Dance Steps, Step Patterns,

Time Signature and Counting

Prepared by:
Karl Jacon Ferolino
Judy Ann Uy
 Dance Steps/ Step Patterns
• The basic step, basic movement, basic
pattern, or simply basic is the dance
move that defines the character of a
particular dance. It sets the rhythm of the
dance; it is the default move to which a
dancer returns, when not performing any
other moves.
 Time Signature
• also known as meter signature, of a piece
of music defines how the beat is organized
by prescribing how many beats occur per
measure and what kind of note designates
one beat.
 2 Nu m b e rs

Top Number
indicates how many beats occur
per measure
Bottom Number
gives the type of note that will
receive one beat
 So what’s a BEAT?
• The BEAT is a steady pulse.
• It is what our feet or toes should be tapping at all
times.
• When we turn on the metronome it clicks the
BEAT!
• The BEAT is what the director’s arms conduct!
• The BEAT is when your feet move when you
dance.
• The BEAT will (for most of our time together),
almost always be a quarter note.
Let’s Break it Down
• In this time signature the top number is 4, so there are
FOUR beats per measure/bar.

• The bottom number is 4, meaning a

QUARTER NOTE gets 1 beat.
 Basic Meter Classifications:
Simple and Compound

• Simple or compound meters occur with

two (duple), three (triple), or four
(quadruple) beats per measure.
 Simple meter- the top number is always 2,
3, or 4, and the beat unit divides into two
equal parts. (A beat unit is another way of
saying the number of beats in the measure.)

Compound meter- the top number is

always 6, 9, or 12, and the beat unit divides
into three equal parts.
Asymmetrical (Composite) Meter
• When a time signature has an odd number
of counts and the counts can be grouped
in various combinations of twos, threes, or
fours within a measure
• Meters such as 5/4, 7/8, and 11/8 are
asymmetrical (or composite).
 Mixed Meter
• are measures or groupings of measures
in different time signatures.
• Examples of mixed-meter music date to
the Renaissance. Mixed meters also
occurred in world music dating to times
before the existence of music notation.
 Polymeter
• Another type of musical meter in which
different meters occur simultaneously
 Characteristics
The table below shows the characteristics of
the most frequently-used time signatures.

SIMPLE TIME SIGNATURES

Time Signature Common Uses
4 Common time: Widely used
or in most forms of Western
4
popular music. Most
(quadruple)
common time signature in
rock, blues, country, funk,
and pop.
Time Signature Common Uses
2 Alla breve, cut time: Used
or for marches and fast
2
orchestral music. Frequently
(duple)
occurs in musical theater.
The same effect is
sometimes obtained by
marking a 4
4 meter "in 2"
2 Used for polkas, galops,
and marches
4
(duple)
Time Signature Common Uses
3 Used
for waltzes, minuets, scherzi,
4
polonaises, mazurkas,
(triple)
country & western ballads,
R&B, sometimes used in pop

3
Also used for the above but
8 usually suggests higher
(triple) tempo or shorter hypermeter
 COMPOUND TIME SIGNATURES
Time Signature Common Uses
6 Double jigs,
polkas, sega, salegy, tarantella, marches,
8
barcarolles, loures, and some rock music
(duple)
9 Compound triple time: Used in triple ("slip")
jigs, otherwise occurring rarely ("The Ride
8
of the Valkyries", Tchaikovsky's Fourth
(triple)
Symphony, and the final movement of J.S.
Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor (BWV
1041) are familiar examples. Debussy's
"Clair de lune" and the opening bars
of Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune are
also in 98)
Time Signature Common Uses
12 Also common in
slower blues (where it is
8
called a shuffle) and doo-
(quadruple)
wop; also used more
recently in rock music. Can
also be heard in some jigs
like "The Irish
Washerwoman". This is also
the time signature of the
second movement
of Beethoven's Pastoral
Symphony.
 Counting

Why do we count
in dance?
Counts help dancers:
• Move with correct timing and rhythm to
match the music.
• Execute the same movements at the same
time as a group. This is also called unison.
• Know their stage entrances and exits, and
also when to begin or end class exercises
and combinations.
• Rehearse and perform choreography that
may use multiple groups, entrances,
exits, canons, or other devices.
Counts in Music and Dance
• In music there are typically 4 counts, or beats, per
measure.
• In dance, a measure is usually “musically paired” with a
second measure. These two measures equal a total of
8 counts, which is why dancers count in sets of 8.
• 8 counts keep track of the beat and tempo, but break
up the song into manageable sections. One set of 8 is
like a sentence.
• After every 8 count, another 8 count begins, then
another, and another.
• Dancers can find the beginning of an 8 count by
identifying the downbeat, (the strongest accent of the
measure).
BASIC STEPS
BASIC DANCE STEPS IN 2/4 TIME SIGNATURE