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written and reprint permission granted by Diana Wolff for a more complete version of this article click here |
The musical phrase is the key to balanced choreography, routines that "feel" right, and steps that are on the beat. Most professional aerobics tapes are called continuous 32-count; you must have a firm understanding of what that means to be able to successfully choreograph for the music. Not every participant in fitness classes consciously hears the musical phrase, but most people are unconsciously aware of it. If you are not stepping on the beat, it will be harder for participants to follow your patterns and learn your routines. For some, it is downright annoying when an instructor ignores the beat. So what is a musical phrase? Just like a grammatical phrase is a piece of a sentence, a musical phrase is a piece of a song. Continuous 32-count songs can be broken down into 32-count groups, each made up of four 8-count phrases. Aerobics tapes are set up so that the music plays in 32-count blocks. Most times, the start of the block of 32 falls at the start of the chorus or verse of a song, or there is a **huge** drum roll to tell you the block is starting. The block of 32 is further broken up into blocks of 16 and blocks of 8, with smaller drum rolls. This is because most steps take 2, 4, 8, or 16 counts of music (e.g., a basic step is 4 counts of music). The advantage of the 32-count is that the music essentially tells you when to cue. You can tell when the chorus or verse of a song is about to start or end, and then drum rolls are built into aerobics tapes to help you even more. So, if you set up your choreography in 16- or 32- or 64-count blocks, the drum roll, chorus, or verse tells you when to start cueing a block or a new step. To take a simple song we all know, let's deconstruct "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and find the 32-count phrasing. It's especially important to be able to hear the first beat of the phrase, because that's when you will take your first step of any combination. To show the beat of the music, I will ( ) the lyrics that fall on each beat. (The words that are not in ( ) are lyrics that fall between beats.) If you were marching to this music, that first ( ) beat is when your foot would hit the floor. The first line of the song goes like this (it helps if you sing and march while you are reading it): (Mar)
y (had) a (lit) tle (lamb), (lit) tle (lamb), (lit) tle (lamb) To continue,
the second 8 beats go like this: The third
and fourth 8-beat phrases continue: Those four 8-beat phrases make one 32-count phrase. The next chorus of the song begins the next 32-count phrase. It is important to remember that not every popular song you hear on the radio uses 32-count phrasing -- some throw an extra 8 beats in between verses, or an extra 4, or some other count. Playing with the phrasing can make a song sound interesting, which is why songwriters like to do it. However, if you are choreographing 32-count blocks, you will want to use professional tapes with continuous 32-count phrasing. Take out some of your favorite compact discs or tapes, not aerobics but popular music. It can be current, or oldies, rock or pop or country. Listen to a few songs, paying close attention and trying to find the first beat of every chorus or verse. Count off the 8-beat phrases with your fingers, and notice when an extra 8 or 4 is thrown in, or when the beat changes in some other way. Sometimes popular songs slow down suddenly, or pause for a second between choruses just for fun. That's why we use professional music! Listen to the music. First, just clap to the beat. Next, starting with the beginning of a 32-count phrased tape, sit and count up to 32 with the music several times, so you can start hearing the 32-count in the music (you can do this with tapes in the car for practice). Then, identify that the music is arranged by sets of eight beats (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8; 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, etc...). Pay attention each time a new set of eight starts. Once you have that down, notice that every four sets of eight (every 32 counts) has a pretty significant change in the music. Someone will start or stop singing, a new instrument will appear, or there will be a HUGE drum roll. Those 4 groups of 8 beats are the magic 32-count phrase. There are also smaller changes or drum rolls or whatever (like the end of a line of lyrics) every 8 counts and every 16 counts. So, when we teach, we teach to a musical phrase that is 32 counts. That phrase starts with a strong beat, like the beginning of the vocals or other instruments. When we choreograph, we try to choreograph in sets of 8, 16, 32, or 64, which fit into the musical phrasing. For instance, if you have 4 moves of 8 counts, they make a 32. Likewise, two moves of 16 repeated twice make a 32, and so forth. So, when you are putting together your moves, you should count the beats that each move actually takes, and then combine them in sets that take 32 counts. For example, you can do: · 8 marches
(8 counts) This is a 32-count block. After you get the 32-count down, the music will help you give your cue, because you will be able to hear the changes building that tell you, "This is the start of a new set of 32/16/8." This is important because you need to give your cues for each new step on the 2 beats of music **before** you want the class to start the new step. If you are doing the block above, it looks like this: 8 marches
(counts 1-8 of the 32-count) So, to give your cues 2 beats before the change in the move, you need to cue the heel digs on counts 7 and 8, the jogs on 15 and 16, and the ham curls on 23 and 24, right? If you are familiar with the 32-count, you know that the change in the music is saying to you, "Hey, these are counts 7 and 8 -- you should be cueing now." That is what I mean when I say that the music counts for you. The best cueing tips out there Count down your moves **out loud,** try to say how many of the move you will do in the cue, and give the new cue instead of saying the "one." (or the "two, one") So, that means that this little block will sound like, "March for 8! 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, heel digs! 4, 3, 2, jog for 8! 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, ham curls! 4, 3, 2, and stop! This method is useful for a few reasons. First, it tells your class how many moves they will do. If you count up (1, 2, 3...) you could go up to 64,092 before changing, but when you are counting down, they KNOW a new move is coming when you get down near 1. It also helps you remember how many you have done and when you will give your cue, because you know to not say "one." Begin to practice transitioning between two moves by starting with two very simple moves, like a march to a step touch. Begin the march on the right foot at the top of a 32-count block. Count down 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 8, 7 every time the RIGHT foot hits the floor (that is, every other beat). Notice that you are saying 8 on beat 1 of each 32-count block. Once you are marching, and you are sure that you are marching with the beat and the 32-count, say Step touch! instead of 1 at the END of a 32-count block. Begin to step touch to the right just as you say 8. Practice transitioning both from a march to a step touch AND from a step touch to a march. Once you are very comfortable transitioning on the 32-count, experiment by not counting out loud (you will have to listen for the change in the music to know when to cue), and by transitioning at the 16-count mark, the 8-count mark, and the 4-count mark. |
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