Danceable tempos

Each dance form has its "sweet spot" perfect tempo for those steps.  Music which is too fast often makes dancing difficult (if not impossible), while too-slow tempos can feel lethargic or boring.  At the bottom of this page is my list of tempo sweet spots for each kind of social dance.  The general rule of thumb is to keep the tempo within 10% (above or below) of the sweet spot, no more.

Next, here's one of the main secrets of being a great DJ:
A) Your tunes come in a range of tempos,               B) Some of your tunes have a driving high
above and below the sweet-spot tempo for             energy, and some have an easygoing low energy.
each dance form.

A and B must correspond.  Tunes with tempos above the sweet spot must have correspondingly higher energy, to support the extra effort required to dance faster, and vice versa for tunes below the sweet spot tempo.  This is a straightforward calculation.  (1) Get a metronome (click for an online metronone) or beat-checking software and find the tempo.  (2) Look at the sweet spot chart at the bottom of this page.  If the tempo is significantly above the sweet spot tempo, but it's one of the quieter, gentler tunes you have for that dance form, then don't play it.
Take a rotating (Viennese or rotary) waltz for example.  The sweet spot for intermediate dancers is around 144 bpm.  A common DJ mistake is to play a quiet ballad or gentle waltz that happens to be a fast tempo, say 160 or 170 bpm.  A good example is "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" by the Beatles, or Pearl Jam's cover of it.  To the dancers (especially the leads) waltzing now feels like hard work — more effort is required at that fast tempo than the gentle music is providing.  But a powerful driving rhythmic tune at the same 170 tempo would be fine.

Conversely, playing a highly rhythmic driving waltz tune that happens to be a slower tempo, like 130 bpm, will fell terribly slow, while a gentle lyrical waltz at that same 130 tempo will feel perfect.

This is true for most dance forms — swing, salsa and others.  Match the higher or lower energy with correspondingly faster or slower tempos.


What do you do if you really love a tune and it's not at a good tempo for that dance?  Consider slowing it down or speeding it up, without changing the pitch.  There are many ways to speed up music without changing pitch, both with software and firmware.  Speeding up music is easy.  However slowing down music beyond 8% is technically much harder, without it sounding warbly or watery.  I recommend using Amazing Slow Downer software, available for both PC and Mac.  Music slowed down 20% or even 50% still sounds natural.

However this approach of slowing down or speeding up recordings is debatable.  I heard of a conservative dance group where some dancers protested if a tune was slower or faster than the original version they knew.  They complained with, "How can I like something that I'm not accustomed to?"  So if you live in a conservative area, this is your call.


The danger of the DJ being an experienced dancer:
You may be so adept at dancing that you forget that it's often difficult for a beginner to dance at a fast tempo that you find comfortable.  Some of the worst dance DJs I've seen are often the most adept dancers, because they don't know what's hard for the average dancer.  If you have many new dancers at your party, keep their comfort level in mind.

Dancers want to hear the beat

Most dance forms are easier to dance when the beat is heard clearly, usually played by the rhythm instruments (drums/percussion, guitar, piano, techno rhythm tracks, etc.).

On a rhythmic intensity scale of 0 to 10, most dance music wants to be in the 4 to 10 range, depending on the type of dance.  Concert music for listening can have a quiet rhythm accompaniment or none at all, but the rhythm of most dance music should range from a gentle but clearly audible rhythm (4) to a strong driving rhythm (10).  Even quieter dance forms like rumba and club two step should have a clearly audible beat.  With only a few exceptions, avoid the quietest scale of 0 (no rhythm instruments at all, only melody) to 3 (still not clear enough to hear in a room full of dancers who might be shuffling and talking).

Shuffling and talking?  Yes, dance parties are usually noisy.  One of the common mistakes DJs make is to listen to a tune in a quiet room and think that the quiet rhythm accompaniment will be heard at a dance.  Then they find that the rhythm is lost in ambient noise of a dance party.  So if you're test-listening to music in a quiet room, aim for one or two notches stronger rhythm than you think will be needed.

When I hear dancers complain about a DJ, the most common complaint is, "I couldn't hear the beat."  The second most common complaint is about tempos...

Matching the dances energy

Some dances require much energy to dance, like swing, hustle, salsa, fast waltz and polka.  When the music supplies this energy, their dancing will feel fun and effortless, like driving a turbocharged car.  When the music doesn't give this energy boost, fast dancing can feel like hard work.

Other dance forms are gentle and lyrical, and dancers love music which sweeps them emotionally through those dances.

There's a huge difference between the questions, "Is it possible to waltz to this tune?" and, "Does this music totally embody the feeling of waltzing... does it make them want to waltz?"  The second question is far more important than the first.  (It's the same question for swing, salsa and every dance form.)

If you only have a few tunes for waltzing (or whatever the dance form is), then play whatever you have.  But when you have dozens of possible tunes, then choose from the second category above, not the first... does this tune make you want to waltz, or is it merely a tune in 3/4 time?  Does it embody the spirit of waltzing?  Does it energize that particular dance form?  (Again, it's the same question for swing, salsa and every dance form.)

There's a huge tendency to ask ourselves, "What could I dance to this tune?"  We all do that.  But when DJs only answer that question with something like, "Hey, I could polka to that!" they may be heading for trouble.  The really important questions come next, which are the topics of the first four pointers on this page.  Especially questions like, "Does this tune have the driving energy required to move the dancers?"  Or, "Is the beat clearly audible?"