Summary:
Music in WCS has big moments where it is fun to hit the music. These moments usually happen on the major one, directly after a phrase, which is a collection of 32 beats, divided into 4, 8-beat long measures. To hit the 1 of the new phrase with a power move such as a dip or a ride, take note of how many beats the power move requires. If a power move requires 5 beats, then start that power move on the 5th beat of the 4th measure in the music. The goal is to get the number of beats the power move requires and the beat in the 4th measure that you begin the power move on to sum to 10. That will ensure that you ‘hit’ the music with your power move at just the right time.
Dancer Theory
If you’re dancing to the music, why are you counting to your feet?”
Who Should Count the Music?
Short answer? Everyone. When you first started learning WCS, you probably learned to count as you stepped your feet. If you are a lead, you started with one on your left foot (regardless of if it was actually one in the music), and then continued counting until you got to six, eight, or however many beats your figure took. If no one told you otherwise, you likely still count your dancing to your feet. However, think about what you are dancing to. You are not dancing to yourself. You are not dancing to your partner. You, are dancing with your partner, to the music. Thus, it follows that if you want to dance to the music, you must count to the music, not to your feet.
Why Count the Music?
Counting the music will enable you to hit the significant musical moments and make your dancing feel more connected with your partner, the music, and the audience. It is simply more fun to do.
Dance Music Theory
WCS music is primarily created using “phrases” that are 4 measures long. These are dancer measures, which are twice as long as a music measure; A dancer measure has 8 beats, whereas a musician would say a measure has 4 beats. In 4/4 time, that would be 4*8=32 beats per phrase. Right at the end of one phrase and the start of another (from beat 32 to 33), something important happens in the music. Generally, here is where the music changes from loud to soft, or soft to loud, or the bass drops, or one of a plethora of other stylistic attributes. There are very few things more satisfying in WCS than ‘hitting’ one of those moments when the music changes with a dramatic figure, such as a dip.
What is Counting the Music?
Counting the music is relatively simple. Instead of counting and then starting over at 1 every time you initiate a new figure, you have to keep track of both the current measure and the current beat within a phrase.
How to Count the Music
A simple, useful way of counting the music is to replace the 1 of every set of 8 beats with the number of the current measure. For instance, you would count one phrase of music as follows:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
3, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
4, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
What is Hitting the Phrase?
When the phrase change comes, you want to hit what is known as the major 1, which is the 1 just after the last phrase has ended. That means you synchronize a critical point of your dance with that critical point in the music.
How to Hit the Phrase
To hit the phrase you want the sum of the beat in the 4th measure that you start the figure, and the power move’s count, to be 10. Meaning, if we are starting a figure on the 3rd beat of the 4th measure, denoted (4, 3), then our figure has to be a 7 count figure from the list below, because 3 and 7 add to 10. Similarly, if you are about to begin a figure on (4, 5), you need to select a 5 count figure from the compendium, since 5 + 5 = 10. If you just think about what power move you’re going to use at the last second, then you limit yourself and you cannot match the power move to the change in the music. You can actually plan ahead such that you line up the desired power move. For instance, if the phrase change starts a soft, lyrical hit, then a ride would be an ideal choice of power move, whereas if the phrase change was when the beat dropped, a dip would be ideal.
Ideally, if you had the processing power, you could plan all of your figures such that you end up at the phrase change with little effort. However, to save some effort, we’re going to start thinking about the phrase change once we reach beat 1 of measure 3, denoted as (3, 1). Once you reach (3, 1), proceed to your next natural anchor and take note of when you will begin the next pattern. For instance, say you finish your anchor on (3, 2), meaning you will start your next pattern on (3, 3). If you do a 6-count pattern, that will bring you to (4, 1). Since music is counted in 8’s, a 6-count pattern will always “move you back” two beats, as shown in the previous example where a six count figure took us from (3, 3) to (4, 1). An 8-count figure, started on (3, 3), would lead to the next figure beginning on (4, 3). Thus, by strategically choosing between 6, 8, or other patterns, you can place yourself on the right beat in the 4th measure to hit your power move of choice.
Example
I just anchored and I am ready to step on (3, 7). I want to hit an inside turn with a dip, which we know is a 5-count power move that will face the audience on the left. Since that power move is a 5-count, I need to start it on (4, 5), since 5 + 5 = 10. To get to (4, 5) from (3, 7), I need to do a 6-count pattern, because a 6-count pattern will “move me back” two beats. Thus, starting from (3, 7), if I do a sugar-push I’ll end up on (4, 5), and from (4, 5) I can happily lead my inside turn with a dip that will hit the major 1 in the phrase change.
Musical Exceptions
Certain songs are exceptions to this rule. For instance, 12 bar blues songs do not follow the 4 phrase count pattern. They would instead hit on the 1 after 6 measures (since 12 musician bars are 6 dancer measures). Other songs simply modify this pattern. For instance, the song Move Me by Liyr delays the hit to the 2 after the phrase change in the chorus. You and your follow have to be aware of oddities such as this and adapt to hit them anyways. More of these musical oddities are covered in the Practice Playlist.
Tailoring the Hit
(This section is under-development and terminology is subject to change). Not all phrase changes are created equal. There are different types that require different things. Sometimes the music stops right at the major one – and that’d be a great time for a dip, a catch, or something else that is sharp. Other times the music shifts character to more flowy and ethereal – that’d be a great time for a ride. And other times the music gets jiggy with it right at the major one – which is a great time for getting jiggy with it. For the moment, I’ll call these sharp, lyrical, and groovy hits. A good dancer will choose the correct hit for the correct type of phrase change.
Accenting the Music
To really make a dance shine, you can’t just hit the major ones, you have to hit different accents within the music. A good example of this is Keerigan in this video. If you notice, he plays with the pauses and accents in the music and aligns his dance to them. The rainbow at 37 seconds is a particularly good example of this. He did this by knowing that the music had a minor accent with the word “ahh” on the “and” before 3 and 7. Thus, in this example, he started his rainbow on 1 and sharply hit the 3. The math doesn’t play as nicely when not hitting the major one, but with practice this is achievable.
How to Practice
In order to do this, first you have to be able to count the music. Open up a WCS playlist, such as this one, and literally just sit there counting the music per the technique shown above. Once you can do that, start walking out six and eight-count figures while continuing to count the music. Do this not until you get it right, but until you cannot get it wrong. Next, you have to be able to calculate what figure combination you need to get you to the (5, 1). To do this, first choose a figure from the compendium, preferably a three or five-count one. You’re going to stick with just this figure for simplicity to help you get it into muscle memory. Then, keep your song playing and then stop the song at your next anchor after (3, 1). From that point, do the math to determine what figures you would’ve needed to execute to get you to the correct beat at which you needed to start your chosen figure.
For example, say I choose a 3-Count Slingshot as my figure. I dance, dance, dance, and then I finish my anchor on (3,2). This means that I am about to step on (3, 3). I know with my 3-Count slingshot, I need to end up on (4, 7) to land the phrase change since 7 + 3 = 10. From (3, 3) I can do two six-count patterns to bring me to (4, 1) and then (4, 7), where I can then hit my slingshot.
Once you do that math, play the music again, keep dancing and counting, and then repeat when you get to the next phrase change. Once you can reliably do the math with the music paused, you should start leaving the music playing and seeing if you can do the math on the fly. Finally, when you have all that down by yourself, you can add a partner and watch her smile as you hit the phrase changes.
Practice Playlist
The practice playlist I have provided contains a number of different types of songs to show the different scenarios that the math may need to be applied/altered to fit the song. Here is a description of each, in order.
- So Glad I’m Me: This song is a standard, run-of-the-mill WCS song, except every single phrase change is accented. You’ll see what I mean.
- Jamming: This is one of those exception songs. It has a sharp stop on the (4, 5), which requires slight modification of the math to hit it. In this case, just add to 5 instead of 10.
- Cleo’s Mood: This is a 12-bar blues song, which means a phrase is 6 dance measures. Also, it hits on the 5 instead of the one. You’ll have to hit on the (6, 5) to nail this song.
- State Line: This is a weird song that does a half-baked hit on every other 5. Just to show some spice. Good luck…
- Move Me: This song is absolute gas, and it hits on the 2 after the phrase change. Execute your figures the same way you would normally, but save the money shot for the 2.
- Stays the Same: This song is a standard WCS as well, and I added it to practice the different types of hits.
Figure Compendium
The following is a list of “power moves” that you can use to hit the phrase change. The direction in brackets indicates which way the audience should be when beginning the figure from the lead’s perspective.
1 Count
- Sugar Tuck Position [Both, Sharp]
3 Count
- Rainbow [Right]
- Barrel Roll [Both]
- Reverse Monkey Bars [Right]
- Handshake Hold Side Dip [Right]
- Right Side Pass Hip Catch [Right]
- Slingshot [Left]
5 Count
- Left Side Pass with Inside Turn to a Dip [Left]
- Left Side Pass with a Wrap to Hip Catch [Right]
- Left Side Pass with Inside Turn Hammerlock and Duck to Dip [Left]
- Underarm Pass to Duck [Both]
- One Footed Spin (Starts on One) [Right]
- First 4 Counts of a Whip into a Ride on 5 [Both]
- Right Side Pass with Inside Duck Turn into Side Dip [Right]
- Right Side Pass with Inside Duck Turn into Ride [Both]
- Sugar Tuck with Multiple Back and Forths [Both]
7 Count
- Whip with Inside Turn to a Duck [Both]
- Left Side Pass with Triple Inside Turn [Left]
- Archer Whip to Inside Duck Turn into Side Dip/Ride [Left/Both]
- Archer Whip to Lead and Follow Turn then Face Audience [Left]
- Long Barrel Roll with Syncopation [Both]
- Left Side Pass with an Inside Wrap, Unwrap to Duck [Both]
9 Count
- One Footed Spin (Follow Ends It on One) [Right]
- Baseball Throw to Dip [Right] – Tutorial
- Whip with Triple Outside Turn [Both]
Additional Resources
I found this video by Rolf and Karen after I’d already written this, but this is pretty much the same idea.