How To Identify Dance Music – Part 2

In How to Identify Dance Music,  Part 1,  I covered some timing definitions and how to identify music for smooth dance styles.   Now I will finish this series with latin and swing styles.

Tango

Timing:  4/4 Time (usually)
Tempo:  approximately 120  beats per minute
Beat Representation:  tap tap tap tap drum-roll that leads into repeat pattern
count:  sometimes taught vocalizing the steps with the letters T, A, N, G, O

Tango music has a distinctive style and is probably one of the most easily identifiable.   It is most often defined by the staccato nature of steps and the unique instrument (bandoneon  similar to accordion) played.

The dance itself is dramatic and danced to a count of : slow slow quick quick slow.  Each slow is danced on one beat of music and each quick on half a beat.

I will note that the issue of timing in Tango music is not as cut and dried as most other dances and I am intentionally avoiding a discussion of Tango in 2/4 and 4/8 timing.  For the purposes of this article,  saying Tango is 4/4 time should be more than sufficient to enable you to identify the style.

Examples:

Hernando’s Hideaway by Tango Orchester Alfred Hause
Tango Del Amor by Carioca Band  (Listen to the drumroll)

Note:  This does not cover Argentine Tango as that would take an article of its own.   Don’t worry, it’s on the to do  list.

Cha Cha

Timing:  4/4 Time
Tempo:  approximately 112 to 128  beats per minute
Beat Representation: Boom, tic,  tic,  tic
count:  1,2,3,4 & 1,2,3,4

Cha Cha music has its own distinctive sound that can be identified by distinct percussion instruments giving it a unique staccato sound but has the same tempo as Hustle, West Coast Swing.  As a result, it is not uncommon to see people dancing swing or hustle to some Cha Cha music.   five steps are taken to four beats of music with the break step on the 2 beat and is danced slow, slow, slow, quick, quick.   The emphasis is on the 1 beat.

Examples:
Tea for Two by Warren Covington And The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
A Bailar Calypso by Elli Medeiros
Pata Pata by Thalia

Swing/Jive

Timing:  4/4 Time
Tempo:  East Coast Swing:  approximately 140 bpm,  Jive :  180 bpm
Beat Representation: Boom, tic,  Boom,  tic
count:  1,2,3,4 & 1,2,3,4

Swing and Jive have an exciting up beat feel, usually danced to swing style jump blues music.  East Coast Swing can be danced to a variety of contemporary music styles.

East Coast Swing is counted quick, quick slow(triple step), quick quick slow(triple step), slow slow(rock step)

ECS
All Shook Up by Elvis Presley
In The Mood by Glenn Miller Orchestra

Jive
Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant
Roll Over Beethoven by Chuck Berry

West Coast Swing

Timing:  4/4 Time
Tempo:  ranges from approximately 100 – 135 bpm
Beat Representation: Boom, tic,  Boom,  tic  (Swing Count is:  Boom, ta tic, Boom, ta tic)
count:  1,2,3,4, 1,2,3,4

Although traditionally dance to slower bluesy Swing style,   West Coast Swing (WCS) can be danced to a wide variety of music including many contemporary songs with the right tempo and 4/4 timing.

Traditional WCS music has a “Swing” Beat that is identifiable by the slight delay in the half note  before the even note.  If you listen to the percussion in the following songs, you will not hear the basic 1,2,3,4 or boom, tic, boom tic.  What you will actually hear is more closely represented as boom, ta tic, boom, ta tic.  Boom is the down or odd beat, ta is a half note that is played closer to the two (Musically, it’s called a swung Eighth)  and tic is the two and so on. Another way to represent this might be 1, ta 2, 3, ta 4.

So on each even beat you hear two percussion beats pressed together.  the half note before the 2 beat and the 4 beat is played not in the half timing but somewhere close to 1/3.   This give it the rolling ta da sound that is the distinctive swing beat.  You will hear this same beat in many East Coast Swing songs as well, only at faster tempo.

Listen to the rolling swing beat in Honey Drippin Baby by Johnny Nicholas.
Now listen to Family Affair by Mary J. Blige. A good WCS but no rolling swing beat.

The basic Push Break (used to be called Sugar Push) consists of eight steps in six beats of music  counted 1(walk),2(walk), 3&4,5&6 or slow slow, quick quick slow(triple step), quick quick slow(triple step).

Note: This is not intended to be an actual description of technique for WCS, but merely a timing representation.   I am intentionally leaving out discussions of Anchor steps, coaster steps, etc and only referencing the actual timing.    Read more about Anchor VS Coaster here .

Other Examples
I’m the Only One by Melissa Etheridge
No More Doggin by Colin James

Contemporary
All Summer Long by Kid Rock
Buttons by The Pussycat Dolls

Mambo/ Salsa

Timing:  4/4 Time
Tempo:  Approximately 200 beats per minute
Beat Representation: Boom, tic,  Boom,  tic (Clave Bell usually on the one and three)
count:  1,2,3,4 & 1,2,3,4

Mambo and Salsa music are very similar and are often interchanged.  Mambo is danced to upbeat latin music, usually filled with horns and Clave bells and the first beat is accented.

The primary difference between the two is when the break step occurs.  In Mambo, the break step is on the two beat.  In Salsa, the break step is on the one beat.
Mambo and Salsa both follow a step pattern of :  step step step pause repeat and to a step timing of  quick quick quick slow or hold

Examples:
Papa Loves Mambo by Perry Como
Mambo Number 5 by Lou Bega

Rumba

Timing:  4/4 Time
Tempo:  Approximately 130 bpm, International: 106 bpm
Beat Representation: boom tic tic tic
count:  1,2,3,4 & 1,2,3,4

Traditionally danced to rhythmic latin music which include some distinctive percussion instruments.  Rumba is a very slow, serious, romantic dance with flirtation between the partners.   Rumba is danced three steps within four beats of music as quick quick slow or slow quick quick for international style.  Accent is one the 1 beat.

Rumba is often said to be a good nightclub dance as it can fit into many 4/4 time songs.

Examples:

Frenesi by Oscar De Leon
Quando Quando Quando by Michael Buble

Samba

Timing:  4/4 Time
Tempo:  Approximately 105 to 130 bpm
Beat Representation:boom tada da
count:  1,2,3,4 & 1,2,3,4 (One eh two, two eh two)

Samba is a  complex and distinctive dance from Brazil.  Although, the music is only around 100 beats per minute,  dancing three steps in two beats of music makes the dance feel much faster.

The straight 1,2,3,4 time of the music has similarities to hustle.  Even though the emphasis is on the 1 beat, Samba music gets an added emphasis between the 1 and 2 beat as well as between the 3 and 4 beat.   This emphasis is usually a percussion and played closer to the second of the two beats so it has a rolling feel.

Unlike other dances where you have a slow quick quick count and the quick steps are evenly divided between the single beat,  Samba compresses the middle step closer to the second beat resulting in something closer to slow, eh, quick.   To further explain, the foot is placed on the 1 beat, the second step is placed around three quarters of the the 2 beat then the third step on the 2 beat.

Examples:

Oyeme by Enrique Iglasias
Aint it Funnyby Jennifer Lopez

I have covered the majority of the popular dance styles and there are so many more, but to be completely honest I’ve simply run out of steam.

Tagged as: Ballroom Dance Music, Dance by music styles