The best explanation of musicality I've ever come across
Understanding the concept of musicality and its 4 basic principles
Pierre Henry is a musician, DJ, Salsa & Bachata teacher and an expert when it comes to musicality.
Last week I came across his course "Bachata Musicality Course for Dancers – available for free so I’m not here to advertise you anything.
Pierre completely blew my mind with this three video course. He explains the concepts of musicality and how they relate to dancing. And he does it in a way that I've never seen anyone else do before.
The videos are quite long and you need to pay close attention. So in an attempt to promote his work and make it more accessible here's my summary of the first video called "Part 1: Music Theory Foundation".
It covers:
Musical interpretation vs musicality
Musicality as a simple concept to understand whats going on in the music
The four principles: Timing, Rhythm, Phrasing and Dynamics
If you like his work please consider donating.
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Musical interpretation vs Musicality
Although closely linked those two are not the same thing.
Musical interpretation is purely about your interpretation based on what you know and what you like.
Musical interpretation is saying "I'm expressing myself however the hell I want".
Whereas musicality is coming from a place of understanding. You know when it's appropriate to do certain things and when not. You can explain what's going on in your movement in a way that someone else can understand it.
An example is watching a Spanish telenovela without speaking Spanish:
Say a woman is angry at a man. You might understand what's going on but you don't know why that is. If you would actually speak Spanish you'd you understand that the woman is angry at the guy because he didn't take out the trash in three weeks.
The key difference is that they are two different levels of understanding the music.
Musicality is a simple concept
You might have told yourself that musicality is too difficult. That there are too many things going on and that you'll never be able to grasp it.
In essence it's simple. The problem is that it takes a lot of practice. Musicality is a concept that you have to apply to how you listen to the music.
The people that have musicality tend to be people that always listen to music actively.
There's an important distinction to be made between actively and passively listening to music.
Passive = The music is just playing in the background Active = You are paying attention to what's going on.
Most people listen to music in a passive way. It's background noise to whatever they're doing.
Actively listening and understanding the concepts of musicality doesn't mean that you have musicality. But it'll teach you how to listen in a way that you can understand what's going on in the music.
At the end of the day dancing is a visual way of making music: We are trying to fit our moves in to bring the music to life. To make sound visible. In order to do that we have to understand the sounds we are trying to make visible.
The 4 basic principles
There are 4 basic principles to musicality:
Timing = The ability to synchronise your movements within a specific beat in the music
Rhythm = A repetitive and predicable sequence of accents within the music
Phrasing = Identifying the different sections and sentences within a song
Dynamics = The ability to match the energy of our movements to the energy of the music
#1: Timing
Timing is the most fundamental relationship between your movement and the music. If you don't have timing you are not dancing.
Timing is the ability to coordinate your movements with specific beats or accents within the music.
If I ask you to clap on 1 you are able to clap on 1, if I ask you to clap on 2 you are able to clap on 2. That's timing.
Comparing Salsa on1 with on2 is a good example. We are coordinating our break step (where we put the accent and we change direction) with specific beats in the music.
#2: Rhythm
Rhythm is the most complex of the four. By definition rhythm is a repetitive and predictable sequence of accents within the music.
Example of the clave: The clave plays five accents that repeat in a predictable manner. That's called a rhythm. Different instruments can play different rhythms.
Here's a song that helps you break down the different rhythms in a salsa song
For dancers it doesn't just mean the ability to hear rhythm. But to identify different rhythms within several instruments. To be able to pick out a specific instrument, identify the rhythms it's playing and recreate that rhythm in our bodies.
Simply put: If you can't hear the rhythm then you won't be able to recreate that rhythm.
In latin dances the rhythms that we create are created primarily in our footwork.
All dance styles have a specific basic step. They are not just a way of travelling around the floor. They are a physical manifestation of a rhythm, a rhythm that exists within the music.
Again we can take Salsa on1 and compare it to on2. They are the same steps, the same counts. But on1 the accent is on 1 and on2 the accent is on 2. The only difference is where you put the accent within the basic step. On 1 = 1 and 5. On 2 = 2 and 6.
By changing where we place the accent we change the rhythm of that step. And that rhythm is related to specific instruments within the music. You will notice that dancing on2 gives you a completely different feeling as you're dancing on a different instrument.
#3: Phrasing
Phrasing in music is similar to the idea of phrasing in language.
We have different sentences (or sections) within the music. Those have a beginning, middle and end. It's a musical unit that makes sense to the ear.
The most popular sections are the verse and chorus. Each of those sections has a specific role in the composition of the song.
The Verse
The verse is essentially story telling. It's the singer telling us a story. That story unfolds as each verse progresses (second verse continues from the first, etc...). And each verse tells a new part of the story. The instruments are chilled and the singer is clearly in the spotlight.
The Chorus
This is where the composer and the band are trying to involve you in the song. It's where you get the catch melodies. Words are usually very repetitive so you can remember the lyrics easier and sing along. Usually this is the part you pick up first when listening to a song. You don't remember the words/melody to the verse.
Most likely this is not news to you. So how does it relate to dancing?
You need to understand that within those two sections your mind is in two different modes. What's the polite thing to do when someone is telling you a story? You shut up and listen.
When we are dancing we use that as well. In the verse we quiet down our movements so that we can listen to the story that's unfolding.
In the chorus, when we are supposed to join in. That's where we're supposed to bring more energy and join in with the band.
Creativity and freedom in music are all an illusion.
Musician are not free to do anything they like whenever they like. They have to follow a framework: In the framework of the verse it's about the singer. In the chorus it's more about the interaction with the crowd.
As a dancer that means depending on the section we're in it's more appropriate or less appropriate to do certain things.
It's about knowing when to do what you want to do. Not whatever you wanna do whenever you wanna do it. Knowing when to do certain things is the key point of musicality.
Simple example: Don't do a crazy footwork solo in the middle of the verse.
As dancers we want to be respectful of everything that is going on in the band, So we become part of the band, rather separate.
We don't try to outshine the singer or the instrumentalists. We are trying to fit our moves in to bring the music to life.
Our job is to make sound visible. In order to do that we have to understand the sounds that we are trying to make visible.
#4: Dynamics
Dynamics is how we are matching matching the energy of our movements to the energy of the music.
Put simply: During the verse the energy is lower. During chorus it's higher. We want to match our energy of dancing with the the energy of the song.
The problem is lots of dancers start their energy too high so they are stuck. They are not following the energy of the song but are powering their way through the song.
It's not only about the sections but also the individual phrasings:
When you hit a break it's not just that you're hitting the break. You also take into account the energetic buildup to that break. You're matching that in your movement. Your energy builds up to that movement in the music and then you stop. You're matching your energy to the sounds that you're hearing.
That’s it for Part 1. Next week I’ll cover Part 2 which will be about music structure in Bachata.
Want to read more articles like these? I’m Yann and this is my weekly newsletter “The confident lead”. Each week I write about things that make you a more confident leader on the social dance floor. Leave your email address to receive it every Sunday evening.