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Secrets of Solo
@secrets_of_solo

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Why do most of the solo jazz dance moves start on the 8th beat? ❓ Back beat (weak beat) is what we call the 8th beat. In truth the 8th does not exist. Only in the “dancers world”, where we decided to count until 8 for convenience of the phrases or the movement length. There are only 4 beats. 🏁 So the 2 and the 4 are the so called down, weak or back beats. This is the opposite of the typical accent structure of classical music, where beats 1 and 3 are usually the most accented. Those are what characterise jazz music. When you listen to jazz tunes you will always hear the accentuation on the weak/back beat. Like Duke Ellington said, “in jazz we do not push it, we let it fall” when he was talking about the clap on one of his concerts. So some of the solo jazz dance moves start on the weak/back beat (what you call “8th beat”) to emphasise this idea. It’s the same idea as in clapping on 2 and 4 when listening to jazz. Although of course there are moves that start on 1 or the upbeat. 1 is a very strong musical statement. It’s in the game, balance of accentuation upbeat and backbeat that swing is living. #fastsongs #fastdancing #kseniatips #practice #dancepractice #practicegame #onlineeducation #secretsofsolo #kseniaparkhatskaya