Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Paso Doble Music

The music for the Paso Doble is in 2/4 time (that is 2 beats to the bar/measure as in "Spanish Gypsy Dance" or "Espana Carni") and the dancer steps on each beat of music. It can also be in 3/4 time (that is 3 beats to the bar.measure as in "Lady of Spain") the dancer would again step on each beat of music; this is not at all popular with the competitors as it has a Viennese Waltz feeling. It can also be danced in 6/8 time (that is 6 beats to the bar/measure as in "Delicado") the dancer would step on beats 1 and 4 which makes it very slow and it certainly would never be used for competitions and/or championships.
So, back to the 2/4 time and "Spanish Gypsy Dance" or "Espana Carni". This piece of music is used most frequently for competitions and demonstrations. The configuration of beats and measures is inconsistent with the usual consistent  8 beats. The "high lights" or "crashes" appear out of the ordinary. However, all competitors and demonstrators choreograph their routines to the musical phrasing of this famous piece of music.
Here is the configuration of measures and beats for "Spanish Gipsy Dance"

(Note: instead of counting 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 7-2, 8-2, we count it 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and we take a step on each count).
There are no introductory beats, the starred (*) beats are the highlights

16 Measures counting 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8
2 Measures counting 1 - 4

24 Measures counting 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8
2 Measures count 1 - 4

8 Measures counting 1 - 8, 1 - 8
1 Measure counting 1 - 2
4 Measures counting 1 - 8
3 Measures count 1 - 6
16 Measures counting 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8
3 Measures counting 1 - 6*

16 Measures counting 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8
16 Measures counting 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8, 1 - 8
8 Measures counting 1 - 8, 1 - 8
2-1/2 Measures counting 1 - 5 ! *

Happy Counting ! 

No comments:

Post a Comment