Hip hopGuide
How to Count Hip Hop Choreography: Eights and the &
Count hip hop choreography in eights after a 5, 6, 7, 8, and add an & for hits and quick footwork. Here is how to count a whole combo.
4 min readWritten at Count Studio
Hip hop choreography moves fast, and a combo can feel like one long blur until you give it a count. This guide shows how to count in, number each eight, add the & where steps fall between the beats, and keep your place through a whole routine.
How do you count hip hop choreography?
You count in eights. Take a 5, 6, 7, 8 to start, then count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 and begin again at 1 for the next block. When a step or a hit lands between two beats, add an &: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 &. In Count Studio's count library, this is the 8-count with &, and hip hop is one of the styles it lists.
Counting like this is a studio habit. According to Wikipedia's hip-hop dance article, eight-counts came into locking through Toni Basil in the 1970s, and traditional street dance was not performed to counts. So a freestyle never needs a number, but a group learning the same choreography does.
Count in with 5, 6, 7, 8
The lead-in is a studio convention: the library describes it as an 8-count with a "5, 6, 7, 8" lead-in, as taught in jazz, hip hop and commercial classes. If the phrase is new, read what 5, 6, 7, 8 means.
Those four counts are not steps. They tell you where the first 1 lands, so you start moving on the 1 right after them.
| Part | What you say | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Lead-in | 5 6 7 8 | Tells the room where the 1 is |
| First half | 1 2 3 4 | First four counts |
| Second half | 5 6 7 8 | Last four counts, grouped 4+4 |
The library notes that most popular music is phrased in 4-bar 8-counts and 32-count phrases, so one song gives you a steady run of eights to hang moves on. If you want help hearing that 1, try how to find the 1 in music.
Add the & for hits and quick footwork
The & marks the half beat. In Wikipedia's article on counting music, the upbeats are called "and", written with a plus sign or an &, and the next level down adds "e" and "a": 1 e & a 2 e & a. In hip hop class you say it the same way: "1 and 2 and".
The library's note for this count is short and useful: eighth-note subdivisions, for hits and quick footwork. It lists the 8-count with & at 60 to 180 BPM, in 4/4.
Here is how a short phrase might sound out loud:
- Plain eight: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, one move on each number.
- With the &: 1 & 2 & 3 4 5 & 6 7 8, so a quick double lands on the first two beats and again on the 5.
- With a hold: 1 2 3 _ 5 6 7 _, where the blanks are held or still.
Say the & lighter and shorter than the number. The numbers carry the weight; the & slips in between.
Count a whole combo
Treat a combo as a row of eights and number each one as you reach it: "eight 1", "eight 2", "eight 3". Split every eight into two fours, 1 2 3 4 and 5 6 7 8. Moves often change at the 5, so the halves tell you where you are.
Then write it down. One line per eight works well:
| Eight | Count | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 | Your first phrase |
| 2 | 1 & 2 & 3 4 5 6 7 8 | Quick footwork on the first two beats |
| 3 | 1 2 3 _ 5 6 7 _ | Holds on the 4 and the 8 |
The moves in the third column are placeholders: write your own. Teachers do the same with a routine, and it is what lets a class count the same choreography together. The same idea works across styles, as in counting K-pop choreography in eights.
Hip hop does not always sit in a plain 4/4 grid of eights. The library lists five counts for it: the 8-count, the 8-count with &, the 8-count with e & a, the 8-count in triplets and Tresillo 3+3+2. Start with the first two. Move to the others when a section feels bouncy or lopsided and the plain eight stops fitting.
Find the 1 and fix common problems
- You lose the count after a run of &s. Go back to the numbers. The next number is always on the beat, so land there and carry on.
- Your 1 drifts. Start each new eight on a 1 you can hear in the music, not on the last move you did.
- A block is not eight counts long. Music does not always give you a perfect eight. Count what you hear and write the true length down.
Practise it with Count Studio
Drill it in three passes. First say the plain eight out loud with the music, 1 to 8. Next say it with the &, quiet on the & and clear on the numbers. Last, add the moves and keep saying the count under your breath.
Count Studio is a counter built for dancers, and its library holds this count as the 8-count with &. It is coming November 27 to iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. More guides are collected under hip hop.
Bottom line
Count hip hop in eights after a 5, 6, 7, 8, and add the & when a step or hit falls between the beats. Number each eight, split it into two fours and write the combo down. That's all the map you need.
Questions
Do you count hip hop in eights?
In a studio class, yes. Hip hop choreography is taught in 8-counts, led in with 5, 6, 7, 8. Freestyle and traditional street dance were not counted, so the count is a classroom tool for learning set choreography together.
What does the & mean in hip hop counts?
It is the half beat between two numbers, the upbeat. Counting 1 & 2 & gives you two places per beat to land a step or a hit.
What tempo does the 8-count with & cover?
Count Studio's count library lists the 8-count with & at 60 to 180 BPM, in 4/4, grouped 4+4.
Are there other counts used in hip hop?
Yes. The count library lists the plain 8-count, the 8-count with &, the 8-count with e & a, the 8-count in triplets and Tresillo 3+3+2 for hip hop.