Don't worry about being always being in time with music?

M

mrrumba

New Member
I am somewhat competent doing East Coast Swing. I sometimes lose count of the beats. Occasionally I forget to move my feet when using my hands. I count the beats the whole time in my head. I feel stiff when I dance and am not really enjoying it much. I’m concerned about losing the beat. I am also afraid to try moves I’m not too good at.

Perhaps I should not try to count the beats every second of the song. I suppose I also need to try more moves and risk making mistakes to improve. Maybe then I can loosen up and have fun. Do you agree?
 
mrrumba said:
I am somewhat competent doing East Coast Swing. I sometimes lose count of the beats. Occasionally I forget to move my feet when using my hands. I count the beats the whole time in my head. I feel stiff when I dance and am not really enjoying it much. I’m concerned about losing the beat. I am also afraid to try moves I’m not too good at.

Perhaps I should not try to count the beats every second of the song. I suppose I also need to try more moves and risk making mistakes to improve. Maybe then I can loosen up and have fun. Do you agree?
Click to expand...

A simple but unfortunate truth: everybody sucks when they have to think.

The point of practicing is to get to a point where you can do the thing without thinking about it. For staying on the beat particularly, that's a matter of doing the reps -- for some it's fewer, for some it's more, but you just gotta do them until you forget that it is hard.

When learning and practicing, I strongly encourage you to count the beats "out loud". This does two things: it helps to emphasize where in the rhythm/music the parts of a pattern happen, and it prevents you from using that part of the brain to concentrate on the movement.

When dancing for fun/socially... just let it go -- you aren't going to get any better in the next three and a half minutes, so you might as well make sure you and your partner have fun. If you must fret - limit yourself to at most one thing in any given song, and just let the rest happen.
 
Rather than "worry" about being in time to the music, make sure that your practice time involves being in time to the music.
Use something(s) with a slow, definate beat, and practice things with a "imaginary" partner; going through the motions in time with the music.

You will be training your body to move in time to the music. Eventually it will become more and more "automatic" and you won't have to think about it (much).

The more you practice things, the earlier you will become comfortable on the floor with a partner doing the same things.
 
Something that really helps me is realizing that in swing dancing the up beat is nearly always a slow. So listening for those even beats basically lets me find where I am in the music and pattern without needing to count.

If I had to choose between being on time vs a more complex pattern, I would opt for being relaxed and on time and leading something easier until it was built into my muscle memory.
 
If you're having trouble staying on time and thinking at the same time, try it with some slow music. That way you've got the time to think while you're dancing it. Then once you can do it without thinking, you can speed up your music.
 
I think I often do OK with finding the beat, but I’d like to be better at it. Usually I can detect the beginning of measure when I hear the singer finish a line or I can tell from the pattern of the music.

I found a website that was helped me understand upbeats and downbeats. I believe the downbeat is the even numbered beat, and that it is easier to pick out. Often it is the drummer hitting the snare drum.

Knowing that hasn’t helped my find the beginning of a measure so much. Maybe in time I will hear and understand it better. Maybe there is a DVD or CD that can help.

I don’t understand what you mean about the upbeat being “a slow”. Aren’t all beats the exact same length, four per measure? That’s not what you mean is it?


kayak said:
Something that really helps me is realizing that in swing dancing the up beat is nearly always a slow. So listening for those even beats basically lets me find where I am in the music and pattern without needing to count.

If I had to choose between being on time vs a more complex pattern, I would opt for being relaxed and on time and leading something easier until it was built into my muscle memory.
Click to expand...
 
Much of the music played at the dance is fast. There aren’t too many slow numbers.

wooh said:
If you're having trouble staying on time and thinking at the same time, try it with some slow music. That way you've got the time to think while you're dancing it. Then once you can do it without thinking, you can speed up your music.
Click to expand...
 
If I were you I would not worry about beginnings of measures, etc.
Find the beat and stick with it.
You can learn about the other stuff later, after you become comfortable doing things "in time" with the music.

The downbeat is the impulse that occurs at the beginning of a bar in measured music.[3] Its name is derived from the downward stroke of the director or conductor's baton on the first beat of each measure.

Don't go down the rabbit hole on this one! (not yet anyhow!)
 
I'm supposed to start dancing at the beginning of the measure. Are you saying I can get away with not doing that?

Steve Pastor said:
If I were you I would not worry about beginnings of measures, etc.
Find the beat and stick with it.
You can learn about the other stuff later, after you become comfortable doing things "in time" with the music.
Click to expand...
 
I think you have the beats reversed. The down beats are odd number counts and the up beats are the evens. Basically it goes base, snare, base, snare etc. Yes, every beat has the same amount of time in 4/4 music. However, your triple step foot work is setup so the QQ steps are on the down beats and the S step is on an up beat.

Since swing often has a rolling count such as using six beats for a basic, it is not imperative to start on the first beat of a measure. There are lots of ways to improve your dancing once you find that first beat of the measure and then there are combinations of measures that later become important.
 
You're saying I can also start on the third beat? I don't know if I could easily find the third beat.

Dancelf said:
But it's a lot easier to start on the first beat than the third beat, and those are the only choices that won't seriously confuse your partner.
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mrrumba, you can actually start your pattern on any odd numbered beat. So the cool thing is you do not have to be able to find the 1 or the 3. You just have to step out on a down beat. If you do that, everything will kind of work itself out.

Like dancelf said, it is eventually a lot easier to find the 1 than the 3 because it is usually an extra strong down beat. Plus, there are lots of reason later for matching your patterns to that 1. However, just stepping out on any down beat is huge.
 
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