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Understanding Dance Music

To understand how to dance to music, you should, at least, know the typical patterns of music.

From teaching in Nightclubs I have learned that the average dancer has no idea of the structure of a simple piece of music, much less how to find a good starting place for the dance that accompanies the song.

I don’t intend to go too deeply into this subject, but this still will be somewhat complicated, until you understand the concept and learn to recognize the patterns of the music.

Rhythm

Music is played in groups of notes called a Measure, and defined by the number of notes that occur within a measure of music.  This is usually expressed as 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 2/2, 6/8 and a few more that we will not concern ourselves with.  The first number tells you the number of one-beat notes in the measure and the 2nd number tells what kind of note takes one beat of music, to play (this is usually a Quarter Note, though this is actually unimportant for the Dancer’s purpose).  The only thing a Dancer needs to understand is that while a Quarter Note takes one beat of music, other notes may take two or even four beats.  A Half Note takes two beats of music so there may be only two notes per measure, and a Whole Note takes four beats of music and there will be only one note per measure.

These Prolonged notes may cause the dancer to misjudge the rhythm of the music.  That is why you should count on the percussion to tell you the beat of the song.  The Drums or sometimes the Bass will hold a steady rhythm that is easier and more accurate than the strings (guitars) or keyboards.

A Four/Four rhythm (4/4) is the most common and sounds like ONE – two – three – four with the emphasis on the first beat.  The ONE beat is struck harder that the Two indicating the Start of the measure.  Sometimes there is a little less emphasis on the THREE beat; less than the first but more than the second.  At the very worst the Dance will mistake this for a Two/Four Beat, but it shouldn’t affect the rhythm of the dance.

A Two/Four rhythm (2/4) is very similar in timing to the 4/4 rhythm, sounding like ONE–two, ONE–two.  This is a minor distinction for the dancer and the distinction between 4/4 and 2/4 is relatively unimportant.

Three/Four rhythms (3/4) consist of three beats of music per measure with a Quarter Note taking one beat of music.  This should sound like ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three.  If you are already somewhat knowledgeable of dance, you will quickly realize this is a Waltz.

Six/Eight rhythms (6/8) are very similar, with six beats per measure and an Eighth Note taking one beat of music.  This is sometimes used for a faster tempo Waltz, so for the Dancer’s purpose it is virtually indistinguishable from a ¾ rhythm.

For the purposes of this article, we will stick with the common 4/4 and 3/4 rhythms.  If the steps of the dance run in groups of four we will consider it a 4/4 rhythm song and if the steps run in groups of three, it will be a Waltz and use 3/4 rhythm.

 

Dance Rhythms

There is one more factor to consider in musical rhythms.  Some 4/4 music will also have Eighth or even Sixteenth Notes, giving a Lilt or Syncopated sound to the beat.  If a Quarter Note takes one beat of music, then an Eighth Note will take HALF a beat, and a Sixteenth Note will take one-quarter beat.  We’ll just stick with the simpler Eighth Note.

If the music sounds like the beat is One-and-two, Three-and-four it is using Eighth Notes to get a syncopated rhythm.  The notes are no longer evenly spaced.  They are quicker and slower.  (Dancer’s: think of a Shuffle Step.)  This sets the style of the rhythm and determines if the dance should be a Polka, a Swing, or even a Cha-Cha.

Polka:  If the beat is ONE-and-two, THREE-and-four, it is likely a Polka Rhythm.  The spacing between notes is more uniform, giving a steady, consistent rhythm, though there is a definite syncopation requiring the AND count.  [PLEASE!  Never count this as One-Two-Three, Four-Five-Six.  That implies a Waltz rhythm which is entirely different music.  This is still a 4/4 rhythm and requires the AND count, not adding an extra beat.]

Swing:  Swing music is very similar but with a small difference in the emphasis.  While it is still One-and-two, the emphasis is in a different place, giving it a different style.  With Swing, there is more of a lilt to the tune.  Lower emphasis is placed on the “One” count, but more on the “And-Two” giving it a “one-AND-TWO” sound, rather than the “ONE-and-two” sound of the Polka.

Cha-Cha:  is in another category.  First, there are two distinct Cha-Cha rhythms; Latin and American, depending on where the “Break” step falls.  Since you are reading this, you probably already know the basics of dance, and know the Cha-Cha follows a Rock, Step, Triple Step pattern.  Since many line dance choreographers do not understand this fine distinction they usually use the American rhythm where the “Break” falls on count Two, giving you the Rock, Step, Triple Step pattern, though they often reverse this using a “Triple-Step, Rock, Step”  pattern. 

In Latin Cha-Cha, the break step falls on count three as in One, Two, Three, Four-and-One, Two, Three, Four-and-. The American style Cha Cha is the more commonly known, being, One, Two, Three-and-four, with the break on Two. The break step means breaking the direction of travel. The second part of the Rock-Step" pattern, where you reverse your direction of movement.

Couples Dancers are more prone to make this distinction, taking a side step when beginning their dance to make the “Break” step fall on count Three, as in “One, Two, Three, Four-and-ONE” (The ONE count being the last movement of the Triple step pattern)  This is the “Latin Cha-Cha”.

Of course there are many more Rhythms we could discuss such as Rumba, Tango, Salsa, etc.  But this is enough for the dancer to begin understanding the different dance rhythms.

Phrasing

Music runs in Phrases or patterns.  Musicians will tell you that a song consists of

Verse (the lyrics)

Chorus (a repeated passage after each verse),

Tags (Short musical parts, usually at the end of a verse)

and Bridge (Instrumental passages between other parts of the song).

For the purpose of dance, these are grouped into Phrases.

Usually, the first verse sets the pattern for the Phrases.  Count the beats, beginning when the vocals start and ending when the verse ends (this may include a Tag).  Then start counting again for the Chorus.  There will usually be a slight but significant change in the melody after each Phrase.

You will end up with something like 32, 32, 32, 32, 32, 32, 32.  This is considered an evenly phrased song since all phrases are the same duration.  Some other songs may be 32, 16, 32, 16, 40, 32 which, of course is an unevenly phrased song.  For an evenly phrased song, practice counting Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Achy-Breaky Heart”.  This is an evenly phrased song with 32 beats per phrase.  Melanie Greenwood recognized this and choreographed her dance to have 32 steps, so each pattern of the dance ends at the same time as the phrase of the music.

The same applies to a Waltz.  A perfectly phrased Waltz will have multiple passages consisting of 48 beats of music, and a Dance for that song should have 48 Steps.  The best example I can think of is “Waltz Across Texas”, danced to Ernest Tubb’s song, “Waltz Across Texas”.

Often, Waltz’s have an added tag at the end of some verses adding an extra three beats to the Phrase.  This means that when the Tag finishes and the song goes back to its basic pattern, ONE is no longer the leading foot for the Dancers.  For Couples Dancers this is a problem.  Their footwork will be opposite, with the male leading on the Woman’s proper foot and vice-versa.  Depending on their level of skill, both may execute a foot change, so they are back on the proper footing, or they may continue off-phrase until another tag puts them back on their proper footing.

Phrasing is very important to the Choreographer.  It sets the proper number of steps for the dance, which is an important factor in whether or not the dance works well to the music that is selected.  A good choreographer should also understand the Dance rhythms and not choreograph a Cha-Cha type dance, to be performed to an even tempo'd 4/4 rhythm song. 

This can also be an aid in judging the knowledge of a dance instructor.  A good instructor will count the phrasing as well as the beat, beginning the dance with a “Five-Six-Seven-Eight”, in phrase with the music.  I have visited several dance classes where that count could come anywhere in the music, even with a Waltz.  I have even seen the instructor count down the start of the dance beginning on count two or three; Completely out of synch with the music.  This is not only a disservice to the students, teaching them to begin anywhere in the song, but it also discourages them from learning how to make a dance flow with the music.  Such instructors should take the time to understand the relationship of the dance to the song, training their students to become more well-rounded dancers and showing that dance is more than just a series of steps.

Musicians will say that Dancer’s method of counting is not accurate; That there is no “Five-Six-Seven-Eight” count in a 4/4 song.  Nor is there a “Four-Five-Six” count in a ¾ time song.  Musically, they are correct, but if you listen closely you will notice that the first four counts usually have a rising inflection and the second four counts have a descending inflection (three for a Waltz).  If you look at this from a a Couple’s Waltz perspective, it is necessary, to maintain the proper footwork.  On count “One” of a waltz, the male is taking a long step with his left foot and on count “Four” he is taking a long step with his Right foot.  For dance purposes, this helps maintain the proper footwork, where a steady “One-Two-Three, One-Two Three” will not.

Bud Cranford
18 May, 2008

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