The Smiley Smile Message Board

My band is trying to get to a place where the three of us, stringed instruments mostly, and acoustic always, can make people dance.  We need a reference of some sort that will give the rhythm and tempo for traditional dance beats, American touch dancing, etc.  Fox trot, two-step, Lindy...what's the difference between the jig and the reel?  What are the different beats and tempos?  We need to differentiate the beats in our playing, so we need to know what they are.

Any thoughts, friends?  Specific references either in print or on-line would be greatly appreciated!

Fox Trot Info (with tempos, music examples, etc.):
http://www.thedancestoreonline.com/ballroom-dance-instruction/foxtrot-free-lessons.htm

Lindy / Jitterbug / Swing (with examples, etc):
http://www.arthurmurraylasvegas.com/swing.cfm

M.

Thanks, Mark!  Those have some good tips.  I"m looking for something more specific, tho - i'm looking for the beats and stresses and emphasises [is there such a word??] written out musically.  I'm looking for rhythmic notation.

I'll keep looking, and i thank you for posting those links!

Ah, notation, she says . . .

Well, I'd look for specific song examples that are condusive to those dance styles . . . as listed in those links . . . and then look for notation for them on a song-by-song basis.

Otherwise, generalities should be a little helpful . . . like a Fox Trot beat emphasizing counts 1 & 3.

For Swing dancing, you might consider doing Brian Setzer's version of "Jump, Jive, & Wail" . . . but the acoustic angle might make that one a bit of a challenge.

M.

Thanks, Mark...yeah, i'm not sure JJ&W lends itself to the acoustic treatment, even WITH an accordian and a thumping bass!
;-)

We're almost there on the dance thing - in fcact, we *can* make them dance.  Sometimes..  What we need is to know how a given beat is layered - what the elements are that MAKE it a dance beat.  We figured if there was a definitive book of different beats and rhythms, all laid out nice and clear, it would just be a whole lot easier to make sure we covered all those elements.

Susan, I was looking through my Korg M3R sound module manual last night, and at the back of the manual, there are several pages of drum charts, covering almost all genres of music. They are written out in music notation.  If you are interested, I can scan those pages and save as PDF files and email them to you.  Let me know.   :)

Laurie, that would be outstanding - thank you so much for your offer.  I will gladly take you up on it!!  My email is hobielang@aol.com - thanks!!!

Ok great... I just need to find the cords to hook up the scanner and I'll try to get those done for you this week!

Thanks, Laurie!

If you need any more help with rhythms, that was my main problem until sometime last semester in the fall. Me and my instructor figured out a way I could get the rhythms right in my playing and "beat my body" back and forth on certain notes. Count "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6" (in your head) something like that and beat your body on every other note. It's sort of hard to explain haha but hope you understand what I'm trying to say. In conclusion, I have no more rhythm problems :)

Ouch! Sounds painful!  :D

hahah! well not in a hurtful way  ;D just softly beat back and forth lol

Painter is right...the player must dance along with the beat...I do when I play guitar(just twiching the body)...even singing (Look at Mick Jagger)...if the beat is in you it will move you...

I agree with all of that...it's a matter of finding the correct beat and then divvying them up among the players in the band, so everyone isn't emphasizing the same beats.

LaurieArleen was kind enough to send me some basic charts, so we've got the first step covered...thanks, Laurie!