You should listen to more Swing!
Or Blues! Or whatever music you are dancing to!
Think about it, how many hours per week do you spend listening to music? If it’s less than 2 I feel sorry for you but you can probably stop reading. How large part of that is Swing or other music that you dance to? If it is a clear majority, great, you can probably stop reading as well.
So why do you dance Lindy Hop? Is it because you like the way it looks? The way it feels? Because of the music? Hopefully it is a combination of all three. The way I see it, dance starts with music. Something to pat your foot to, a beat that makes it impossible to stand still.
You know that feeling when you are sitting in a chair and that particular song comes on? Your leg starts twitching, your bum starts flexing, your hips sway from side to side, your shoulders start oscillating and you find yourself bouncing in your seat while the people around look at you like you are an idiot. That’s the feeling good swing gives me. That’s why I love dancing Lindy hop. It starts with the music, it informs how I dance, it drives how I DJ, it creates my enjoyment. I don’t want to make myself dance to a song, I want the song to make me dance.
Now what does this have to do with listening to more swing? Unlike in the 30s and 40s, swing music is not part of our mainstream culture. We aren’t all naturally aware of the rhythms, the language, and the codes that make up swing. In order to get used to that language, to the structure, to the rhythms, we need to build up our listening skills. The only way to do that is by listening to more swing. That way you can engrain the feeling of the music into your bone marrow and just feel it as it happens.
Maybe you don’t have to know all the terms. Maybe you don’t need to know what a “shout”, a “tag”, a “coda” is. Maybe it’s enough that you know what a chorus, a phrase, a bar, a beat, a solo is. Heck even if you don’t know the names, even if you don’t know anything about the music theory behind it, if you listen to music you will start to feel it in your body. You will be able to anticipate what the music will do and therefore be proactive rather than reactive. Stop being surprised by a break and nail it instead like the rock star you are. You remember that feeling when you dance a song that you know and you just hit every break? How it is like playing a video game where you just catch every upgrade and you go better and better and better. Imagine how much fun you would have if you could do that to more songs. As you listen to more music you hear how those rhythms repeat and know how to put it into your dancing. You start feeling how to bring the different emotions of the music into your dancing.
Want more reasons? Well sure! The more you listen the more you learn what you like. And as you learn what you like your ear develops as well and becomes more attuned to listening to jazz. This will afford you greater access to many of the older tunes that may have less good sound quality but was the music that was played in the hay day of lindy hop. The music that really created the dance. I have found that when I DJ festivals, people will react better to older songs a day or 4 into the event than in the beginning because they have just gotten so used to listening to jazz that they understand what is happening instinctively.
Hey, let’s pile on another reason. Many people find it more fun to dance to songs they know or recognize. At the same time, popular songs easily get over played and people tire of them. The more you listen, the more songs will be familiar to you and the more fun you will have on the social floor!
One of my pet peeves when DJing is when I look out on the floor and find that most people aren’t dancing to the music. Maybe they are dancing to the beat, but the emotion, energy, and unique aspects of the songs are not being reflected in their dancing. Simply they are not listening to the music. Listen to more swing. Listen to it when you dance, listen to it on the bus, in the car, while doing dishes or working out. It will make your dancing better, it will make you enjoy yourself more, and of course it is just pure enjoyment in itself.
Hope this gave you a little bit of a push to listen to more music and if you are unsure where to find it, check out these links
Assorted playlists and old things by me:
Swing & Blues
Blues
Swing
