Song and Dance

A primer for musicians and deejays who aren't dancers.

Note: This is a public service page. It contains tables that associate popular tunes with types of dances. We will be pleased to list tunes here that you like to play or dance to.. Simply email us at smithwri@nwlink.comwith the name of the tune, the artist (if you know) and the type of dance you associate with that tune. Or, if you want to know which dance fits a particular tune, write and ask. We may be able to help. And if you disagree with some of the dances associated with specific tunes, please let us know!

For the musician:

You play music for people who dance. When they ask you for a Cha Cha, do you play Mack the Knife? When they want a Waltz, do you play Smooth Operator? Chances are you know tunes that will work for all the ballroom dances, but you may not know which ones they are appropriate for.

Before you look at the tunes, you might benefit from this primer on dance rhythm.

Three types of beats are very common in ballroom: Quick; slow (this equals two quick beats) and triples (three steps in an interval that normally would provide two quick beats.) Here's some algebra: (You can do this!)

• One slow = 2 quicks
• One slow = one triplet = 2 quicks.
• Two slows = 1 slow plus 2 quicks
• Two slows = two triplets = 1 triplet and 2 quicks.
• Etc.

Let's apply the math to some popular dances.

Cha Cha:
Timing: Quick, quick, triple, quick quick, triple.
Translation: Sometimes expressed at "One, two, cha-cha-cha (right); one, two, cha-cha-cha (left).
Example: I heard it Through the Grapevine
See the cha-cha list.

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Waltz:
Timing: QUICK, quick, quick. QUICK quick quick.
Translation: Forward, side-step, close feet; back, side-step, close feet. Music and dance emphasize every third beat, starting with the first.
Examples: Moon River. A fast Waltz (Viennese) uses the same beats but speeds up. Examples: Blue Danube, Mr. Bo Jangles, and Sunrise, Sunset.
See the Waltz list.

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Foxtrot:
Timing: Slow, slow, quick quick.
Translation: This is the equivalent of six beats, with the first four beats consumed in two slow steps.
NOTE: This allows a variation that makes the Foxtrot look like the Waltz: Slow, quick, quick; slow, quick quick. Instead of a measure that takes up the space of 6 quicks, you have a measure that takes up four. Both styles work fine for the same tune, and allow variety.
Examples: Mack the Knife, Cab Driver.
See the Fox Trot list.

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Rumba:
Timing: Slow, quick quick; slow, quick quick.
Translation: Now you might wonder why this isn't like Foxtrot. It's a bit much to explain here, but let's think of some songs that it works with, and you'll get the idea:
Examples: It's Now Or Never (Elvis), Save the Last Dance For Me, Spanish Eyes.
See the Rumba list.

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Bolero:
Timing: Same as Rumba -- but what a rumba! The slow moves are loooooooong and drawn out. This is an expressive dance with grand movements that express subdued passion and longing. High drama.
Examples: Smooth Operator, or a slow Wind Beneath My Wings.
See the Bolero list.

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Mambo:
Timing: And-slow, quick quick (American). Quick, quick, slow. (Latino)
Translation: In American style, you start moving on the first part of the slow, but hold the movement to the second half; then make two quick steps. It's a fast dance with tiny steps to allow rapid direction changes and turns. In Latino, you hold the beat after the two quick steps.
Examples: The most famous Mambo is Tequila.
See the Mambo list.

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Tango:
Timing: Eight staccato beats per measure. Some of the beats can be joined. So you can have eight quick steps, one slow and six quick steps, two slow and four quick steps, etc.
Translation: Dramatic, with the partners carrying serious demeanors and gliding low and smoothly across the floor. Anyway, they're supposed to.
Example: The most famous is Hernando's Hideaway.
See the Tango list.

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Samba
Timing: Quick and quick; quick and quick.
Translation: This is a fast dance with partners moving forward and back or side by side. You might think of the movement as step, hesitate, step.
Examples: Copa Cabana and, of all things, Dancing in the Streets, which also passes as a swing.
See the Samba list.

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Swing
Timing: There are three leading versions:

• Slow, slow quick quick.
• Triple triple quick quick.
• West Coast Swing

Translation:

• Slow, slow, quick quick is called single-time and is used for fast swing songs that wear you out if you try triple-time swing.
• Swing: Triple (triple, triple quick quick) is for slower swing tunes that make you want to move a little faster. Often the decision to do one or the other also is shaped by whether it feels right doing single or Swing: Triple. Age is also a factor.
• Mix slows, quicks and triples in a slinky, flirtatious back and forth slot-dance that borrows a little Latin feel from time to time, and you have West Coast Swing. Done right, this can be Swing's equivalent of Rumba's Bolero.

• Single time: At the Hop. Try to do that triple time and you're set up either for the Olympics or a coronary.
• Triple Time: Billy Joel's Only the Good Die Young.
• West Coast Swing: Alannah Miles' Black Velvet.

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The anomaly
An anomaly is an exception, and here's a great one: "That Old Time Rock And Roll"
Timing: Roll the song around in your mind. Is it a Single or Triple-Time Swing? A Rumba? A Cha Cha? Or could it be a Salsa? Well, how about all of those? Somebody with enough cheek could even work their way into a rather strange waltz. The beat behind this particular song can be sliced a number of ways to allow a broad variety of dances.

However, your best bet, because of the look and feel of the piece, would be a triple-swing (which is, in fact Old Time Rock and Roll!), with Cha Cha a close second. Single time would work OK, and a distant fourth would be a Rumba.

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If you look at the tunes below and the dances they are associated with, you'll start developing a "working definition" of how specific dances use music. Once you have that in your head, you can pull tunes from your own repertoire when someone asks for a Waltz or Foxtrot and feel that you're giving them what they want. If they ask you for a specific tune you don't know, you can ask them what kind of dance they do to that tune, and make a reasonable substitution.

NOTE: Some dances fit into more than one category, depending on your mood!

A Musician's Response

MARVELOUS! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!

This is exactly what we've been looking for. You are 100% correct in your assessment that musicians typically understand the rhythms associated with the tunes, but don't know what dance style goes with it. We've made a career of playing the music, [but] not usually dancing to it.

This is especially important for my group since we are a swing era dance band. And with the renaissance of swing dancing, we often get requests for a certain dance style...and we're lost. From our perspective, a Latin tune is a Latin tune. They're basically all the same.

I've been working with Ed Long, who teaches dance classes at the Seattle Center House for their Saturday Night Dances. He has been very helpful with my education. My wife and I even took a dance class from him once. But I've still got a lot to learn.

...with your new list, we should be able to do a much better job.

Thanks again.

Robert Yetter
Route 66

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