How Many 8-Counts in a Cheer Routine? 1:30, 2:00 and 2:30

Short answer: 27, 36 or 45 eights

At 144 BPM, a 1:30 routine has 27 eights, a 2:00 routine has 36 and a 2:30 routine has 45. One eight lasts about 3.3 seconds. All-star squads perform for up to two and a half minutes, and teams create their routines to an eight-count system and apply it to the music, so the real question is tempo.

Count it the way you say it: 5 6 7 8, then 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, again and again until the music stops.

The formula

An eight is eight beats in 4/4, which is two bars. A phrase of 32 counts is four eights. If you want the groundwork, read beats, eights and phrases.

To find the number of eights in any routine:

• eights = BPM × minutes ÷ 8
• seconds per eight = 480 ÷ BPM

For 2:30 at 144 BPM, that is 144 × 2.5 = 360 beats, and 360 ÷ 8 = 45 eights. Count Studio's count library gives the same worked example: a 2:30 routine at 144 BPM is about 45 eights.

A table of lengths

Count Studio's cheer 8-count covers 136 to 152 BPM. Here is what that range gives you.

A half eight is normal. It means the music ends on count 5 of the last eight, not on a full row. Plan it on purpose, so the final pose lands on a count you chose.

Typical section lengths

There's no single right split, so the numbers are yours to choose. Plan in whole eights and that the total matches the table above.

A simple way to work:

• List your sections: stunts, tumbling, jumps and dance.
• Give each one a number of eights.
• Add them up and compare with the total for your tempo.

A count sheet makes this easy, because it has one row of 8 boxes per eight. Our cheer count sheet template shows how to fill one in. Each row is one eight, so counting rows gives you the total at a glance.

Work backwards from the music

Sometimes the music comes first. If your mix is already cut to a length, count the eights the other way round.

• Take the length in seconds. A 2:00 mix is 120 seconds.
• Divide by the seconds per eight. At 144 BPM one eight is 480 ÷ 144, about 3.33 seconds, so 120 ÷ 3.33 gives 36 eights.
• Check the answer with the main formula: 144 × 2 ÷ 8 = 36.

If the number is not a whole eight, you have two choices. Trim or stretch the mix a little until it lands on a whole eight, or plan the half eight on purpose and decide which count the routine ends on. Either is fine. What doesn't work is finding out at the last rehearsal that your last section is four counts short.

A worked example

Here is one way to lay out 36 eights for a 2:00 routine at 144 BPM. It is only an illustration of the method, not a rule about how a routine should be built:

Because every section is a whole number of eights, anyone can say "dance starts on eight 21" and everyone knows exactly where that is. Change the tempo and the table changes, so rerun the formula whenever the music does.

Adjusting for tempo

Tempo moves the total. At 136 BPM a 2:30 routine holds 42.5 eights. At 152 BPM it holds 47.5. That is five eights of difference, about 16 seconds of choreography.

Change the music mix and you should rerun the formula before you change the choreography. Speed up the track and you gain eights to fill. Slow it down and you must cut or compress. The dance tempo chart puts cheer next to other styles if you want to compare.

Check it with the app

Count Studio's cheer 8-count runs at 136 to 152 BPM, counts 1&2&3&4&5&6&7&8& and starts with the 5 6 7 8 lead-in. Its count sheets use one row of 8 per eight, with room for stunts, tumbling, jumps and dance. More on the style is in the cheer articles. Count Studio is coming November 27 to iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

Practise it

Set your tempo and a timer for the routine length. Clap or walk through your planned eights, saying the counts out loud, and check that you reach the last count right as the timer ends. If you finish early or run over, adjust the number of eights in one section and try again. Run it a few times, because the first pass usually shows where a section is a count or two long. Do it once with the lead-in and once without, so you know the difference.

Write the eight numbers on your count sheet and tick them off as you run each section. When a team can say where it is by the eight, not only by the song, it recovers from a mistake much faster, because everyone can rejoin on the same count.

Bottom line

Multiply BPM by minutes, divide by 8, and plan your sections in whole eights. At 144 BPM that gives 27, 36 and 45 eights for 1:30, 2:00 and 2:30. Measure your real music tempo, then rerun the numbers.