In last week’s post, we practiced using two-beat extensions within basic patterns. Now it’s time to apply that technique in order to phrase the music. The Drill: First, listen to Sweet Sixteen by Junior Wells: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phf40x5XiSc In the last four beats of each major phrase (musical paragraph), there is a clear bass drum on the … Read more
In an earlier post, we talked about chord progressions in pop music. The standard pop chord progression relies on I, IV, and V chords to create tension and resolve. In this post, we’re going to compare pop chord progressions to blues chord progressions. The music we dance WCS to, whether blues or contemporary, is generally … Read more
WCS is a two-beat dance. As a result, it is easy to extend patterns by two beats in order to phrase the music. In order to remain on the same foot, we’ll use a double rhythm unit to extend the pattern, and we’ll put the extra double between the rhythm units of the base pattern. … Read more
Understanding music for west coast swing dancers can be hard. At this point, you know that (WCS) music is written in eight beat phrases and you know how to point on the 1 of each phrase. Now it’s time to talk about why we point on the 1. This will require some music theory, so … Read more
WCS patterns don’t neatly fit into musical phrases. We dance six and eight count patterns, yet our songs have accents on the first beat of each eight beat phrase. Being able to acknowledge those accents when they occur in the middle of a pattern is thus an important skill to develop. This drill is the … Read more
by Brian B at west coast swing online
Brian & Megan 
