2, short bars everything between.

Tempo 100 BPM

Exercise

Hear the pulse

Match a Golden Age orchestra:

Sound only starts when you press Start. Nothing plays before that.

Take it further

Come practise with us

You just drilled it. Now bring it to the floor: real music, real partners, no partner needed to join.

See Practica times

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Rhythm vocabulary

Compás: The measure. Milonga is in 2/4: two beats, the first stronger. This grid is two compases long, with four slots to each beat.
Milonga lisa A tiempo: Smooth milonga: stepping on the beat without doubling, on beat 1 only or on both beats.
Contratiempo Double beat: Stepping on the half beats as well: 1, y, 2, y.
Habanera: The dotted rhythm underneath milonga: two accented beats with a short note squeezed in just before the second.
Traspié: Quick extra steps inside the beat: quick-quick-slow, two steps for one, or a syncopated shift.