Why do Cheerleaders counts 5,6,7,8 and not 1,2,3
In: 871
Because this leads to 1, giving direction to the movements so that they emphasize the 1 (downbeat).
I always counted 1, 3, 5, 7 during a routine allowing time for the even numbers to be counted internally, but I always started 5,6,7,8 in practice setting since this allows everyones internal rhythm to sync up before initiating whatever movement we were practicing that starts on the count of 1. This could be deviated from depending on what weirdness we were doing.
Im going to settle this with a reference to Def Leppard. They pronounce four syllables that sound like counting in a foreign language (oonden gleeden glounten globen ?) then ” its better to burrrrm out, than to fade away”. They were also 100% correct in their count as were the musicians and dancers. IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT SOUNDS OR WORDS YOU USE, IT ONLY MATTERS HOW FAST YOU SAY THEM SO EVERYONE INVOLVED CAN TAKE ACTION AT THE SAME SPEED, such as marching in step, dancing in step, or like def leppard, HITTING MORE COWBELL IN TIME WITH BURNING OUT AND FADING AWAY. ITS ABOUT GETTING A TEMPO IN YOUR HEAD. The actual words or numbers do not matter. Loverboy used a cowbell to count in “working for the weekend” as did saturday night live with the famous blue oyster cult skit (MORE COWBELL) and many bands use a simple closed cymbal sound of a high hat (or, in 1906, a low boy, the other foot cymbal that lost popularity after Gene Krupa threw his away). Laverne and Shirley used a hopscotch rhyme to count in the theme song. ITS ONLY HOW FAST THE COUNTER COUNTS that matters, and that everyone agrees ahead of time on how many ; much jazz just gives “3,4,” and the song begins. Its only about the time between noises.
Because cheerleading is a form of dance rather than music, and dancers’ ‘phrases’ are often 8 beats long rather than 4.
Both musicians & dancers use the previous 4 beats to count off before a start; it’s just that musicians’ previous 4 were 1…2…3…4 and dancers’ previous 4 were 5…6…7…8.
Just want to pop in and clarify that in dance, the 8 counts are (usually) over two measures of 4 beats each. It is (usually) not subdividing one measure into 8 beats like a lot of the comments here are suggesting. That would be much too fast for common dance tempos.
They start with 5-6-7-8 because it shortens the count going into the routine. Then they will start the first move on 1. So the beginning count will be 5-6-7-8-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8. Then start with 1 again.
I took a tap dance class many years ago (in 1999!) and the teacher, Acia Gray, said that while music is most commonly written in groups (called “measures”) of 4 beats, choreography usually works in 8-beat groups. So the count-off needs to end on 8, so that the next beat (and thus your first step) is on 1. But counting off 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 would take too long, so you just count off 5 6 7 8.
So let’s back up a bit: Most music is in what we call 4/4 time, meaning each “measure”, the units we break songs down into, is made up of 4 beats. This is important in music theory, and there are songs in other time signitures, like 3/4 for waltz time, and 5/4 time for madlad songs like the mission impossible theme, but that’s not your question.
Dancers, as a result, count out their movements to the beat as “1-2-3-4” for one measure, then “5-6-7-8” for the next before switching back to 1-4. Switching between the two helps people keep different measures of the song/performance straight, so you’re less likely to do the same thing you did *last measure* by reflex.
Cheerleading, as a “sport”, is more-or-less descended from performative dance. The two aren’t the same, but they have a lot of similarities, a lot of shared fundamentals, and a lot of shared traditions and methods.
Now, to get to your actual question: The points where you see cheerleaders count out loud “5-6-7-8” is right before the *start* of a performance, right? The moment after they say “8” is beat *1* of the first measure: In their heads, they’re probably all counting “1-2-3-4, 5-6-7-8” in repetition for the rest of the performance. And counting it out loud so the whole team can hear it helps everyone get on the same beat: The cadence they say “5-6-7-8” at before the performance begins is the same cadence the rest of the performance should follow.
My daughter was a cheerleader. They count (silently) during their performances, going from 1-8 and starting over. So they’re spending hours every day counting 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, and so on, over and over.
They take four beats before starting a routine to get the rhythm set, so nobody’s counting faster or slower than anybody else. If they counted those as 1-2-3-4, someone on the team might continue mentally with 5-6-7-8, and do her “8” move instead of her “4” move, which would really mess things up. So they start with 5-6-7-8, and everybody on the team continues with 1-2-3-4 and they all make their proper moves on time. You really don’t want to jump left when your teammate is kicking right.
Latest Answers