Europe

The European folk and ballroom dances here keep their dance names, because “three beats” says little about a dance floor. Waltz puts the weight on the first of three; Ländler shares the count at a country pace, and Musette waltz runs faster with a Paris accordion. Mazurka moves the marked accent to beat two. Count “one two three” for all four and listen for which count pulls the weight; the accent shows that pull, not a cue for every dancer to stamp.

Polka is an even two, March gives that two parade feet, and Galop hurries it along. Tarantella, Saltarello and Pizzica group six as 3+3 with a lift at the start of each half; once the six small units are steady, count them as two larger pulses. Fandango and Jota are Spanish threes and Pasodoble a marching two. Bolero (Spanish) has a triplet under its first beat and is not Bolero (Cuban), which belongs on another page.

Bourrée à trois temps is in three, unlike the duple court Bourrée. Csárdás (lassú) is the slow half of the Hungarian dance and Csárdás (friss) the fast half. Polonaise walks a measured three with its characteristic opening figure, and Furiant, notated in three, keeps pulling towards two.

Zortziko’s row is 2+3 in five, though 1+2+2 and dotted figures are also important ways of reading it. Sardana is shown in six although it is usually counted in duple time. The faster Oberek and the syncopated Krakowiak get an accent outline here, not a full tune.

Play four cycles of Waltz, stepping once per count, then Mazurka with the same count and the attention on two instead of one. If the feet object, keep a walking pace before trying Galop.

The baroque court suite is a short lesson in where the weight sits. Minuet is a measured three. Sarabande is slower and leans on its second beat, which this row marks alongside the first. Gavotte is a four whose phrases may start halfway through the bar. The clicks mark counts and chosen accents, not a performer’s phrasing, and no stroke syllables sit under the boxes.

Gigue and Siciliana both group six eighths as 3+3, with a lift at the start of each half. Gigue can move briskly, while Siciliana is slow and lilting in a way no single swing setting gives. Allemande is a moderate four, Courante a broad three counted in half notes, and Passepied a quick little three. Bourrée is duple here, distinct from Bourrée à trois temps among the folk dances.

Clap each count of Minuet and Sarabande softly, giving Sarabande’s second count a little more weight without rushing towards it. Then play Gavotte and start a spoken phrase halfway through the bar while the foot keeps the bar’s first beat.

Compás is flamenco’s recurring rhythmic frame, and it is more than twelve beats. Soleá’s twelve is accented on 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Alegrías, Bulerías, Guajira and Peteneras share those positions in these rows, with different musical lives and tempos, and Peteneras has its own compás in performance even though its row shares the twelve. Bulerías is usually counted from 12, so starting every cycle on 1 can leave the boxes right and the feel late.

The numbers under the boxes name the accented counts, not drum strokes. Clap them against twelve quiet, even counts, then let the hands carry them without reciting every number. Soleá is the slow way in, Alegrías comes next, and Bulerías waits until the frame holds at a gentler pace. Flamenco’s twelve also has other phase conventions, and the strip picks one counting position for practice, not to settle any teacher’s count.

Seguiriya is a different twelve, five uneven groups of 2+2+3+3+2, and its marked numbers track those five group accents rather than Soleá’s. Tangos and Tientos are fours whose palmas, the handclaps, fall on 2, 3 and 4 and leave 1 unclapped, Tientos at a slower pace. Farruca marks 1 and 3. Rumba flamenca groups eight small units as 3+3+2, a change of footing after the twelves, and Fandango de Huelva and Sevillanas are in three.

Play Soleá with a quiet foot on all twelve and claps only on 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Keep the foot going through one cycle without clapping, bring the claps back in their places, then try Tangos and leave its first count alone.

In the dance tunes of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and England, the way in is the larger pulse under all the small notes. Jig is six quavers grouped 3+3, two lifts to a bar. Slip jig adds a third group of three, nine in all, and Slide runs four groups of three across twelve, quickly. The accents mark those group openings, not every fiddle note. Say “one two three, one two three” over Jig, then reduce it to two gentle foot taps.

Reel is a different engine, eight quavers in cut time felt as two big beats. Hornpipe has a dotted bounce, and its row cannot fix one performance ratio for it. Strathspey’s Scottish snap goes short, then long; the plain four-click strip holds the time while the figure is learned. March (pipes) carries dotted movement inside its two.

Brittany brings An dro and Gavotte bretonne in four, Hanter-dro in three and Dans plinn in a stamping four. Barndance is a moderate four. Polka (Irish), a driving two associated here with Sliabh Luachra, is quicker than the Polka among the folk dances, and the court Gavotte, among the historical dances, differs in pace and phrasing from the Breton one.

The hardest row is not the one with the largest number. Slip jig’s third lift can take a while to stop feeling extra, and a Reel can run away from the count. Play Jig at an easy tempo, stepping on 1 and 4, then Slip jig, stepping on 1, 4 and 7, with the shoulders loose.

Morris jig is six eighth-note units in two groups of three, with an accent at the start of each group. Count “one two three, one two three” and let a foot or a hand mark the two larger lifts. No stick or bell syllables sit under the boxes, so the row is a practice pulse, not an account of the bells and sticks of an English Morris dance.

At a comfortable pace, alternate between counting all six units and saying only “one” on each group opening, and when the second “one” arrives without a scramble, move to it. Leave stick work for a room with space and someone to show how.

A Nordic three can be uneven and still be a three. Polska is written here with beats one and three marked, a short second beat and the weight leaning towards the third, and Springar is likewise a notated three with an asymmetric feel. Both vary by locality and do not fit three identical boxes, so the metronome is a reference pulse, not a correction for a fiddler.

Hambo is a more even three and the easiest way in. Slängpolska flows in even sixteenths inside its three. Halling and Snoa are twos, Schottis a four, and Gangar a walking six grouped 3+3 whose timing can also change with locality. The accents show the chosen stronger counts; the empty space under most boxes means no instrument strokes are transcribed.

Step all three beats of Hambo, then play Polska at an easy pace and listen to how its second and third beats relate, without forcing a lopsided feel out of the click. Count three aloud over Springar while tapping only its marked first and third beats, and once that settles, go and hear the dance played.

In klezmer and Jewish dance music, Freylekhs and Sher are the quick, even twos; count one, two with the feet and let the tune take the smaller notes. Khosidl slows to a walking four. No instrumental syllables sit under the boxes, and the clicks mark chosen counts, not a clarinet, a bass and the dancers together.

Bulgar groups eight small units as 3+3+2, and Terkish uses the same tresillo cell, three, three, two, at a different pace; say “long long short” while tapping the eight even units underneath. Hora (zhok) is a slower, limping three with its first and third beats marked, while Hora (Israeli) is a fast circle dance in four, so a shared word does not promise a shared count. Sîrba returns to two, with triplets running inside it.

Walk Freylekhs for a few cycles, then play Bulgar and clap only on the starts of its three groups, keeping the small units equal under the uneven claps. Leave the slow Hora (zhok) for another day.