What is an 8 count in dance?

Why dancers count in eights

Most of the music you dance to in class (hip hop, pop, house, afro, dancehall) has four beats in each bar. Two bars make eight beats, and the music tends to move in those blocks: a new section, the drop or the chorus usually comes in on a 1. Counting in eights lines your movement up with those phrases, so steps start where the music starts. It’s also why a teacher says «5, 6, 7, 8» before you go: they’re counting the end of an eight so everyone comes in together on the next 1.

How to count an 8 count

• Find the pulse: the steady beat you’d clap or nod along to, usually marked by the kick and the snare.
• Find a 1: a strong beat where something starts (the drop, the first word of the verse, a big hit).
• Count out loud from there: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and back to 1.
• Check it: if the next change in the song lands when you say «1», you’ve got it. If it lands on the 5, you started four beats off.

The «and» and the counts in between

Between two beats there’s an «and»: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &… When a move happens between beats (a quick step, a hit on the hi-hat), it’s on the «and». Faster, more detailed choreography splits each beat into four: 1 e & a, 2 e & a. You don’t need it to start, but it helps when a routine gets busy.

An example: counting with Tutorialize

Tutorialize, the UTOPIC app that turns a dance video into a tutorial, works in 8 counts. Open the video, play it and tap the big button along with the music, starting on a 1: at least 4 taps, ideally 8. Your first tap becomes count 1 and Tutorialize snaps each tap to a hit in the music; if the count drifts, nudge the BPM with − and +. From then on, a counter sits on the video: a big number on every beat, the 1 in gold and 8 dots showing where you are in the eight. Choose the count «with and» to see the & between beats, or e·&·a (Pro) for quarter counts. Below it, a strip of counts lets you loop only the eights you’re stuck on, at ×0.5, without the music dropping in pitch.

• Open Tutorialize →

Eights in music and formations

Counting in eights also matters when you prepare the music and the staging. If you join songs for a show, every cut should land on a 1: if a song comes in halfway through an eight, the count goes off and the group gets lost. Mixer finds the tempo and the 1 of each song and snaps every section to whole eights. When you plan the formations, each one lasts a number of beats (16 beats are two eights) and so does each transition: Formations plays the show back counted, eight by eight.

• Mixer: mixes that land on the 1 →
• Formations: plan your formations →

Common mistakes

• Starting on the first sound instead of the 1. Many songs open with an intro without drums: wait for the beat to settle and the phrase to begin.
• Counting double or half time. If your eight feels very fast or very slow, you’re probably counting every half beat or every other beat. Count once per beat, like in class.
• Losing the count after a break. When the music stops, keep counting in your head: the next section usually comes back in on a 1.
• Taking the loudest hit for the 1. The 1 is where the phrase starts, not always the strongest sound in the bar.