Direct marketer of music gear, Musician’s Friend, announces the much-anticipated arrival of Drum Workshop (DW) drums for sale online starting in January 2009. Musician’s Friend is proud to offer the entire Eco-X drum line that incorporates DW’s environmentally conscious approach to drum making. Drummers can preorder the Eco-X snare drum, tom drum, bass drum, and 5-piece drum shell pack that are expected to ship by mid-January.

After 30 years of high-end drum manufacturing, DW has begun distributing its drums to online retailers including Musician’s Friend, a retailer that historically has only carried [DW drum hardware. Acclaimed by many of the world’s top players, DW drums, pedals, and hardware are known for their professional features and appealing looks.

DW’s newest line, the Eco-X, features drums constructed from birch and bamboo, a renewable resource now used as an alternative to tropical hardwoods. The drums deliver excellent sonic characteristics with increased high-end response along with deep, low-end presence from every drum in the DW Eco-X 5-Piece Drum Shell Pack. This shell pack includes the player’s choice of 20″ or 22″ bass, 10″ x 8″ and 12″ x 9″ toms, 14″ x 12″ floor tom, and 5-1/2″ x 14″ snare.

Eco-X drums are built with DW’s pro features including the True Pitch

One of the most important skills any musician can benefit from is that of a quality practice session every day.  Practicing for at least 20 minutes, but no longer than a couple of hours each day will make you a better bassist, guarenteed. 

It’s all about quality.  It’s not enough to practice your instrument every day.  You must have a quality practice session in order to better yourself as a musician. 

What should you practice?  You can never go wrong with scales (as boring as they can seem).  Learning the fretboard is key to becoming a better bassist.  You should know the placement of every note on your instrument. 

Practice with a drum loop, or drum machine to help you get in the pocket, and stay there.  What good is a bassist who has no sense of rhythm?  No good at all.  You must be able to develop a groove, and practicing with a drum loop will help you do that.

Expand your horizons.  Just because you’re a rock (country, jazz) bassist doesn’t mean you can only play bass lines within that genre.  The more stylist grooves you know, the better off you are as a bassist.  A great book to learn stylist grooves is Bass Grooves, by Ed Friedland, and published by Backbeat books.  It comes with a CD that demonstrates the different grooves.  This books was a huge help to me when I was first starting to learn bass guitar.

Expose yourself.  Listen to as many bassists as you can, both live and on CD.  Other bassists aren’t your rivals.  They should be your motivation and inspiration. 

Take the opportunity to play with other musicians, especially those who are better than you.  Playing with superior musicians will stretch you musically, and is one of the best ways to become a better musician.

Learn to read the bass clef (standard notation) or tablature (tab).  You shouldn’t have to rely on reading music to play it, but it comes in handy when you’re learning new music or techniques, and is a heck of a lot quicker than learning by ear (most of the time).

Finally, don’t give up!  The bass guitar is an incredible instrument, but most people don’t learn the bass overnight.  It takes time, love, and dedication to be an accomplished bassist, but it is well worth the effort.

Rock on!

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Guitar Hero: Metallica could have been terrible, but it’s saved by an amazingly cohesive collection of tracks, a clear love for the band, and engaging note charts for guitar, bass, and drums. You can quibble about the inability to import or export tracks, but their is a game overly you will return to again and again, either solo or with friends.
Guitar Hero has become something of a juggernaut of a franchise—and this is possibly going to inspire particularlly dislike in the comments—but the more Guitar Hero games Activision Blizzard sells, the greater amount of the quality seems to take a nose-dive. We reviewed Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero On Tour in one feature: properties both fit under the umbrella of terrible innovations that were definite to make a ton of money. Guitar Hero: World Tour was undoubtedly worth the money, but it can not beat the feature set of Rock Band 2. Guitar Hero: Metallica seems covet recently another way to cash-in on the hype cheaply, with everyone engaged making out such as bandits—or so the conventional wisdom may say.

Preconceived notions can go to hell. The game starts surrounded by Metallica walking slowly towards the stage, and then you tear to “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” The audacity of this move is surprising… there isn’t a smooth build as the first song takes you to ten. Crank the sound system, turn the lights down, and invite some friends over: the current is the numerous aggressive, metal, and well-designed love letter to a band you may continually see in gaming.
Title     Guitar Hero: Metallica
Developer     Neversoft
Publisher     Activision Blizzard
Price     .99 to .99
Platform     Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2

It’s uncomplicated every stage of the way that the design team adores Metallica, and the presentation is wonderful. The workers of the band submitted to wearing light-up suits for the motion capture, the camera work during the reside suggests is spot-on, and even the lights and pyro for every song are perfect. Even better is the truth that these types of songs own chosen of the best note-charts Neversoft has ever done; the crunchy riffs and lightning-quick solos all feel impressive to play, and the drums are put together just as well. When I started playing the game, I was only a middling fan of Metallica, but the song’s set list does a great job of walking you through the band’s career and showing you why you provided care: I at last found myself surprised at how many songs I knew and loved. Don’t be afraid to start on medium: the difficulty is handled well, but it’s notched even greater than past games.

Almost as good are the songs included from more bands: Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy,” Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page,” Corrosion of Conformity’s “Albatross,” Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys are Back in Town,” and (my personal favorite) Alice in Chains’ “No Excuses” join others for a great collection of tracks. These are songs too Metallica has either covered or has been influenced by, and they do a good job of providing context to the different Metallica tracks. It all sounds like a mix tape someone obsessed over, and each song is coded very, very well. I don’t know who at home base woke up and created these note-charts, but I damn near played the entire game through in one sitting, and then jumped on drums to do it again.

One of the criticisms often leveled at Rock Band is the present the game is not as the best in single-player mode; the guitars just do not seem fun enough to prop the whole thing up without a broad band. Metallica has no such problems; this is insane single-player game on either guitar or drums. It’s even better when you can get buyers together, sure, but the guitar and drums feel top notch a good deal when played alone. Be sure to pick up a second bass pedal so you can awkwardly try to play both at the same time… recently like Lars! A new mode also allows you to drum freely over the tracks, creating your own drum lines. This is just a big purchase for borrowers who don’t need dots to drum, but it is significantly fun to play with. Even better? No boss battles.

Stage settings from Metallica tours, behind-the-scenes and small venue videos—be sure to watch Lars struggle to still be up with himself on tape additonally doing motion capture—and other surprises sweet out the package. There are downsides here: the songs can’t be added to World Tour, nor will any songs other as opposed to the Death Magnetic album be available to import, but this game beats Aerosmith to pulp. No grainy video of the band telling lame stories. It takes full advantage of the Guitar Hero formula to prove off what affects Metallica such a great band.

The drama and power of these kinds of songs—and many are very long—are utterly on display. I’ve spoken to others about the game, and everyone has been surprised by only how clearly Metallica as a band made the transition to a rhythm game. Even if you barely like Metallica, the game is worth choosing up for the full band experience. Get out your drums, your guitars, and your microphone and get ready to throw some beer bottles: it is more than worth the requested price. It’s desired to see Neversoft create somewhat that rocks such hard, and the developers if be rewarded for the effort.

If you are skeptical, do me a favor and at the very least give the game a rent to see what I’m talking about. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

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And in a delightful development that has taken place during the past decade, what type have been once humble regional dishes have been tweaked, prodded, enhanced and ultimately glorified with international pizzazz. Quite often the old tried-and-true procedures still work best, but in other cases Lowcountry delicacies continues to be elevated to rival any of the world’s most suitable dishes.

Today there are lots of gourmet variations on the dish, Nathalie Dupree of Charleston, S.C. came out in 2006 because of the “Shrimp & Grits Cookbook.” In simply the Myrtle Oceanside locale there are cerainly not less than twenty varying but equally exceptional ways of preparation, from the basic butter recipe to ones with brown gravy or tomato-based sauces.

What to Keep in Mind
There are actually different things you need to just remember if you are new with on line shopping. First, you ought to make certain that you are acquiring from a reputable retailer. Make certain you read the customer feed back. Don’t decide to do enterprise with one simply as a consequence they’re providing the lowest price. Sometimes, if the deal is just too good to be true, it likely is.

Some western fashion counter stools have a round “saddle” rather than rectangular. They are still termed western counter stools for their different qualities, like wood as the material for both their legs and the seat. They’ll sometimes have 4 legs, and the neighboring legs will be joined with cross bars at assorted heights on neighboring sides, and similar heights on opposite sides, for stability and sturdiness of construction.

Sometimes the legs shall be produced from natural branches, with their natural curvatures, giving a seat a rustic, special look. Later, using the growth of timber carving machines, the legs would assume form of straight and of the identical shape, and would function basic round ornaments.

Take a while and consider what your alternatives are when you are thinking about buying them, and spend a little while watching into the rooms that they will go into. Think of how you are bound to be in a position to get forward and in addition examine which sort your choices are going to become whenever you desire to find a bar stool that is going to go well with you.

The first thing to have a look at is what type type of overall ornament you have in your particular kitchen. You just will want to choose whether the ornament is classic or modern, and from after this you should discover it a lot simpler to decide on the sort of bar stools which will fit in together with your design.

Another thing that you should contemplate when you are taking into consideration buying a saddle bar stool is what kind of room just one of those bar stools would most suitable suit? In the initial place, you are going to find that they’re perfect when you are looking for seating around a kitchen island or at a bar that has a fairly high surface. Take some time and give some thought to what your choices are and which sort kind of spaces this may suit.

Some contemporary style saddle counter stools have their seat formed in a downward curve, resembling the curvature of the saddle. Notwithstanding the rectangular shape of the “floor plan” of the seat, you may be in a position to sit on the chair searching forward, as if riding, and straddling the chair together with your legs, otherwise you will be in a position to sit sideways, with your legs together, and your behind safely seated within the curve of the saddle seat.

Some western pattern counter stools have a round “saddle” as opposed to rectangular. They are really still termed western counter stools for their different qualities, such as wood as the material for both their legs and the seat. They’ll generally have four legs, and the neighboring legs will likely be connected with cross bars at different heights on neighboring sides, and same heights on opposite sides, for stability and sturdiness of construction.

Lots more revealed about saddle bar stools here.

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There are some choices for the shapes of the body jewelry for a navel piercing. The most popular shape is normally referred to as navel bars or belly bars. This type of bar has a small ball on one end, a large ball inside the belly button, and is curved. There are some styles of that have a large ball that will unscrew, but usually it is only the small ball that is removed to insert the jewelry.

With some endorsements by celebrities, better piercing practices, and a little bit of knowledge and understanding, the popularity of body piercing has increased recently. All of these things have helped to main stream many types of piercing and things like lip, tongue, and navel piercings that were relatively rarea few years ago are now an everyday occurrence. As body piercing has become more popular, the choice of body jewelry to wear through the piercing has increased along with it.

Navel bars that are made from plain bars just have balls on the ends, although the jeweled versions like the double jeweled titanium bars to some of the creations that have dangles and gems have all manners of elegance.

Dangle navel bars can hang from the top but usually have a dangle that hangs from the bottom ball.

This type of piercing is popular with people who have the bottom of their navel pierced as opposed to the top rim.

Navel bars are the most popular style of jewelry and there are numerous styles that are available.

The standardlength for navel bars is 10mm and the standard thickness is 1.6mm. Usually a barbell that is 12mm is used for the first piercing to permit swelling.

However, it may depend on the person’s anatomy because sometimes it may be necessary tomake a piercing that is larger or smaller than the standard 10mm. But the gauge always needs to be 1.6mm. As a result of the growing number of people who have piercings that are not the average size, these days thereis more jewelry that is available in numerous sizes. Navel bars are currently available from as long as 14mm and as small as 6mm.

Navel bars usually have a 5mm top ball and a large bottom ball that is 8mm. Balls that are larger and smaller are available and selecting a size is a matter of personal preference.

Windows Predefined Controls – Part 27
Volume – Windows User Interface

Introduction
This is part 27 of my series, Windows Predefined Controls. In order to understand this tutorial, you must have read all the previous tutorials of the series. In this part of the series, we look at Windows Scroll Bar.

Note: If you cannot see the code or if you think anything is missing (broken link, image absent), just contact me at forchatrans@yahoo.com. That is, contact me for the slightest problem you have about what you are reading.

Why a Scroll Bar
The size of the computer screen is limited (in width and height). The size of a window, smaller than the computer screen is more limited. You can have a document or an image that is more than the size of the client area of a window; yet you want the user to be able to see the whole document or images when it is displayed in the client window. To achieve this, you need scroll bar for the window.

What is a scroll bar?
A scroll bar is a vertical or horizontal bar in a window or control. A scroll bar is made up of a shaded shaft with an arrow button at each end and a scroll box between the two arrow buttons. This scroll box is sometimes called a thumb. A scroll bar represents the overall height (going downward) or width of a data in a window’s client area; the scroll box indicates the portion of the data that is visible in the client area. You must have seen scroll bars as you use windows applications. You can have a veridical scroll bar and/or a horizontal scroll bar in a window.

The position of the scroll box changes whenever the user scrolls data to display different portions. The operating system also adjusts the size of a scroll bar’s scroll box so that it indicates what portion of the entire data is currently visible in the window. If most of the data is visible, the scroll box occupies most of the scroll bar shaft. On the other hand, if only a small portion of the object is visible, the scroll box occupies a small part of the scroll bar shaft.

The user can scroll the content in the window or control by clicking one of the arrow buttons. He can also scroll the content by clicking the area in the shaded scroll bar shaft, or by dragging the scroll box.

If the user clicks an arrow button, the application or operating system would scroll the content by one unit (typically a single line vertically or column horizontally). When the user clicks the shaded areas, the application scrolls the content by one window. The amount of scrolling that occurs when the user drags the scroll box depends on the distance the user drags the scroll box and on the scrolling range of the scroll bar.

Scrolling Range
You can move the scroll box from one end of the scroll bar to the other. That distance is the scrolling range. It has a range of integers associated with it say from 0 to 100. The scroll box can have a position anywhere within that range.

Parts of a Scroll Bar
You now know that we can have a vertical scroll bar and a horizontal scroll bar. We know that a scroll bar has two arrow buttons at its ends and a scroll box.

For a vertical scroll bar, the arrow button at the top can be called the lineup button. The shaded area between the lineup button and the scroll box can be called the pageup button. The arrow button at the bottom can be called the linedown button. The shaded area between the linedown button and the scroll box can be called the pagedown button.

For a horizontal scroll bar, the arrow button at the left can be called the lineleft button. The shaded area between the lineleft button and the scroll box can be called the pageleft button. The arrow button at the right can be called the lineright button. The shaded area between the lineright button and the scroll box can be called the pageright button.

Creating a Scroll Box
This is one of the easiest things to create in windows. So far we have been using the CreateWindowEx function to create windows and controls. This function has the dwStyle argument whose value are the styles for the window or control. To create a vertical scroll bar, just add the windows style, WS_HSCROLL to the dwStyle argument. Also, to create a horizontal scroll bar, just add the windows style, WS_VSCROLL to the dwStyle argument.

When you create a scroll bar this way, we say you have created a standard scroll bar. A standard scroll bar is located in the nonclient area of a window. Alternatively, you can create a scroll bar as a control. That comes with some advantages; however, I will not discuss scroll bars as controls in this series.

That is it for this part of the series. We stop here and continue in the next part.

Chrys

To arrive at any of the parts of this series, just type the corresponding title below in the Search Box of this page and click Search (use menu if available):

Combo Box functions
Windows Scroll Bar
Windows Toolbar Control
 

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Flamenco is one of the most popular and characteristic feature in Spanish culture. The word Flamenco is a tripartite art, involving singing; the song is called as Cante, dancing named as Baile and Guitarra the use of guitar, all being used simultaneously.

There are many different types of pieces within flemanco, all having their generic names like, seguiriyas, soleares, alegras, malaguenas, fandangos, zapateado, rondena and many more.Each one of them has a mood and rhythm. Flamenco dancing is characterized by colorful costumes, intense movements, stamping of the feet (zapateado), and clapping of the hands (palmada).

History:

The origin of Flamenco is thought to be the mixture of at least four cultures as; Gypsies, Moors or Arabs, Jews, and the Andalusians. It has been considered to be originated particularly from one of the Spain’s province- the Andalusia.

Between 1765 and 1860, the first Flamenco schools were created by Cadiz, where the dance started to have a firm position in ball room dances. Early Flamenco is thought to be purely vocal, with the clapping of hands, toque de palms.

Then during 1869-1910, the definitive form of Flamenco was developed in the caf’s (caf cantantes). From 1910-1955, Flamenco singing came in the form of opera Flamenca. From then, the Flamenco was developed all over the world.

Flamenco music:

Flamenco music is believed to be originated in the early 19th century from canto hondo(deep song) of Andalusia, accompanied by a guitar.Flamenco music is characterized by a particular body of song, dance and guitar music. The Flamenco song is based on a particular group of modes with Phrygian characteristics.

The accompaniment is usually played on a guitar taking three styles; rasgueado (strumming), paseo (lively melodious passage work) and falsetas (improvised interludes).

Forms of Flamenco Expression:

Flamenco is expressed through the toque, the playing of Flamenco guitar, the cante (singing), and the baile (dancing).

Toque:

The first Flamenco guitars are believed to be originated in Spain around 15th century. The traditional Flamenco guitar is made up of Spanish cypress and spruce. It is lighter and smaller in size than a classical guitar. It gives a more sharp sound.

Cante:

Cante is often called as the heart of Flamenco. The verses of these songs are really beautiful. Flamenco song can be categorized in number of ways as, Solea, Siguiriya, Tango and Fandango.

Baile:

EI Baile is a highly expressive form of Flamenco solo  dance, which involves sweeping of the arms and stomping of the feet. In addition to the percussion provided by the heels and balls of the feet, castanets are held in the hands and clicked together with the music rhythm.

Clothes and shoes:

It is suggested to wear a top in order to avoid the restricted movements. Moreover, the trousers should not be too long as a tap or sound on the floor needs to be clear. A solid soled shoe is a better choice which will produce some sound while walking on it. It is advised to have character shoes for performing Flamenco dance.

Musical characteristics:

Harmony:

Flamenco music has been derived mainly from Arabic Adani music with the preservation of the Phrygian or Greek Dorian mode. In ancient Greek music, the Flamenco melodies are found to be descending than the ascending patterns as found in the Western music.

The Phrygian mode is the most popular and common in Flamenco music. It is used for solea, bulerias, siguiriyas, tangos and tientos. The Flamenco version of this mode contains two frequent alterations in the 7th and even the 3rd degree of the scale.

Melody:

The Flamenco singing has many characteristic features like;

The presence of intervals smaller than the semitone,

Change from one note to the other is done in a smooth transition,

Most of the Flamenco songs are limited to a range of sixth,

Use of enharmonic scale,

Baroque ornamentation,

Greek Dorian mode,

Most styles express sad and bitter feelings,

Melodic improvisation.

Compas:

It is a Spanish word for meter and time signature in music. But in Flamenco, besides these meanings it also refers to a rhythmic cycle of Flamenco style. Flamenco uses three basic counts or measures; Binary, Ternary, and the twelve beat cycle which is a unique feature of Flamenco.

Rhythms in 2/4 or 4/4. These meters are used in forms like tangos, tientos, gypsy rumba and zambra.

Rhythms in 3/4. These are typical of fandangos and sevillanas, both of which originate from Spanish folk.

12-beat rhythms usually usually rendered in amalgams of 6/8+3/4 and sometimes measure of12/8. 12 beat amalgams are the most common in Flamenco. There are three types of these varying in use of accentuations.

1. The solea.

2. The seguiriya.

3. The buleria.

The compas is fundamental to Flamenco, without which there is no Flamenco.

If you are a follower of music then you’ll probably notice that music trends are changing. In fact it is likely to be something that you have noticed even if you are not a fan of music. I am sure we are all well aware of the fact that even the way we get our music these days is far different to what it was even a few years ago.

Music these days is very much about downloads. Bands put their music out online and people can download it instantly. We still get CD’s in store, but downloads and their popularity is steadily increasing.

That said there are still some hard-core music fans that like the real thing, such as collecting dance music vinyl. Music is still pressed on vinyl for certain tracks and genres and dance music vinyl is probably one of the most popular.

Of course it is not just new dance music vinyl that they are after.

Many retro vinyl presses are collectable and hard to find. If you are a music collector then it stands to reason that you’ll want to make sure that you have the music tracks you are after on every format possible. This is why for many people vinyl still remains extremely popular.

However I am sure you are all aware that vinyl is not exactly well stocked in many high streets because it is more of a specialist product. In fact if you are looking for older and rarer pressings then you’ll be even more hard pushed to find what you are looking for.

Looking online is probably the best place to start because you can search from all over. This means that you are not limited to just local suppliers which of course limits your choice. By using the internet you can buy from people all over the world, which makes it easier to find what you are looking for.

There are specific online stores that deal in rare dance music vinyl. If you browse through these you have a high chance of finding what you are after.

Related Dance Music Articles

Introduction

By modern partner dances I mean all dances where there is a “leader” (usually but not necessarily a man) and a follower (usually but not necessarily a woman).  These types of dances include Modern Jive (LeRoc, Ceroc, French Jive), Lindy Hop, Salsa, Argentine Tango and of course Ballroom and Latin.

Dances such as Disco Dancing and Line Dancing are quite different because there is no communication aspect between leader and follower.  It is this communication aspect, where the leader communicates his intentions to or “leads” the follower who responds by  doing the appropriate moves or “following” (but many times with embellishments of her own), which makes partner dancing so challenging and enjoyable.

In addition to the sheer enjoyment aspect of partner dancing, there are other benefits such as keeping you fit, keeping (especially for older people) you mentally alert and improving your social life.

 I would say that I have met over 90% of my current circle of friends through dancing (though we are not dancing nerds and have other interests outside dancing!) and I have met over 90% of my girlfriends through dancing.  (They do say that a man who is good on the dance floor is also likely to be good in bed, but it is not for me to say whether that is true or not!)

Argentine Tango

I could write forever about Argentine Tango, so I will have to strictly control myself here.  I first tried Argentine Tango because I had been dancing for some years and I was looking for something completely different to try.  I knew that several of my fellow Modern Jivers were dancing it so I decided to have a go.

First off, Argentine Tango is DIFFERENT.  In its simplest form it can be described as a “walking dance”; walking in time to music.  However, this “walking” can take years to learn.  Also, the term Argentine Tango actually covers three distinct types of dance: the Tango itself (4/4 time, generally quite moody); the Tango Waltz or Vals (3/4 time and generally romantic, but a different sort of 3/4 time to Ballroom Waltz because the emphasis is on the first beat rather than treating all three beats equally {a bit like Viennese waltz but slower}); and the Milonga (2/4 time, and very jolly).  At this point, to avoid possible confusion, I should also point out that the word Milonga is also used to describe an Argentine Tango Dance (location) where all three styles are danced.  Nobody seems to know why.

The moves (Argentine Tango dancers prefer to call them “figures”) are led from the chest (some would say from the heart!) while maintaining a rigid frame with the arms and shoulders.  The partners have no main body contact below the waist, although the legs will come into contact during certain moves (compare this to Ballroom, where there is no main body contact above the waist!).  Surprisingly (unbelievably even, for non Argentine tango dancers) the leader can make the follower move her legs in various ways using this chest contact alone. 

The chest contact (“close hold”) is to me the most logical and satisfactory way of leading in Argentine Tango, and is the style danced in the milongas (the dance locations) of Buenos Aires.  However, many Northern Europeandancers are unhappy with such intimacy, and so the “open hold” was developed.  In this, there is no physical contact between the chests of the two partners and instead the follower has to look at the leader’s chest to see what the lead is supposed to be.  Seems a bit daft to me.

I have to say that I became totally obsessed with learning this dance style, but it is unfortunately not possible to learn it “properly”  outside Buenos Aires, and sooner or later every tanguero (that is what tango dancers like to call themselves – an accomplished tanguero is referred to as a milonguero by other tangueros, but you should not call yourself one) makes the pilgrimage.  In my case visiting Buenos Aireswas a life-changing experience.  First of all I had to unlearn and relearn everything I thought I knew about Argentine Tango.  Then I fell in love with the city and its (female) inhabitants and had to return again and again.  Finally, I was so corrupted by the experience that I couldn’t really enjoy dancing Argentine Tango back at home any more. Sad.

As a final comment, Argentine Tango attracts a lot of mystique around itself – what I call “Zen stuff”.  Admittedly it is a difficult style to dance well but it really only requires musicality, a good sense of balance, and training in the steps – there is nothing mystical about it I at all and it annoys me when people pretend there is.

Ballroom and Latin

Coming to Ballroom from Argentine Tango was quite a shock.  The hold is different, the posture is different and the lead is different!  In Ballroom, the left arm (of the man) is held way out from the side of the body, whereas in Argentine Tango the most comfortable position is recommended to be quite close into the body.  In Ballroom, the top half of the body is held away from the partner, as opposed to Argentine Tango where it is pushed in towards the partner.  Sounds a bit boring but wait for the next bit: in Ballroom the lead comes from the lower part of the body and the legs, so the groin is pushed well into the groin of the partner!  They are similar in that in both styles of dancing you do not look at your partner (whereas in all Jive Styles and Salsa it is de rigueur!), but in Argentine Tango you look over her right shoulder, whereas in Ballroom you turn your head to the left as if you are looking over into the corner somewhere, and have to use your peripheral vision to see where you are going.

Ballroom styles include the slow and elegant English Waltz, the madly twirling Viennese Waltz, the Quickstep (does what it says on the tin), the beautiful but extremely difficult to learn Foxtrot, and of course Ballroom Tango.

At this point I want to explain why I have been painstakingly typing the words Argentine or Ballroom in front the word Tango every time I use it.  It is because they are completely different dances!  About the only thing they have in common is the name.  Argentine Tango is smooth, elegant and passionate, whereas Ballroom Tango is staccato, fiery and downright angry looking.  Both are quite sexy though.

For some reason, Ballroom is always linked to Latin, though they are quite different styles requiring different skills.  Latin styles include Cha-Cha (-Cha), Rumba, Samba and Salsa (but not Ballroom Tango which is not considered a Latin dance, even though it came from South America!).  Apart from the Cha-Cha they are all quite sexually explicit dances, and involve the Latin hip movements that I referred to on the Salsa page, so they can be quite challenging for Northern Europeans.  And Samba is quite impossible because additionally you have to get the “party bounce” into your step while at the same time not looking like a giraffe on acid.

The problem I have with Ballroom and Latin is that, at the more advanced levels, they are intricately linked up with either taking medals or doing competitions.  You also tend to have a regular partner, whereas with all the other dance styles I have discussed on this site, the whole idea is to change partners frequently.  This is not to say that Ballroom and Latin cannot be danced socially – they can, and very enjoyably too.

Modern Jive

Modern Jive (specifically LeRoc) was the first dance style that I tried and which actually got me into dancing, at the ripe old age of 45!  I was looking for some way to develop my social life after my divorce, and somebody suggested that I try it.  I was very hesitant at first because I had always had three left feet, and like most British males at the time I believed that dancing was just for girls.  Eventually I did go along, and after the first evening’s lesson I was amazed.  I thought to myself “Hey, I can do this!”

It is probably the simplest, and some would say the most fun, of all forms of modern partner dancing.  It uses a  simple 4/4 rhythm and was developed from 1950’s American style Rock and Roll by the French, who long after the rest of the world had given up on it, kept it alive and adapted it to the modern day (Le Rock and Roll, right?).

It is taught in the form of “moves” (short sequences of steps) which are linked together to form a flowing dance.  The moves range from simple stepping and turning to fairly complex drops and lifts, so it can be danced by people of all skill levels.  One of the attractive things about LeRoc is that it can be danced to practically any sort of music, especially modern disco music, blues, Latin and so on.  Moreover, I have travelled widely with my job, and in social settings all over the world I have usually found someone that is able to do some sort of Modern Jive.

A word about terminology, which people often ask me about: French Jive is the original form as developed and danced in French France.  LeRoc and Ceroc are the Anglicised versions.  They are very similar but whereas LeRoc emphasises the lead by using hand signals, with Ceroc the lead is more natural.  Also Ceroc is a franchise, whereas LeRoc is not. However, the moves are similar; they are like two dialects of the same language – with a little practice LeRocers and Cerocers can easily dance together.

On the social side, both men and women can ask each other to dance (so there are no wallflowers!), and you usually then dance one or at most two tracks with  the same person (though if you like them you can of course go back to them again later).  It is a good way to meet new people, but it is mostly danced on a “friendly” basis without any “predatory” intent.

Rock and Roll

Rock and Roll (or as its proponents would call it “Rock ‘n’ Roll, often prefaced by the words Good ol’) is actually two distinct styles of dance, danced to the same music (you can also dance Modern Jive to Rock and Roll music, but like dancing it to Swing music, it has to be very fast).  Ballroom Jive (more on the Ballroom and Latin page) is usually danced to Rock and Roll music.

By Rock and Roll music I mean the classic “devil’s music” that the United Statesgot so upset about in the 1950’s – Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry (Johnny B. Goode – wow! Best dance track ever!). 

The two distinct styles are called American Style Rock and Roll, which is fast and furious and involves lots of jumps, lifts and other air steps (an air step when is both of the follower’s feet leave the ground – often by a considerable distance!); and British Style Rock and Roll, which is a much more relaxed, energy efficient way of dancing to the same music and involves no air steps whatsoever.  British Style Rock and Roll is also confusingly called Jive (but not Modern Jive).

I started learning American Style Rock and Roll quite soon after I started learning LeRoc, and I LOVED it.  My LeRoc teacher was not impressed and said it would interfere with my learning LeRoc, but it didn’t; I actually managed to incorporate some of the Rock and Roll moves into my LeRoc repertoire.  It is quite easy t learn, also 4/4 rhythm, but the spectacular lifts and throws have to be taught to you by a professional, because done incorrectly they can be quite dangerous and both the leader and follower can get badly hurt.  What many people don’t realise when watching the dance is that the follower plays an active part in the lifts and throws, and is not simply a dead weight.  So, lot of skill involved.

In fact I eventually teamed up with my female Rock and Roll teacher to do demonstrations, perform on local TV and teach beginners, so this dance style has a lot of good memories for me.  Eventually we got too old to do the lifts and throws and had to give it up.  However, we can still do LeRoc without any problem!

Salsa

I tried Salsa because I knew that so many other people (including fellow Modern Jivers) were dancing it.  After putting in some considerable effort, to learn it, I decided it was not for me.

Salsa moves are very similar to Modern Jive moves from the waist up, but of course the rhythm is different (I won’t attempt to describe it).  I had problems with the Latin hip-movements, and also had problems maintaining the rhythm.  I would start off each track with good intentions, but after a few minutes dancing my teacher would call out “You’ve slipped back into LeRoc again!” 

I also found the music tracks boring and interminable, and I felt out of place because the age group that this dance attracts (at least where I live) is very young.

So Salsa is not for me.  However, that doesn’t stop me from dancing to salsa tracks, because it is perfectly possible to dance LeRoc or Ceroc to the music.

Swing Dance

Lindy Hop, which appeared out of Harlem in the 1930s and was popularised by American servicemen in Europein the 1940s was the first type of Swing Dance to be widely performed and led to the development of many other Jive-type dances.

Lindy Hop is still danced today, along with variations of it such as East Coast Swing and West Coast Swing (the coasts referred to here being the coasts of North America).  American style Rock and Roll and 1950’s British Jive (also confusingly called Rock and Roll but quite a different style of dance) were direct descendents of it, and many Lindy Hop moves found their way into Modern Jive as danced today.

I tried Lindy Hop quite soon after I started leaning Modern Jive.  It uses a syncopated rhythm (unlike Modern Jive or Rock and Roll) and requires you to be very light on your feet, which I am not!  I eventually dropped it for that reason, and also due to the lack of local teachers. 

By the way, one problem with all these related dance styles (Swing, Modern Jive, Rock and Roll and also Salsa) is that if you try to learn several of them your feet become confused and you tend to unconsciously revert to the style you are most familiar with.

It is perfectly possible to dance Modern Jive to Swing Dance music (such as Big Band Glenn Miller type music) and these days, that is what I do when it is played.  As I said on the Modern Jive page, you can dance LeRoc/Ceroc to almost any kind of music.   However, order to accommodate the Swing rhythm, you have to dance very quickly so it is quite exhausting!

Summing Up

Well, that’s it – a whirlwind tour of my experiences with modern partner dancing (and my life).  I hope you enjoyed reading it, and if it encourages you to take up dancing as a hobby, both you and I will be happier people!

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