Musical Interpretation Workshop - Notes

[DavidB]

Musical Interpretation
Part 1 – Dancing to the beat
What is the beat?
The beat is the basic counting unit in the music.
The way the beats are arranges and emphasized defines the rhythm of the dance.
Where is the beat?
In a lot of blues & swing, the beat is played by the Bass player
In most modern pop music, the beat comes from the drummer (or the drum machine!)

Example of Bass beat (actually a ‘Walking Bass’, because the bass player ‘walks’ up and down a scale) is ‘Fine Brown Frame’ by Lou Rawls
Example of a percussion beat – ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ by Kylie
From an individual beat to the structure of the song
Downbeats and Upbeats
Not all beats are created equally. In a lot of dance music, beats are grouped into pairs. These are called the ‘down beat’ and the upbeat (or backbeat).
The downbeat is typically emphasized by low frequency instruments (the bass and the bass drum) and the upbeat is accented by high frequency instruments (eg snare drum and rhythm guitar)
Eg Fever by Elvis Presley
Even when the music is very evenly paced (ie not syncopated) this makes the downbeat sound ‘longer’ and the upbeat sound ‘sharper’
(eg ‘Bad Habit’ by Onephatdeeva)

Bars
For a musician beats are also grouped into ‘bars’, consisting of 4 beats. However the vocals seem to follow a grouping of 8 beats. (ie each line of the song is generally 8 counts long)
Dancers tend to follow the singer, and use an 8 beat grouping.

Phrases - Verses & Choruses
These bars are then grouped into phrases called verses and choruses. A verse is typically either 32 beats long (ie 8 musical bars, or 4 eights), or 48 beats (ie 12 musical bars, or 6 eights). The 48 beat structure is also known as 12 bar blues, and is typical of blues music. Pop music tends to be 32 beats.

Everything else
The verses and choruses then get grouped into a song. Typically you get 2 verses, followed by a chorus, followed by another verse. But at this point the structure starts varying. You get intros that can be long or short. You get bridges (extra bars) between the verses and choruses. You get solos in the middle of the song that can last forever.

Counting the music vs counting the movements
Modern jive traditionally counts the movements, not the music. You need to start counting all the music if you want to interpret it.
Everything in &a1 &a2 &a3 &a4 etc can be used.

8 steps of rhythm interpretation

0. Dancing on time / off time

1. Breaks.

A break is an interruption to the rhythm. In most music that gets played for Modern Jive there are two types of break – turnaround breaks, and phrase breaks
Turnaround breaks
The Turnaround is the last eight in a verse. The breaks happen on either the 1 or the 5 in this eight. They can last from 3 to 7 counts. They tend to happen at the end of most verses and choruses, but this is not guaranteed.
Eg on the 1 – ‘Sharks In The Water’ by Killer Joe
Eg on the 5 – ‘Start It Up’ by Robben Ford,

Phrase Breaks
These are breaks that last for the duration of a whole phrase (or several phrases). This may still have a definite beat (eg ‘I Wanna Be U’ by Chocolate Puma) or may be just vocals (eg ‘Castles In The Sky’ by Ian Van Dahl). Phrase breaks can happen anywhere in a song, but usually only happen once. A usual place is after the introduction. (In Hard House tracks, they always seem to happen 1min20sec into the track, because they are always the same speed!)

Blues music tends to just have turnaround breaks. Modern music has a lot more variation.
Eg you can get a break on the ‘7’ (eg ‘It Just Won’t Do’ by Tim Deluxe), or you can get small breaks all over (eg ‘Pop’ by ‘N Sync)

And there are exceptions – eg ‘Get A Little’ by G E Smith (Phrase Break in a Blues Song)


How to hit them in Jive.
For Turnaround Breaks the easiest thing to do is ‘Dissect’ a simple move – ie figure out how to put a break in anywhere in a move.
Or you can have particular moves that are ‘designed’ to hit breaks, such as ½ whip to freeze.
It is very difficult to hit the breaks whilst doing complex moves. So when you know there is a break coming up, keep it simple. Save the complex moves for the boring music.
Eg ‘Friday the 13th’ by Royal Crown Revue
For phrase breaks, you can have a longer ‘break move’ such as the Creepy Crawler Stalker Move. Or you can put in any UCP move, or just keep improvising.



2. 32/48 beat and pitch change.
Ok – so you know whether the break is on the 1 or the 5 in the last eight of a verse. But how long is a verse? Some are 32 beats long, and some are 48.
48 beat blues follows what is called a blues progression. The first 2 eights of a verse are in one key. The 3rd and 4th eights are in a different key. The 5th and 6th eights are back to the first key.
32 beat verses are all in the same key.
So if there is a key change between the 2nd and 3rd eight in the first verse, you know the song follows a 48 beat structure.

Example of 32 beat – ‘Sweat’ by Poppa Chubby
Example of 48 beat – ‘Road Runner’ by Microwave Dave & The Nukes
Example of a longer ‘Blues Progression – ‘Mustang Sally’ by The Commitments
Example of a blues song that is 32 beat – ‘Wade In The Water’ by Eva Cassidy

3. Recovering after a break.
Depends on the music. If there is no drumbeat in the recovery, it suits a slower, smoother movement (ie no footwork). If there is a drumbeat (and usually little else) then the movements can be sharper, with more footwork.
Eg Gotta Get Thru This by Daniel Bedingfield

4. Phrasing.
Different in MJ to other dances. When does a move start – the step back or the step in?

5. Bridges.
Bridges are extra bars that are added to confuse dancers! There is no way of knowing where they are, but they make a lot of difference. You have to know the song.
Eg Avalon by Good Times
Bridge moves eg 8 walks. Alternating Hand Spins

6. Syncopated rhythms
Especially modern RnB and Garage
Eg ‘Family Affair’ by Mary J Blige
‘Bills Bills Bills’ by Destiny’s Child

7. 17th beat
The 1st and 17th beats of a song (and the 33rd in a 48 beat song) have more emphasis on them than any other beat other than in a break. So you should try to highlight them.

8. Build up in amplitude
There is a build up in volume, or energy, from beat 2 to beat 16, with a peak on beat 17. And again there is a build up from beat 18 to 32, with a peak on the next 1. If the build up seems a bit faster, there may be a break.
In addition, there is also a build up from the first 2 eights to the second 2 eights. And there may be a build up from the first verse to the second.
Eg ‘Because The Night’ by Jan Wayne
‘Here Comes The Pain’ by Lee Haslam

And sometimes no matter what you try, you get a song that you just can’t dance to – eg ‘21 Seconds’ by So Solid Crew

Part 2 – Dancing to everything else
Dancing to an instrument
Dancing to the guitar – ‘Talk To The Hand’ by Jesse & The Raindogs
Dancing to the lyrics
Especially in routines. Obvious ones such as “kissing my ass” in ‘Get The Party Started’ by Pink
Mood of the song
Romantic, sexy, harsh, cheeky

‘Fire’ by Des’Ree
‘4 My People’ by Missy Elliot
‘Groove Is In The Heart’ by Dee-Lite
Style of the song
Latin, funky, pop, swing, blues, hip-hop, dance, RnB, RnR all have their unique style. You should not try to dance the same way to all of them.

Turn The Beat Around by Gloria Estefan
‘Music’ by Madonna
Beat It by Michael Jackson
‘Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby’ by Rae & Christian
‘Big Fat Girlfriend’ by Kenny Lee
‘Gravel Pit’ by Wu Tang Clan
‘Stuck On You’ by Elvis
Map of a song
Pick up on some repetitive accent in the song, and keep using it. After a while your partner should pick up on it as well
‘Nu Flow’ by Big Brovaz
Light & Shade
Doing big moves to highlight something in the music is a waste of time if you are doing big moves all the time. No-one will notice, and your partner will think you are just lucky! Learn the art of doing nothing, and then when you do something people can see it.
Philosophy
I dance to show the lady off. A lot of men dance to show themselves off.

[Gadget]

I remember sitting down and reading your notes on Part2 (Part 2 – Dancing to everything else) and I remember you mentioning it breify, but I don't remember you going into it in as much depth as the rest... did we run out of time? {or had my brain absorbed too much and didn't want any more? }
I was interested in what the notes said and would have liked to delve deeper into some of the subjects.

Also, when you're dancing freestyle, do you really count the beats, or have you been dancing often enough that you can just 'hear' where the music changes without having to count?
I can see where counting the beats would be usefull in choriographed routines and competitions where a lot of "musical interpritation" relys on finding the breaks and having moves tie in exactly with the music, but in freestyle it seems a little like 'homework' to me (if you know what I mean)

[DavidB]

Originally posted by Gadget
did we run out of time?

Yes! It was the first time I'd taught the workshop, and it was difficult to guage how far I'd get. As it turns out, there was probably enough for 3 1-hour workshops (which might be a better way of doing it in future??).

Also, when you're dancing freestyle, do you really count the beats, or have you been dancing often enough that you can just 'hear' where the music changes without having to count?

Most of the time at Modern Jive nights, I've heard each song so often that I just know what is going to happen. It is only for unfamiliar songs that I need to count.

I will listen to the first verse, and decide whether it is 32 or 48 beats, and note where the break is. After that, if it is a 32 beat phrase, I can usually pick it up after the first 16 beats. If it is a 48 beat phrase, I can pick it up after 32 beats.

David

[Gadget]

Originally posted by DavidB
Yes! It was the first time I'd taught the workshop, and it was difficult to guage how far I'd get. As it turns out, there was probably enough for 3 1-hour workshops (which might be a better way of doing it in future??).

A lot of the workshop was (/is) very much like a lecture or presentation: not much audience participation. But the concepts don't lend themselves to the standard "practice" method of teaching dance.
The first part I think could almost be taught before the workshop by giving the participants the notes to read a week or so beforehand. This would enable you to skim over this bit, and giving more time to the "dancing" bit and less to the "listening": Listening can be done without a partner, dancing {MJ} is a bit more tricky on your own.

{BTW I intend no criticism on what was taught, the way it was taught or the teachers - just some ideas. }

[DavidB]

Originally posted by Gadget
The first part I think could almost be taught before the workshop by giving the participants the notes to read a week or so beforehand. This would enable you to skim over this bit, and giving more time to the "dancing" bit and less to the "listening": Listening can be done without a partner, dancing {MJ} is a bit more tricky on your own.

I think listening to the music is a vital part of learning musical interpretation. When I first learnt this, I had read about it from a few places on the internet. But it was only when I heard the examples that it started to make sense. Although I could give the notes out first, and may do so in future, I would not be happy duplicating loads of CDs for people. (And I only finalised the music just before we flew up, and it has already changed since we came back!)

I had wanted to have more dancing examples. And if I ever teach the workshop again I'll include them throughout the workshop. However at the time my legs and feet were really hurting, and I felt that many other people wanted a rest. So we decided to leave them to the end. In hindsight this was probably a mistake.

I'm quite happy to get some criticism of the workshops. I'd have only rated myself as about 5/10 overall, with the musical interpretation perhaps 4/10. It is definitely the one that needs most work on it.

David

[Gadget]

Originally posted by DavidB
I think listening to the music is a vital part of learning musical interpretation. When I first learnt this, I had read about it from a few places on the internet. But it was only when I heard the examples that it started to make sense. Although I could give the notes out first, and may do so in future, I would not be happy duplicating loads of CDs for people.

Not suggesting that at all! Much too much work - by quoting the examples in your notes, it encourages people to go and hunt down the tracks themselves, or listen a bit closer next time they hear it at a venue. If you do too much, there will be no point in actually attending the workshop

I had wanted to have more dancing examples. And if I ever teach the workshop again I'll include them throughout the workshop. However at the time my legs and feet were really hurting, and I felt that many other people wanted a rest. So we decided to leave them to the end. In hindsight this was probably a mistake.

If your legs & feet hurt, then don't dance: we wouldn't want you or Lilly injuring yourselves and depriving us of your presence(s) on the dance floor!!
If you are(were) unhappy about leaving out examples, perhaps work out a few ways to involve the class and show them without dancing yourself - just as a contingency plan.

I'm quite happy to get some criticism of the workshops. I'd have only rated myself as about 5/10 overall, with the musical interpretation perhaps 4/10. It is definitely the one that needs most work on it.

Don't agree with your scoring (I would say 8.5/10), and I'm not sure that the Musical Interpritation was poorer than the others; just a different concept and a different way of presenting it.

{BTW I may appear to criticise everything, but that's just me. :sorry:}