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Thread: More on musicality

  1. #1
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    More on musicality

    I know musicality has been discussed before.

    I am looking for up to date comments, as a local weekender is coming up, and musicality is being taught, but having gone to the weekender last year, the musicality workshops were IMHO sh1te.

    The top 2 I enjoyed in the past, was a Nigel Anderson one (1996), where he broke down the music and explained phrases and how to predict what the music is building up to. Then an Adam Nathanson one (a year or 2 ago in Aussie), where he explained that you can dance to different instruments, the voice, or the feel of the music.

    I had a keen dancer tell me she was really looking forward to the musicality workshops coming up at the weekender - I kept quiet, but underneath I wanted to scream "don't do it!"

    Maybe it is just that Aussie's in general, in fact, do have NFC about musicality, or maybe they just have not seen a good musicality lesson.
    (I take out of the Aussie mix, Peter and Amy, and Adrian and Louise who I am sure would do a good musicality workshop, but I have not seen them do one)

    So I am asking, what would you like in a musicality workshop?

    I will start...
    1/ Understanding of music and how it can be broken down.
    2/ Looking to make a boring track interesting, by picking a certain instument, or voice or feel.
    3/ Playing through breaks or extending breaks, whilst recognising the break.
    4/ Varying tempos as the music demands, using slow or fast moves as required, but not just slowing up or speeding up what you normally do.
    5/ Equal tips for girls and guys.

    Although I am full of dread of what is going to be offered, maybe keep this on the positive and say what you would like included - with perhaps a bit of OMG, please don't just do that!

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    Registered User NZ Monkey's Avatar
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    Re: More on musicality

    I’ve thought about this a lot fairly recently, and the best answer I came up with was:

    “Something I don’t know yet. Invite me please. Also, pay for my air fares and accommodation.”

    Failing that, and assuming your students don’t have any experience yet I’d run with the following ideas:
    1. Musical Structure – Sets of 8 beats. Downbeats and Upbeats. Music tends to emphasize the downbeats, especially 1&5.
    2. Phrasing – 4 or 6 sets of 8 is typical. Hearing cues leading up to a phrase change. “Big Hit” changes vs “Starting Over Afreash” ones.
    3. Breaks – Really part of phrasing, but deserves a separate section to itself. Ideas to mark breaks without freezing.
    4. Breaking down Moves – Moves constructed in 2 beat increments. Easier to change a move somewhere to mark music than playing 8 steps ahead.

    I think that’s the bare bones of it. After that, or perhaps in a separate workshop I’d look at the actual dancing side of it.
    5. Acceleration/Deceleration – Looks better when used together to provide contrast within a move (IMO).
    6. Body Isolations – Marking accents individually without affecting the connection.
    7. Footwork – Using variations in footwork to pick out musical elements. Also teach how to step so that it looks nice (strictly speaking not musicality, but it will make them look better which is probably why they’re there in the first place).

    I’d personally avoid trying to teach people to use different types of move to different types of parts of music. I think that’ll just keep them locked into the more moves = better dancing mentality I’m sure you’d like to avoid.

    For the moves that you do use in the workshop, I’d keep them simple and try to show at least a couple of stylistic variations of each to change the look without necessarily making it a new move in it’s own right. I’d do so in a way that emphasizes the part of the workshop I was currently teaching.

    There would be hundreds of ways to construct different workshops using just that structure alone of course, and there’s really no reason for me to suggest that way except that it makes sense to me. Hopefully it makes sense to someone else as well

  3. #3
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    Re: More on musicality

    Ohhhhh, nice topic.

    My first musicality class was called a 'Style workshop'. I thought at the time, and still do, it was pretty much perfect. I so wish I had it on video/DVD. It was a progressive class over, I think, four afternoons, and as far as I can remember, this was the order of play...

    Started with the first baby steps of musicality, and that's dancing to the beat and timing your moves to the beat. (i.e. slow music passage = slow moves). Matching moves to the music energy. Sounds so dumb now

    Second topic was fitting moves to the music in a generalized way. I can't remember the songs they chose, but a more modern example would be doing 'sways' to that sway song. Also covered tempo V rhythm.

    Third was 'breaks'. I remember the first song used was 'Make me smile'. No counting or structuring was involved, just listening to the music and 'feeling' the build-up. Quite a few other songs were used here to highlight how 'breaks' appear. In retrospect, I think this was mostly about making us actually listen to the music

    Note that were quite a way in and no musical structure has appeared. I think that is thrown in too early some times. Esp if dealing with MJ'ers used to moves, not theory.

    Anyways, now musical structure appeared. I can't remember how they introduced it or broke it down, but obviously phrases and the usual gubbins etc. were discussed and the usual breaking down of moves, using double spins to hit end of phrase, the wonder of the mutant sway and other tricks etc etc etc.

    And that led nicely into the difference between a break and a accent, when accents occurred and what you could do with accents as opposed to breaks. We had to clap along to the song's beat, and clap louder for accents, stamp our feet for breaks

    The different instruments followed, as a task, we were actually made to dance 'normally' to one song's different instruments one after the other. That was surprizingly hard, but it helped with 'picking them out'. Dancing to the voice was not covered, prolly the only thing left out.

    Next was 'presence'. Firstly the basics, I.E. sticking your arms out, using the whole floor etc., but then something not usually covered, how to use the music to enhance or reduce your 'presence'. For some reason it sticks in my mind that this section came from Ballet.

    Then there was a bit of actual styling (I.E. independant of the music). How to wave your arms about etc This was split into different sections for different genres of music. I.E. Latin section, Swing section, no Blues, but slow and sensual section. LOL. Lot of work on making body move to music, not just steps.

    At the end of each afternnon, there was a long'ish practise session where the teachers went round everyone individually and gave specific advice.


    I would guess I've missed quite a lot out, I know there was something on footwork and other stuff, but being a new'ish intermediate, a lot of it flew over my head and despite it making a huge impression on me, the years have dimmed it even further.

    This was back in the days of Ceroc South, we were so lucky back then with the teachers we had and the enthusiam of the franchise. I wonder if it is a coincidence that both teachers who ran this course emigrated down under ?

  4. #4
    Registered User Baruch's Avatar
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    Re: More on musicality

    to the suggestions already offered.

    I'd also suggest adapting moves to different musical styles (funky, Latin, tango-y, etc) and, perhaps just as importantly, what sort of moves NOT to use to a given style of music.

    Looks like this is going to be a L-O-N-G workshop

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