Practice Music

Dancers may practice dancing to fun music to switch it up! This should be in balance with traditional music that is played or piped at competitions. Dancers can log-in to access full Spotify playlists with fun music that matches the tempo for their dances in the Practice Hub.

Music for solo and group choreography is selected and edited by your teacher and will be provided to you as an MP3 file that you can use to practice.

Traditional Pipers: These pipers have albums available on YouTube and/or Spotify. It is important to practice each dance to a variety of tunes and tempos to prepare for competition. Check the practice hub for a Spotify playlist full of music from:

• Glen Sinclair

• Peter Purvis

• Rob Barrick

• Donald MacPhee

Selecting the correct music:

• Select the correct dance, the number of steps, and the appropriate tempo.

  • Younger and pre-premier dancers dance to faster music and do fewer steps than premier-level dancers.

    • Primary: 16 PDBs, PDBs & HC's, 4-step Fling (fast/quick), 2&1 Sword (fast/quick).

    • Beginner/Novice: (Fast/medium tempos, slow for a challenge). 4-step Fling, 2&1 Sword), 3&1 Sean Truibhas, 4-step Scottish Lilt, 4-step Flora, 2&2 Strathspey & Highland Reel, Half Tulloch.

    • Intermediate: (Medium/slow tempos). Dances as for beginners, with the addition of 4-step sailors Hornpipe, 3&1 Irish Jig, 4-step Barracks, 4-step Highland Laddie.

    • Premier: (Medium/Regular/slow tempos). All dances, with the addition of the Blue Bonnets, Village Maid, Earl of Errol, and Scotch Measure.*

*In Premier ONLY, the number of steps varies by dancer's age and competition. Check with your instructor, but generally, 7&U12 dance short or "cut" steps and dancers 12&Over dance long or "full" steps. Dancers under 12 always dance short steps. Dancers over 12 may sometimes dance short steps.