West Coast Swing for Salsa Dancers | Musicality

West Coast Swing Musicality can be tricky. This video covers understanding west coast swing music specifically as a salsa dancer. Even if you are not a salsa dancer this video will be helpful in understanding WCS musicality.
This is my favorite WCS tip for becoming more musical in WCS. It’s good for not only salsa dancers but anyone trying to understand WCS music.
GET MY #1 MUSICALITY TIP FOR WCS:
danceonline.le...
Check out my full musicality course….
It’s called the ‘Ultimate Guide to Musicality for West Coast Swing”
www.westcoasts...
I hope that helps gang. If you have any questions please head to my website and shoot me an email or just leave a comment in the comment section of the video!
Speak soon,
Brian B

[@jayess4]

I've never clicked on a video so hard! Thanks for helping us salseros get the swing of things (tee hee)!

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Hey perfect! I'm so happy to hear that. I hope you guys find it helpful. -Brian

[@jayess4]

Thanks, I really did! Also, something I find really difficult about WCS is how sometimes the patterns are 6 count and sometimes they're 8 count and I have trouble remembering which patterns are which count. (What ends up happening is there will be several 6 count patterns in a row and suddenly they'll be an 8 count one but I won't catch it and I'll be doing a 6 count step). If you have any resources on that that'd be awesome! :)

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Its really the ability to think about the dance in 2 beat increments. There are some great videos on our site that might help. www.westcoastswingonline.com/videos/ Check them out! -B

[@matthewc445]

I honestly think your videos are the best west coast swing tutorial online. Coming from salsa and bachata, your video will help tremendously to quickly pass beginner and intermediate to advanced level. You break down the music well, and that explains why the professional dancers dance differently than what normal class will teach.

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Wow thank you Matthew! Actually this video came as a recommendation from one of our subscribers. I'm happy to make any videos that you might suggest so if anyone has any ideas... I'm game!

[@alberth4246]

He is a very talented teacher. His instruction is very clear. I am a slow learner and I can understand it.

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Thanks so much Albert

[@salsageordie]

The anchor step is key . It clarifies the count .

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Yes sir!

[@pingpong4811]

No it is not and it may help, but certainly you dont need it. We dont use it in lindy hop to swing music nor do we use it in boogie woogie on RnR music. And both those dances (swing dances ofc) use 2 counts, only difference: one is a weight transfer step (tripple) and the other keeps weight on same leg (rock step). WCS agrees on an anchor, which is fine, but you dont need it. Nor do you need the slot, tbh. We forgo both and it is still danceable, even much more freely, however it requires floor craft (awareness of other couples around you, as you not just rotate within a pattern, but also rotate as a couple the entire pattern on the dance floor). Lindy showed it years before WCS was thought up (and Lindy is the mother of all swing dances). Follow the energy and movement, that is the most important thing. Other than that, look at musicality: we hit the phrase by introducing filler steps to round out the dance (shorten a pattern to fit, stomp off etc.). So if we do a swing out (wcs: whip) and we decide to take 10 instead of 8 counts, because we are dancers and we can do whatever we deem fit in a moment, we later use 2 less to get back to a full 4 times 8 meaning 32. You can, but dont have to match up with the phrases all the time, tho in swing and RnR it is rather important if you want to show good musicality, as the musical idea will be in those segments.

[@peterp500]

Excellent...very well explained...thank YOU!

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

You're very welcome! -Brian

[@MrSadnap]

Excellent video!

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Thanks Stu. its not only salsa dancers who struggle with this so I figured it was worth covering. -B

[@fairyprincess911]

Yay! You reached 30k🙌🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽😻🌷

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Thanks for the help!!! -B

[@fairyprincess911]

@@WestCoastSwingOnline Go WCS 🙌🏽💃🏽🕺🏽🪩

[@Tobwilk]

5 year salserano here. I have to say I still don't understand. I think what I got was 1and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, (then sometimes?) 7 and 8? Still don't understand what happens after 6, on an 8 beat track.. do you just pause and wait for 2 beats?

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

In salsa there are 6 steps to 8 beats of music... for the first 3 steps, Quick, Quick Slow,....You step on beats 1,2. You step on beat 3 and hold for beat 4. This gives you a Quick Quick Slow rhythm. Then you repeat the same process for steps 4,5,6 (beats 5,6,7,8)

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Hi Toby, Good question. We did another video that picked up where this one left off. I wasn't able to link it properly in the video. But you can access it here: danceonline.lpages.co/wcs-musicality/ That should fully answer your questions!

[@Tobwilk]

So when you do a 6 beat WCS move, what do you do on the 7 and 8?. Do you keep going, but now you are alighed to a different step on the next 8 beats, or do you pause for a bit and let the 7 and 8 pass by then do the next 6 beat WCS swing move back on 1? Your video explains the problem for a salsa dancer at the start, then you go into an excersize. However, the excersize is an 8 beat batten, not like a WCS 6 beat move so it dosnt actually give the answer to the question as to what you do on the 7 and 8 right?

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Hi Toby, Did you catch the video in the link above? I hopefully did a better job there of describing it in the video. When you do a 6 count move to 8 count music yes you will have counts 7 and 8 left in the music. You will NOT wait till the one but WILL begin on the 7 and 8 of the music for the beginning of the next pattern. Unlike salsa where your basic pattern last 8 beats and the music has 8 beats and everything stays aligned, WCS does not fit the music so neatly. I describe in in the KZbin video at 1:21 and at 2:54 Hopefully that will help a bit more! All my best, -Brian B

[@sheldonv8]

That's a question ive always wanted the answer to and the reason I stopped doing WCS and stuck with modern Jive was because no teacher could give me the answer . .I did Salsa for 8 years before getting fed up with the rubbish same same music.

[@npergis]

Great video ! thank you for this, Do you still have the download available for The #1 Key for WCS Musicality? Link no longer work. Cheers!

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Thanks so much! Yeah this was a video that was requested but some subscribers. I though it was helpful too! Here is the musicality link: danceonline.lpages.co/wcs-musicality/ Do you know where the broken link is? I'll try to fix it. All the best, Brian

[@npergis]

Thank you for the link Brian! the broken link is in this video description danceonline.leadpages.co/musicality-/ as well as in the the video itself in the top right corner, it goes to a Page not found . Thanks again! I look forward to learning more from your WCS videos!

[@ne5o2]

Ultimately you do not really need to always hold 2,4,6,8 but you can do for example 1, 2 ,3, 4n5n6, right?

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Yes an no. From a basic perspective no. From a more advanced prospective yes. Fundamentally 2-4-6-8 are whole beats in swing dancing but artistically as a dancer you can do what you want lol

[@pingpong4811]

Salsa is difficult? What about it? Every song - the never ending song - sounds the same, unless they put their SO GREAT background instruments ON TOP of a good pop song, making it a "salsa-pop song" - and then go figure if on1 or on2. It is a bit like the PasoDoble of social dances. You cant FOR LIFE AND DEATH REASONS NeeeeHEEEEVVER leave the 8 count basic, so musicality and improv pretty much is dead in salsa - so like doing yoga without arms and legs, yeah you can roll onto your back and back again, great. The followers - or zombies - mirror your every step to the death - I swear, if you were to salsa-basic-step onto lava, they would follow that move without hesitation and with PERFECT spin technique and the way you lead their arms. And they have a sub-genre-dance with each their own songs so you can dance slower and slowest - yes, and for those three sub genre there are exactly 3 - three - songs. Just great variation. Still fun, tho :D :P

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

Thanks for the great input! -B

[@tomc4187]

Spoken with true ignorance of Afro-Cuban music and its rhythms, its fusion with Jazz in new york, its rich musical history and rhythmic sophistication.

[@WestCoastSwingOnline]

@@tomc4187 You might be right. Just trying my best to help. If you have some resources that you could share with the youtube dance community I'm sure they would be appreciative.

[@tomc4187]

@@WestCoastSwingOnline Oh dear! I did not mean to reply to you, I meant the originator of this thread. I have no argument with you. 'Ping Pong' unfairly dismisses a tradition (s)he has an at-best superficial understanding of. There is much wonderful music in the Afro-Cuban tradition, and many excellent dancers have emerged from the fusion of Afro-Cuban dance and music with American Jazz. It is harder to be musical in salsa, but only because the music you are dancing to is often up-tempo, polyrhythmic, densely layered. Perhaps it demands more that 'Ping Pong' can offer; and so they disparage what they cannot practice. See Maykel Fonts or Frankie Martinez, Eddie Torres Jr., Fadi Fusion et al for great dancers in this tradition.

[@pingpong4811]

@@tomc4187 Sure, it packs such a punch I cant take. I cant even begin to understand how just dance, because the music just does almost not offer ANY nuances, difference in tempo, energy, just some breaks - at least - and it is so great how they pronounce at least THAT part of the song - the one and only never ending one, that Frankie Martinez, great dancer, I am convinced: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZiadX9ni856pKs I mean, if I were to compare it to something like this, sure ... salsa is so free and offer SO much improv and musicality, like this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHmtkmNvgMh3hJI LOL, NOT (for sarcasm). Salsa is fun, no doubt about it, but it is not exaclty the dance you go to when you want to freely express yourself while partner dancing... This is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHWWpJlqqbujrqc And I could point you to the entire SWING DANCE Family: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6jQeaioqZt7gc0 Please, share your salsa jack n jills. Maybe I just didnt find the right dancers... BTW, Zouk, is a great dance that offers most of what Swing does. Not Salsa, tho ;)