Songs with benchmark tempos?

[Peaches]

I'm not very good at listening to a piece of music and figuring out it's tempo. I don't have a music editing program that would let me go about doing things the hard way.

Can you all suggest common songs for the standard dances which I could use as benchmarks for the upper and lower bounds of the acceptable tempos? I'd prefer it if they weren't songs from "Ballroom Favorites" or what-have-you, since I don't have any dance-specific cd's. But if they're popular songs there's a good chance I've got them or can find them.

Thank you!

(Or, if there are threads with this info, could someone with better search skills than me point them out, please?)

[Chris Stratton]

Many of the online ballroom music suppliers have 30-second samples of the tracks on the CD's they carry which you can listen to. And they generally tell you what the tempo is.

If you want to figure the tempo, get a stopwatch and count measures for at least 30 seconds or better yet a minute. It might take some practice, but practice at hearing the beats and measures is good.

Those 30 second online samples can also be good practice - lets you practice hearing a lot of different songs in each style.

[Peaches]

Thanks, Chris, I'll look into the sample clips.

I can hear the beats and measures and whatnot. I can pick out music in different styles with too much of a problem--I get fuzzy between fast slow waltzes and slow v. waltzes. That part, I've got. I just don't want to have to sit and count them out for each of the songs I've got in my playlist to see if it's acceptable or not. I'd prefer to know of some benchmarks so I can play it in my head as a quick comparison with a new song.

[Chris Stratton]

If it's for practice, just put it on and see if it feels comfortable.

If you are DJ'ing an event, it is really part of your job responsability to invest at least a minute or two in evaluating each track you qualify for your playlist - either by counting it, or by having already danced to it in your own practice.

And that remains true even if it came off a CD of ballroom music. Amongst friends who did a lot of this, it was thought that if a CD of 20 tracks had four that were of a quality worth playing for a social it was a good buy, and if it had two it was still worth it if you really liked those two. The implication of this is that there is a lot of less than impressive filler material put onto CD's from even the best publishers.

[Peaches]

Not for DJ'ing.

For practice and lessons. And for gaining a feel of where the upper and lower-bounds are. I can very easily "play back" music in my head. So, if I know that "Fascination" by whatzisname is a good mark of the lower bound for waltz, I can do a quick and dirty comparison with another piece.

That's really all I'm looking for here. If it's not out there, fine, I'll go about this the hard way. But if there are teachers/longtime dancers with some suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

[White Chacha]

I'm guessing Chris' suggestion probably is the easiest thing to do. All the data is there. If he or I or someone else would suggest songs, you'd have to either have the right song, or find it. Then you'd better count it yourself to make sure we're right as far as tempos' concerned.

In general the Standard music on CD is closer to competition tempos than the Latin is. I'm seeing Latin CDs with excruciatingly slow rumbas at 24 MPM when comp rules generally still say 26. Then dancers come and complain to me that we play music that's much faster than what they're used to practicing to...

If you're competing, it's good to dance to music that's too fast or too slow, as well as the right tempo. That way you'll be prepared for whatever the DJ dishes out for you! Good luck :-)

[Indiana_Jay]

For cha-cha, Santana's "Smooth" clocks in at 28.89 measures per minute. This is slightly below USA Dance regulation tempi for international (30-32) and American (30) cha-cha.

For foxtrot, "Orange Colored Sky" as recorded by Natalie Cole is 31 MPM. This is slightly above the USA Dance regulation tempo for international foxtrot (28-30) and right in the middle of the USA Dance regulation tempo for American foxtrot (30-32).

For Waltz, Nora Jones' "Come Away with Me" is 27.9 MPM. This is slightly below the lower end of USAD regulation tempi for both International and American waltz. Anne Murray's "Could I Have this Dance" clocks in slightly above regulation tempo at 33 MPM.

For rumba, the Eagles' "Tequila Sunrise" clocks in at 27.9 MPM, slight faster than USAD regulation tempo for International rumba (25-27) and well slower than the American tempo (32-36).

Does this help?

[Peaches]

That helps IMMENSELY, I_J. Thank you!

[Indiana_Jay]

Just thought of another one.

The Eagles' "Take it to the Limit" is probably in 12/8, but if you consider each triplet to be a measure, its tempo would about 30 measures per minute, which is right at the top edge of USAD tempo for both international and American waltz.

BTW, the reason I think the song is actually in 12 rather than 3 beats per measure is the presence of strong drum accents at the beginning of the second and fourth triplets. Strong accents on 2 and 4 are typical in slow rock songs. "True waltz music" would more likely have an even accent at the beginning of each set of three beats.

But, hey, like we said in another thread (http://www.dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=15021), it doesn't have to be true waltz music... all that matters is that you can waltz to it!

-IJ