Great question John P. Remember there are a lot of different types of music. Finding the beat is about being rhythmically in tune to the music pattern. While the drum is a instrument to listen for, being on beat means being in tune to tall the instruments. The bass guitar is another that is emphasized by dancers when dancing to the beat. Rather than thinking about melody vs beats think about the whole music composition.
A Drill:
Look at Michael Jackson's Bad. There are 2 music lines to follow. The first line is introduced in the introduction of the song. Down- Down- Down- Double tap. Try sitting and tapping your foot to this section of the song. Michael generously provides this section of music uninterrupted for about 16 seconds. You can follow this line of music throughout the entire song (yes it's apart of the chorus).
Now replay the song. When the vocals start there's a percussion sound that you can try to clap with. This is another music line that you can follow and dance to.
Try picking one of the music lines to dance to for a few seconds.
Try switching between the two.
Watch a dance video of Michael Jackson and see which music line he is following.
Hope this helps.
Rae W.
Dance | New York, NY
August 05, 2016
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