Tango music has its roots in the mixture of European, African, Cuban 
and South American culture.
A precursor of Tango – Milonga, originated in the 18th century under the influences of Habanera, Polka and African rhythms. This music has survived up to the present days and it is played and danced to on the dance floors throughout our planet. It is characterized by 2/4 rhythm, where the first beat is mainly accentuated (i.e. the first, the fourth and the seventh of the sixteenth bar group).
At the end of the 18th century, there were so-called “Los Payadores“ in Argentina, on the fields of Pampas, who played the guitars and sang. The singing form was a “couplet“ and it was characterized by narrative singing in the first person singular. One of the first “Payadores“ who stepped out toward tango music was Ángel Villoldo (later he was a composer and lyricist of the legendary tango songs, such as “El Choclo“ and “La Morocha“). The original tango was of a lascivious and cheerful spirit and at that time music and dance represented promiscuity (e.g. tango “Don Juan“). It was later on that, by arriving of immigrants from Europe and Africa, nostalgia and melancholy took precedence in tango. It is believed that the first recorded tango song was “Mi noche trieste“ (1917), where the woes of a young man abandoned by his lover were lamented, instead of the common “macho“ lyrics used until then (“I am ..., I come from...“). Modern tango music is generally written in 2/4, 4/8 and 4/4 rhythm.
Besides “milonga“ and “tango“, there is also “tango vals“, characterized by 3/4 rhythm Nowadays, all three categories are thought to present tango music.