You’ve probably had the experience of watching pros dance to a song that you’ve heard a million times—and they hit something you had never heard before! How did they find that little note buried in the harmony? One way to get better at hearing elements in a song is by playing with the equalizer. Almost … Read more
Question: When should I count the music? Answer: Always.* No matter who you are, what your musical background is, or how skilled you are at feeling the music, counting always elevates your dance. Dancers who move by feel only are unattached to their third partner, the music. Counting gives a way for both partners to … Read more
The biggest difference between straight and rolling count is when the weight transfer between the beats happens: either directly in the middle of the beat, or closer to the upbeat. However, there is another significant difference between the two forms of counting. Each method of counting naturally links the & with a different beat of … Read more
The first part of this series introduced the difference between straight and rolling counts in west coast swing. In this post, we will introduce the third kind of count common in WCS music: the swung count. As we saw earlier, the rolling count pushes the triple rhythm closer to the upbeat. Instead of marking the … Read more
In west coast swing, there are three common ways to count music: straight count, rolling count, and swung count. This post will discuss straight vs. rolling counts; a follow-up post will take up the differences between rolling and swung counts. Let’s break them down… At a basic level, music is divided into beats. If you … Read more
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