When creating a dance how do you count the beats?

Question

When creating a dance how do you count the beats?

Answer 1

well you count by 8 beats. Keep saying over and over in your head 5,6,7,8   ,1,2,3,4 .

Answer 2

Simple. Listen to the music and count what you hear. Sorry there's not more but it really is as simple as that. If you can't hear it then you are in trouble.

Answer 3

I'm not going to get all technical because it can get a little confusing and to be honest it doesn't really matter.. These a re the basic counts:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

1, 2, 3, 4

1, 2, 3

and now this gets a little confusing. The ones with the * are on the accent.

3/4 (Waltz): *1* 2 3

4/4 (Foxtrot): *1* 2 3 4

Cha Cha: 1 *2* 3 & *4*

2/4 Tango: *1* & *2* &

4/4 Tango: 1 *2* & *3* 4

Usually you don't really need those, just stick to the basic ones that I mentioned above.

And how do you figure out what timing it is? Most of the time its just straight 8's. Which also fits into 4/4 (1 2 3 4). But if for some reason that doesn't fit right then go into 3/4 (1 2 3).

Oh yeah and some choreographers (and sometimes conductors) do this really strange and confusing thing where they count: 1 2 3 4,  2 2 3 4,  3 2 3 4,  4 2 3 4,  5 2 3 4 etc etc. Thats just so you know how groups of counts you've done.

I hope this helps :)

Answer 4

count the beats in 8's

Answer 5

listen to the music and you will hear it

some songs are harder and that is when you just go with the music not with  the beat. sometimes you have to let your body take over and count it for you.

i usually start with 5 6 7 8

then

12345678 22345678 32345678 42345678

etc

Answer 6

It's not always 1-8 it depends on the music... if it's a walz then it's counted in 3's some music is counted in 5's some in 6's but you can usually count that in 3's as well...most music is counted in 8's but you need to see if it sounds like it fits...

to count you should start by clapping to the beat that will help you get a feel of how fast th emusic is and if an 8 count will fit

Answer 7

they are divided into 8 beats. ex: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.

generally people start off with 5,6,7,8 and the on 1 they start dancing. i dont quite understand your question so if you could give a little more information i could probably help more.

if you mean how do you know how fast to count, you play it by ear. most of the time you can hear the beat. but dont get off the music, or you can really tell. for instance dont be going 1..2..3.4.56...7.8. keep it steady. also if the song is fast, dance fast.

Answer 8

in ball room its 1-2-3-1-2-3... in ballet, jazz,modern,tap,basically anything its 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8   2-2-3-4-5-6-7-8   3-2-3-4-5-6-7-8    4-2-3-4-5-6-7-8   5-2-3-4-5-6-7-8   and so on...

Answer 9

you count by 8 beats...

one two three four five six seven eight

two two three four five six seven eight

three two three four five six seven eight

four two three four five six seven eight

five two three four five six seven eight

six two three four five six seven eight

seven two three four five six seven eight

eight two three four five six seven eight

x

Answer 10

Hi mic-mic,

Counting the song or piece depends wholly on the structure of the piece, namely in what key signature it is.  If you're not musical, let me give you a brief lesson on music.

A time signature is set up in the format of one number over another, like a fraction without the line:

4      or       3

4                 4

The number on the top indicates how many beats there are per measure.  A measure is a grouping of beats.  You can usually feel in the music where a new measure begins.  For example, in a waltz, which is in 3/4 time, you will hear the instructor counting, "ONE two three, ONE two three, ONE two three," etc.

The bottom number stands for what type of notes (quarter, half, eighth, etc.) get one beat.  However, this is not important when counting music, only when writing and playing.  The thing you need to remember and be able to discern is the top number, or how many beats per measure.

As the other answerers mentioned, music in the dance world is usually counted in 8/8 time.  8/8 time is equivalent to 4/4 time, it's just twice as fast.  Many dancers, teachers, instructors, students, whatever, prefer to call that double time.  So it's the same amount of beats, you're just counting twice as fast.  This is a bit unclear, so let me show you.

The following "chart" represents one measure, or one full grouping of beats.  Above is 4/4 time, and below is 8/8 time.

1                    2                    3                    4

1         2         3        4          5         6        7       8

You're just counting eight counts for every measure rather than two, so you're counting twice as fast.  The music doesn't change.

Going back to the topic, most songs or pieces in 4/4 or 8/8 time are counted in groups of eight.  That's why you'll hear when a teacher is demonstrating a combination or you're learning choreography, they'll always count "one two three four five six seven eight, one two three four five...", and so on.

You need to determine what time signature your piece is in first.  To do that, you need to listen to the music and try counting in eights, fours, threes, twos, and see what feels right.  If you find that one of those sounds best and matches the music, that's probably what it is.

Good luck and hope this helped.  You can always feel free to contact me with further questions.  Keep dancing!♥

Answer 11

use the 8 beats , or 1234

Answer 12

It depends on the time signature of the music, to try to keep it simple basically some are going to be 3 beats to a bar and others 4 (there are variations on this but without getting bogged down in music theory, thats basically it).

Find the first beat of a bar (an emphasised or strong beat in most musical styles), then count how many beats there are till the next strong beat, that will give you the number of beats in a bar (usually divisible by 3 or 4).

After that just count in whatever you have decided the beats in the bar are lol...some people also count bar numbers at the beginning of a bar, so you would get for example

1,2,3,4

2,2,3,4

3,2,3,4

4,2,3,4

5,2,3,4 etc., this makes it easier to know which bar in the piece you are at.

With dance often people split beats down as well, especially if movements are quicker than the beat.  Then you get something along the lines of 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 etc., with "and" being the half beat.

I hope this is helpful!

Answer 13

in groups of 8. 12345678