 Both the vocal melody and the accompaniment are in C major, but Ginastera "adds dissonance and dislocates tones horizontally to lend a polytonal aura to the background, [and] in the instrumental interludes between vocal stanzas, there is a frank espousal of bitonality, similar to sections of the earlier "Danzas Argentinas"" (Wallace, 86).As with "Chacarera," the words of "Gato," though not entirely nonsensical, are more significant for their rhythm than for their meaning.With the vocal part and the right hand of the "rudo" accompaniment in and the left hand in a relentlessly driving , "Gato" (as with some passages of "Chacarera") acquires the virile "machismo" of the "malambo"’s thrusting hemiolas.