page_title: Square dance
section_title: Comparing square dance music
hierarchical_section_title: Square dance / Comparing square dance music
context_page_description: A square dance is a dance for four couples arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances were first documented in 16th-century England but were also quite common in France and throughout Europe. They came to North America with the European settlers and have undergone considerable development there. In some countries and regions, through preservation and repetition, square dances have attained the status of a folk dance.
  The Western American square dance may be the most widely known form worldwide, possibly due to its association in the 20th century with the romanticized image of the American cowboy. Square dancing is, therefore, strongly associated with the United States. Nineteen U.S. states have designated it as their official state dance.
  The various square dance movements are based on the steps and figures used in traditional folk dances and social dances from many countries. Some of these traditional dances include English country dance, Caledonians and the quadrille.
  In most American forms of square dance, the dancers are prompted or cued through a sequence of steps by a caller to the beat of music.
context_section_description: Irish and Scottish dances are normally done to traditional tunes.  English dances may be done to traditional tunes, though, especially at ceilidhs, there is experimentation with many different musical styles.
  The two types of American square dance are accompanied by different types of music.
  Traditional square dance is almost always danced to live music. Since the 19th century, much of the square dance repertoire has been derived from jigs and reels from Scotland and Ireland, sometimes in relatively unaltered form, sometimes as played in the old time music tradition or as adapted by other cultures such as that of Quebec. This sort of music is played on acoustic instruments, such as the fiddle, banjo, guitar and double bass; certain instruments, including the piano, accordion, concertina and hammered dulcimer, are popular in specific regions. In some communities where square dancing has survived, the prevailing form of music has become popular songs from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, played on instruments such as saxophones, drums, and electric guitars. Tempos can vary from around 108 to more than 150 bpm, depending on the regional style.
  Modern Western square dance is danced to a variety of music types, everything from pop to traditional country to Broadway musical to contemporary country music—even rock, Motown, techno and hip-hop. The music is usually played from recordings; the tempo is also more uniform than in traditional dancing, as the "perfect" modern Western square dance tempo is 120–128 bpm. At this speed dancers take one step per beat of the music.
caption: Old-time fiddlers often accompany traditional square dances.
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