first time poster here, so apologies if I mess up any formalities.
As a former competitive latin dancer, I will try to explain this in dancer terms, then put my pianist hat on and try to get the musician's perspective.
There are 3 versions of cha cha that I have danced: international latin, rhythm, and night club. Latin and rhythm have been thoroughly addressed by aeroNotAuto, and I agree with him 100%: the base beat is 4&1, 2, 3. Musically that comes out to something along the lines of half note, half note, whole note x3. The 4&1 are often counted as cha cha cha only because it is easier to say at speed than 4&1.
In nightclubs, an alternate beat is often used: 1, 2, 3&4. This is not the beat used for competitive dancing, but is often enjoyed in latin clubs along with salsa, merengue, bachata. As before the beat is counted 1, 2, cha cha cha. and the musical notes are converted accordingly.
The reason your research is varied is likely due to the different uses for a cha cha beat. Neither is wrong or right, and you should use the appropriate format based on your ideal audience and purpose. Furthermore, all of this is for the base beat, often the music will have its own natural synchopations and changes based on the song itself.
tldr; latin and rhythm competition dancing: 4&1, 2, 3. 1 is the first beat of the measure.
Nightclubs: 1, 2, 3&4 is the count, music and measures will change based on song. As is often the case, nightclubs are less picky about beat and more interested in the feel of the song... competitions the exact opposite.
Cheers!
manpreet![Tuteehub forum best answer]()
Best Answer
2 years ago
I'm trying to understand the cha-cha, specifically to play and write music with that rhythm. In my research, I've come across two ways "the cha-cha" is taught: as a dance and as a musical rhythm.
I'm confused because it seems like the dancers count/say "one two cha-cha-cha - one two cha-cha-cha", etc. But it seems like the percussionists are counting and playing more like "one two three four-and-one two three four-and-one", etc.
I haven't found anything online yet that tries to match up the dancing and music to show how it lines up, so I'm hoping someone here has experience with the cha-cha along with dancers. I've tried watching dance videos with music but things tend to go by really fast.
The two possibilities I've thought of are either the dancers and musicians put the "one" in a different place (i.e., when dancers say "one", musicians are saying "two"), or the dance goes "cha-cha-cha" and the music goes "dum-dum-dum" at different times (i.e., the last "cha" is at the same time as the first "dum"), or I'm totally wrong and the counting actually lines up and I've misunderstood something basic.
So how does the dancer style of counting the cha-cha line up with the musician style of counting it?