When should the dancer start leading their partner on their six or eight count footwork once the swing music starts? The answer is that he should start leading her on any of the downbeats of the song; that is, on the count of “1”, the count of “3”, the count of “5” or the count of “7”. These “basic rhythms” are the backbone or pulse of a song! You don’t have to be a trained musician to understand the tempo (or timing) of a song, just listen to music and choose the rhythm section (drums, bass, guitar, or piano).
To take the pulse of the song and determine its number of beats per minute (BPM), count these downbeats for fifteen seconds, then multiply by four. Very slow swing songs are around 70 BPM and very fast swing songs are over 200 BPM. The swing songs that I personally enjoy dancing to the most average around 125 BPM, which coincidentally is close to my optimal cardio training heart rate when working out. Note that these downbeats differ from downbeats that occur on the “2” count, “4” count, “6” count, or “8” count. In the St. Louis Imperial East Coast Swing style, we start by stepping on any of the downbeats of the music; however, this is not true for all dance styles. In the Cha-Cha, for example, the dancers begin to walk following any of the rhythms of the music.
Beats per minute became common terminology in popular music during the disco era due to its usefulness to DJs; and it remains important in dance music today because both our dance style and the rhythms of our footwork are determined by the tempo of the music. The original or classic style of Imperial Swing, which is danced “in the round”, is performed to music with a faster tempo (130-185 BPM) using mainly the slower rhythms of single steps and double steps. The current contemporary style of Imperial Swing, which is danced within a space, is a combination of East Coast Swing (135-175 BPM) and West Coast Swing (75-115 BPM). Dancers perform this popular “slot-bop” hybrid with music at a slower tempo (100-135 BPM) and primarily use the faster triple-step rhythms. Remember, the terms are musical timing (or tempo) and footwork rhythms (or steps), but not vice versa!
The “time signatures” of different musical styles tell dancers how many beats are in a measure and which note that beat represents. Swing music uses 4/4 time; that is, there are 4 beats per measure (4/4) and the quarter note receives the beat (4/4). For example, on count 1 and 2 of your six count triple step footwork, the “1” is an eighth note (or a half beat) and the “and of 1” is an eighth note (or a half beat). . defeat). Together they add up to a quarter note or 1 beat; and count “2” is a quarter note or 1 beat. In the count of 3 and 4, the “3” is an eighth note (or half beat), and the “y of 3” is an eighth note (or half beat). Together they add up to a quarter note or 1 beat; and the count of “4” is a quarter note or 1 beat. These 2 beats bring the cumulative total up to 4 beats or one measure.
Finally, on breakstep 5 – 6, the count of “5” is a quarter note (or 1 beat) and the count of “6” is a quarter note (or 1 beat). These last two 2 counts bring the total to six beats or one and a half bars. To summarize this step count, the dancers take eight steps over six beats of the music. Beats 1 and 3 are the downbeats (or base beats) and beats 2 and 4 are the downbeats. In East Coast Swing the accents* are on the 1st and 3rd beat (counts); however, in West Coast Swing the accents are on the second and fourth beats. Good dancers let the music tell them what to do with their feet. If they start their footwork on any of the downbeats in the song and then finish it on the sixth (or eighth) beat, then they are dancing to the music and finishing their steps when they are supposed to. As Skippy Blair, renowned swing dance teacher, author and recipient of the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame, tells her students, “Please don’t tell me how long to hold the beat; just tell me how long the count is.” , so I can place my feet!
*Note: Skippy Blair’s: “Elements of Music and Timing” defines an accent as a steady sound or movement on a particular note or count.