Modern Jive is usually danced to music with a 4/4 time signature - nearly all pop music has this time signature and is also known as common time.

There are 4 beats to bar and at the fundamental level we step on each beat. As we get more advanced we can change the footwork so long as we are aware of the underlying timing. There are usally 4 bars in a phrase - see the Music Glossary for basic definitions of these terms.

At class, we introduce a recommended foot work in the improvers review after the beginner class:

• Leaders initiate with the right foot.
• Followers initiate with the left foot.

The last beat of a previous bar is defined as an upbeat which makes the first beat of a bar a downbeat. There are 4 beats to a bar and so we have,

	1 Bar of music
Beat	1	2	3	4
Up/Down
Count	1	&	2	&
Lead Foot	L	R	L	R
Follow Foot	R	L	R	L

• Upbeats correspond to the &'s
• Downbeats correspond to the numbers
• Leaders step with their left foot on the numbers
• Followers step with their right foot on the numbers

	Counting In
Beat	1	2	3	4
Up/Down
Count	5	&	6	&
Lead	L	R	L	R
Follow	R	L	R	L
	get ready!

1	2	3	4
7	&	8	&
L	R	L	R
R	L	R	L
1st step			^

1st Bar
1	2	3	4
1	&	2	&
L	R	L	R
R	L	R	L
^	2nd step

We take our first step on the & of the preceding bar.