A tarantella is a fast energetic traditional folk dance in 6/8 time. It has a characteristic upbeat and is associated with strong emotions and passions in the many forms of the dance that exist. Some examples of the dance explore the supernatural and others magic and spirituality. Its origins are a dance for couples from Southern Italy with tambourines frequently used to accompany the dancers. This arrangement for viola and acoustic guitar has 4 strains of music ABCD with each strain repeated. The playback tempo is 110 dotted quarter note beats to the minute. There are many melodic variants and arrangements of this music. Chopin, Gottschalk, Britten and others have contributed music to tarantella style and form. Guitar accompaniments can also be downloaded to provide an ensemble experience. These are at tempi of (1) 110 quarter note (crotchet) beats to the minute (2) 100 quarter note (crotchet) beats to the minute and (3) 90 quarter note (crotchet) beats to the minute. Traditionally as a folk dance the Tarantella would speed up towards the end in some kind of musical and emotional frenzy but this aspect of the music has not been explored in the arrangement.
