RHYTHM
Rhythm is the regular pattern of sounds in a piece. The beat is the basic unit that measures off the time, the regular pulse of the music. Some beats will be louder or stronger than others and are said to be accented. Music is organized into measures that are recognizable by a more or less prominently accented downbeat: 123; 123; or 1234; 1234. There can be secondary accents in a measure.
At first glance, the rhythm of the various kinds of dance music may seem similar from piece to piece. Waltz is conspicuous with its relatively strong downbeat and its three beats per measure - 3/4 time - but almost all the other rhythms have four beats per measure - 4/4 time. Even Samba and Paso Doble (2/4 time) are usually choreographed in round dancing as though the timing were 4/4.
So, does that mean there are only two kinds of music: 3/4 Waltz and 4/4 everything else? Not at all.
TEMPO
So, each type of dance has its characteristic rhythm, in terms of beats per measure, and its characteristic tempo or speed, measures per minute. Actually, the tempo of a single rhythm can vary over quite a range, further increasing the variety available to us. There are probably Foxtrots out there that move quickly at 35 or 40 measures/minute and Quicksteps that float at that same 40. Cuers will even take a single dance and slow it down a bit this time, "for ease of dancing," and speed it up for a little excitement the next time.
TIMING
Another level of variety that we can enjoy is the way in which the beats of music are used to form dance figures. Rumba maintains a regular quick, quick, slow timing (qqs) in most dances, Paso Doble marches along with a 1234; and Waltz figures are usually the regular 123; 123; but even here, a choreographer can throw in a chasse (12&3) or two.As you look at the way figures are described on a cue sheet or in these pages, notice that some shorthand conventions are commonly used. A slow count (s) represents two beats of music, a quick (q) represents one beat. A comma separates one beat from the next, and a semicolon marks the end of a measure. An "and" (&) represents half a beat, so you are doing two things during one beat of music, and a slash will be used to separate two counts that occur within one beat. In Samba, Jive, and sometimes elsewhere, an "ah" (a) represents less than half a beat. Again, you are doing two things in the one beat of music, but you devote more time to the first step or action than to the second: 1/a, 2.
A brief table for reference:
| Term | Abbrev. | Definition |
| beat, count | bt, ct | One unit or accent in the recurring rhythm of a piece of music. In most dance music, you can count four instances of emphasis per measure. Waltz beats recur in groups of three. |
| measure | meas | A short section of music in the regularly recurring rhythm, usually marked by an initial stronger accent and then one, two, three, or more lesser accents. For instance, a waltz measure consists of one strong downbeat and two lesser beats: 1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3; |
| comma | , | In abbreviated descriptions of dance steps (as opposed to complete sentences), a comma indicates the end of one beat of music. For instance, "fwd, fwd, cl;" represents three dance steps on three beats of music, perhaps a waltz measure: step forward on the left foot, forward right, and then close left to right — a Forward Waltz. |
| semi-colon | ; | A semi-colon represents the end of a measure of music. In abbreviated descriptions, one often finds two or more semi-colons together. This is a concise way of saying that the previous figure took two or more measures to execute. For instance, in the sequence: "waltz away; pickup; left turning box;;;;" the first two figures took one measure apiece, and the third figure took four measures to complete. |
| dash | - | A dash usually represents a pause, nothing happening during a beat of music, at least no step. For instance, a rumba half basic is "fwd, rec, sd, -;" There are four beats in this measure (3 commas and 1 semi-colon) but only three steps. The third step (the side step) occurs over beats 3 and 4. |
| slash | / | A slash is used to indicate a split beat of music, two steps or actions occuring in a single beat, a kind of syncopation. For instance a cha half basic is "fwd, rec, sd/cl, sd;" In this 4-beat measure, two things are happening on beat 3 (the "side/close"). The "count" is 1, 2, 3/&, 4; The 3/&, 4; is your "cha-cha-cha." |
| and | & | In timing notation, an "&" represents half a beat, as in the cha example above. A step on an "&" count is very quick. |
| ah | a | An "a" represents only 1/4 beat. In a fast jive, a basic rock is danced "1, 2, 3/a, 4; 1/a, 2, The third step (count 3) is quick, only 3/4 of a beat, but the fourth step (the "a") really allows you to take only partial weight before you have to bounce off and into the fifth step (count 4). If an "&" is very quick, I guess an "a" is very very quick. |
| ee | e | The "e" also represents 1/4 beat and is not much used in round dancing, but I'll include it here just for completeness. Where the "a" represents the fourth quarter of a beat, the "e" represents the second quarter. The last two beats of a measure might then be segmented into: 3 e & a, 4 e & a; and then we could talk about stepping on or holding any of these little quarter-beat moments. The timing of one Cha measure is commonly thought of as 123&4. With added precision, we might explain that we dance the cha-cha-cha by stepping on the 3, holding the e, stepping on the &, holding the a, stepping on the 4, and then holding the e, &, and the a of that last beat. (Whew!) |
Here is a Foxtrot measure: s, -, q/&, q; Standard Foxtrot timing is slow, quick, quick, but here we have a syncopated measure. Our first step is a "slow" which takes two beats. Notice the first comma that denotes one beat, a dash meaning no step is taken, and then a second comma symbolizing the second beat of the measure. Again, the first step of this figure is a slow that takes two beats of music. The third comma encloses a "q/&." That shorthand means that we take two steps, on the "quick" and next on the "and," in only one beat of music. Syncopation, here, is doing something on the "&" count. Finally, the figure ends with a step on the fourth and last beat of music, and the measure ends with a semi-colon.
Cha Cha figures usually consist of one or more "rock, recover, cha-cha-cha" measures (1,2,3/&,4;) but we can leave off the "rock, recover" and just do a chasse or two (1/&, 2, 3/&, 4;). Triple chas are widely used, too. Hustle offers an unusual example of variety in its figures. The music is 4/4, but many figures are only three beats long. The count of a figure sequence then goes like this: (&/1,2,3,) (&/4;1,2,) (&/3,4;1,) (&/2,3,4;) -- four figures over three measures of music. I think this works because Hustle has a very regular disco beat with no very prominent downbeat on count 1. You feel pretty comfortable starting a figure on beat 2, 3, or 4. Hustle also makes use of even 4-count figures.Now, look at some of the rest of the 4/4 rhythms in the table below and marvel at the variety of even and syncopated steps, the different arrangements of quicks and slows. Quickstep and Tango are maybe the richest in their variety of figures.
There is just no way one could ever be finished, no way one could get to the point where he has done it all and must say, "Well, I guess I have to go learn something else now -- get another hobby." It won't happen.
Thanks to the cuers in the audio selections:
Jim & Bonnie Bahr of Carousel Club #55 in Denver, CO, Chris & Terri Cantrell of Carousel Club #171 in Denver, CO, and John & Kay Grooms of Carousel Club #232 in Columbia, SC.
exerpt published as “Rhythms and Timing,” in
Dallas Harvest Holiday 2007, 47-10, p. 2, 10/2007.
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