Looking for some great west coast swing music to dance to?
The joy of west coast swing is that it can be done to so many different speeds and styles of music. The Wikipedia listing for west coast swing lists the speed of wcs from 60 beats per minute to as fast as 180 beats per minute. (BPM) Over the years the speeds and styles of west coast swing music have varied quite a bit. Again the real uniqueness to wcs is that it really can be danced to just about any music written in 4/4 time. These days the music speeds have settled in between 90 and 120 bpm. So lets get you some music!
Practice songs for west coast swing
It’s likely that if you’re reading this post you are simply trying to find some good west coast swing music to practice to so lets get straight to it! As a newer dancer you should be looking for music around 95-105 BPM.
Get our top 10 practice songs>> Download the list
You can even play the songs right from the page you’ll get!
West Coast Swing Music Website Resources
Although some of these pages are not super up to date, there are some sites that seem to specialize in music. I give you my scouting report and what I like about each one. Lets take a look!
These guys are top WCS pros so you can really trust them. The page above give a nice list of Contemporary Top 40’s, Old School Classics, Slow/Smooth and even a nice list of non WCS songs that might be played during a wcs social dance. The songs are broken down to Slow, Medium & Fast which is nice.
This site is a maybe a bit out dated BUT… who am I to judge. What I like about it is his songs are broken down by Beats Per Minute (BPM) so you can get an idea of the beat range of particular songs.
Again some of the music lists are not up to date (last post 2012) BUT… I love some of the blog posts about WCS music. Misha talks a lot about music rhythm, mood, tempo ect in his posts which make them a timeless resource.
Once again the site is a bit dated BUT… there is still some timeless info. I love the section where tip WCS DJ’s from around the country post their top 10 lists and favorite all-time songs. Its a pretty fun section.
Speaking of YouTube…
Youtube can be a GREAT resource for songs. There are a lot of channels to follow where people post some great tunes. Currently there is a dancer named Liza May who has a great youtube channe for wcs music that she keeps updated almost daily! She has monthly lists of songs so if you want to stay cutting edge, and you love to sift through music, this is a great resource!
How did we get here?
Again if you are a newer WCS dancer, (or a bit of a nerd like me) you might have questions about not only West Coast Swing music, but how it has evolved over the years? I had the same questions so I interviewed a dance historian on the subject. You can read some of the history of the dance (and watch the interview on WCS and the music that influenced it on this page on our blog.
Are you a beginner just getting started with WCS?
If so I can’t tell you how excited I am that you’ve found our page! I’ve been teaching beginner to advanced west coast swing in my studio and around the world for over 15 years. West Coast Music is only one part of what you need. I know exactly what questions you have that need answers!
Thats why I’ve created the ultimate resource just for you called The BEGINNERS GUIDE TO WEST COAST SWING.
It was designed to answer all of the questions you have on your way to mastering WCS.
Inside you’ll find; 8 Basic Patterns (of course), The 7 patterns you need next, 10 Practice song suggestions, 3 Tips to improve your spins, 2 Easy things to improve your styling, 3 Keys to better timing, so you can stay on beat, 4 Hand holds you need to know, Group Class, Private Lesson & Social Dance advice and much, much more… Take a peek, I think you’ll love it!
What if you are looking for advanced WCS Musicality?
We’ve got you covered there too! We created an awesome WCS musicality course called The ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MUSICALITY for West Coast Swing.
Inside you will find all the major topics of more advanced WCS musicality: Counting the music, Critical Timing, 4 keys to better timing, Critical Accents, Counting Straight 8’s, Mapping the music, Contemporary & Blues music phrasing, Understanding the build in the music, 4 Ways to accent the music, Extending patterns to hit accents, Rolling count, Q & A section on new music, Plus, 2 BONUSES #1: 6 PDF downloads on the keys of musicality,#2: 1 hour live Musicality workshop video. Again, I think you’re going to really enjoy it! Read more here
Do you get emails from me? Well you should 😉
Each month I send out emails with patterns, tips & tricks that help over 12,000 WCS dancers just like you. Event better, you can ask me any question you want and I’ll personally help point you in the right direction. Deal? Cool! You can sign up below. See you on the dance floor, Brian B
Brian & Megan