clicker tango

A Clicker is a toy that makes a noise, "click, click."


What's it good for?

Well, a clicker is an Event Marker. It produces an audible signal to mark the instant something happens.

I have a background in sports, where we used verbal cues as event markers for good technique, but clickers are far more precise. It takes a much shorter time to send as well as process a mechanical noise than it does to interpret a verbal signal.

I used clickers in the late 90's to train dogs as well as oxen.



I've used clickers in tango practicas and classes since 2005.

Clickers can be used in tango in at least 3 different ways:

Technique/Proprioception

The teacher can be the "clicker" while the student is the "clickee."
When the student executes the Exact technique that you wish them to execute, you "click" them, thereby signaling precisely what you want them to accomplish. In this manner, they can experience multiple execution strategies and find the one that works for Them- all without, "hmm, a little more to the left, now right," etc. Students may also click each other, which has the benefit of the "clickers" becoming fluent with the visual criteria.

Aliaception (leader example)

In this case we work in groups of 3. The couple embraces while the "clicker" stands out of line of sight of the woman. The man leads a leg extension and the "clicker" signals when the woman's foot is precisely where the man was supposed to lead it. This way, the man learns exactly what the woman feels like when she is doing this movement, in addition to gaining exactitude in his lead.

Improvisation (the Cross example)

Groups of 3. The couple embraces while the "clicker" stands outside the woman's line of sight. The "clicker" signals what they would like the man to lead, to cross, or to not cross. If the woman executes what the man was supposed to lead, they get a "click." This way, the man must be fluent in his lead, no taking 20 steps to get into perfect position, and the woman gains clarity of what the man intended her to do, without the man being able to fake it.



I appreciate your thoughts and feedback, if you prefer to do so privately and anonymously just click here.

Equipment Suppliers

Clickers: Pet or Party supply stores

Clicker Usage in Animals: google "clicker training"
Clicker Usage in Athletes: TAG Teach International
Book I started my clicker journey with: Don't Shoot the Dog!

Music in your Head

Here's another project I've been working on ...

Teachers, have you ever had difficulty getting a student to recognize what element in the music you would like them to dance to ? You know, like a gancho to a double time, or a contra boleo to a syncopa ?

The catch being, not in being clear in your description, but in having the student hear what you hear, and learn to wait for it.

Well, I've had that problem plenty, and I've been trying to come up with a solution.

First I tried- Play the song, then repeat just a snippet so students can identify the musical element, so everybody can be on the same page.

But then we had the problem of them knowing where in the song those musical accents occurred. Yes of course, I could just tell them, well, you've got to listen to the music a lot, and know the songs (which I do espouse), but I was looking to be more helpful than that ....

Solution: Work the song with a music editor, highlighting certain portions of it with amplification or by inserting cues that foreshadow the accent.

For example:

Cues inserted as drum for double time, clave for syncopa, foreshadowing musical elements by 2.5 seconds

Then I came across the problem of folks inadvertently becoming accustomed to ignoring the music while learning a new movement.

Solution: Don't play music when you're solely working on a move.

Well, neither of those solutions were satisfactory. If I play music for the whole class with cues in it, the ladies can trend to back leading when they hear a cue. In other cases, if I don't play music while we're learning a new move, it dulls the mood.

So, here's what I came up with:

You'll notice no music in the background, and Yes, this is a musicality class.

Take a close look, most folks have headphones on.

Here's the catch, they're listening to one of two different frequencies, being broadcast in the room, simultaneously, with one frequency playing the song in its original form, and the other frequency playing the song with cues added, both songs perfectly synced.

This way, if you have the headphones off, we know you're working on technique, and can come around and help you with that. If you've got the headphones on, you're working on applying the movement Musically, and we can listen to the song ourselves with our own radios and help you match your dancing to the music. Oh, and nobody but you knows what frequency you're listening to, so there's far less incentive to back lead.

Problems solved.

Ok, not really, still a work in progress, always a work in progress, but at least now I'm not conditioning my folks to ignore the music, Plus I had one of the most gratifying experiences of working on musicality in a group setting.

We were working on doing contra boleos to syncopas, a quarter of the song played, and Nobody tried to lead a boleo !

It was Awesome, they were so into having their movement fit the music, this was their first time with this song, they weren't comfortable enough with the music yet, so everybody just listened, and bid their time till they could predict the syncopa and only then try to lead the contra boleo to the music !!

I appreciate your thoughts and feedback, if you prefer to do so privately and anonymously just click here.

Equipment Suppliers

Music Editor: Adobe Audition

FM Radio Transmitters: Ramsey Electronics
Portable FM Radios: Coby CX-96 Radio with Arm Band