AN UNMISSABLE TANGO GESTURE: THE ‘DER-DUM’ ‘The ‘der-dum’ (for want of any more official term) is an invaluable musical idea to give any tango some authen- tic flavour. You can see one at the end of La Cumparsita, and a variant at the start of the chorus of Por Una Cabeza. It involves dominant and tonic notes in a distinctive rhythm, which might be e = der- dum! o = der - dum! or Sometimes a more extravagant ‘der-dum’ can be heard, which incorporates a chromatic run-up: E DSE RF FGGEA E A ‘The bass line for any ‘der-dum’ goes in contrary motion to the melody; the simple ones have dominant-tonic movement moving downwards, while the extended ‘der-dum’ moves down chromatically from an E to an A