How to Count a Waltz (and Viennese Waltz)

Short answer

Count a waltz as 1 2 3 | 1 2 3, with the strongest beat on 1. Waltz is dance music in triple metre, often written in 3/4 time, and Wikipedia describes the first beat as the heaviest, the "oom-pa-pa" you hear in the accompaniment. One 1 2 3 is one bar.

The Viennese waltz uses exactly the same count, only about twice as fast. Count Studio's waltz count shows the 1 2 3 on screen, and there is a separate Viennese waltz count for the faster tempo.

Step by step

A waltz has three beats in every bar, so you count in threes, not in eights. If you're used to the 5 6 7 8 habit from other styles, what an 8-count is explains why a waltz does not use it. Here the bar is the unit.

1. Count yourself in with 1 2 3. Say one full bar before you move, then step on the next 1.
2. Make the 1 stronger. It is the beat that starts every bar, so give it your weight.
3. Keep 2 and 3 lighter. They are the "pa-pa" after the "oom".
4. Do not stop between bars. The count runs on: 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3.

Your feet don't have to match the count one to one. According to the International standard waltz article, figures can take one step per beat, or four to six steps per bar, which makes the dancing faster than the tempo suggests. The count stays 1 2 3 even when the feet are busier.

Rise and fall

Rise and fall is part of waltz technique, and the count gives it its shape: one rise and fall travels over each bar. Where the highest point lands depends on the figure and on your teacher, and figures with a lot of turning rise less, so follow your teacher's cue for each one. Count Studio's waltz count is noted as "1 2 3 with the rise and fall over the bar".

Slow waltz vs Viennese waltz

The count is the same. The speed isn't.

The slow waltz figures come from the International standard waltz article, which gives "preferably 28 to 30 bars per minute (84 to 90 beats per minute)". For the Viennese waltz, Wikipedia gives about 180 beats, or 58 to 60 measures, per minute, which is roughly twice the slow waltz. Count Studio's count library lists the Viennese waltz at 174 to 180 BPM.

The Ballroom dance article tabulates 28 bars per minute for International Standard waltz and 58 for the Viennese waltz, both in 3/4. American Smooth runs a little differently: 29 to 30 bars per minute for the waltz and 53 to 54 for the Viennese waltz. So check which style your music or class follows.

Counting in bars

Bars per minute is the number of 1 2 3s in a minute. At 58 bars per minute you count a full 1 2 3 about once a second, so there is hardly time to say every number. At Viennese speed it helps to say the 1 and let the 2 and 3 pass in your head. To go from bars to beats, multiply by three.

Find the 1 in the music

You need the 1 before you can count anything onto it. In a waltz it is usually the easiest one to find: listen for the oom-pa-pa, where the low note or chord root falls on 1 and the lighter chords fall on 2 and 3.

1. Tap along to the steady beat.
2. Listen for the heavier beat that comes round every third tap. That's your 1.
3. Count 1 2 3 from there and check that the 1 keeps landing on the heavy note.

If this is new, how to find the 1 in music goes through it slowly. More partner counts are in the ballroom counts.

Common problems

• Counting 1 2 3 4. A waltz has three beats in a bar, so count to 3 and start again.
• Stressing 2 or 3. The weight is on 1. If your 2 feels heavy, you have shifted the bar by a beat.
• Rushing at Viennese speed. The count is the same, but there is less time. Count more quietly, not faster.
• Losing the bar. If you are out, stop, find the heavy 1 and count in again.

Practise it with Count Studio

Drill the slow waltz first, then move up toward Viennese speed.

1. Say "1 2 3" aloud with no music, clapping on 1 and tapping 2 and 3.
2. Count eight bars in a row without stopping, around 84 BPM, the low end of the slow waltz range.
3. Raise the tempo in small steps until you reach the top of the slow waltz range at 90 BPM.
4. Only then try Viennese speed, around 174 to 180 BPM, and keep the 1 strong.

Count Studio counts the waltz as 1 2 3, with a 1 2 3 count-in before the first step, and the Viennese waltz at its own faster range. It's coming November 27 to iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

Bottom line

A waltz is 1 2 3, with the weight on 1. The Viennese waltz is the same count at about twice the speed, so learn it slowly and let the tempo rise. Find the heavy 1 in the music, and count the bar.