Forums > Social Chat > 4/5 beat weaves and how they got that way
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3 posts
Location: Cincinnati, OH, USA
3 posts
Location: Cincinnati, OH, USA
Posted:
Can anyone out there explain how you count beats with the 4 and 5 beat weaves? I've read discussions in the archives and have seen people say things like "the 5 beat weave is really the samething as the 4 beat weave". This confuses me because it doesn't appear that way from the descriptions on the websites.Can someone tell me the proper beat patterns for both hands? For example: the 3 beat weave has both hands do a 2:1 pattern (2 on the cross, 1 on the open). Is it the case that for the 4 beat weave the right hand does 2:2 and the left still does 2:1? Or are both hands always mirror images of each other?I'm trying to understand how the beat counts go so I can understand what I'm supposed to be doing. I can't quite make out how it all works from the descriptions.
Can anyone out there explain how you count beats with the 4 and 5 beat weaves? I've read discussions in the archives and have seen people say things like "the 5 beat weave is really the samething as the 4 beat weave". This confuses me because it doesn't appear that way from the descriptions on the websites.Can someone tell me the proper beat patterns for both hands? For example: the 3 beat weave has both hands do a 2:1 pattern (2 on the cross, 1 on the open). Is it the case that for the 4 beat weave the right hand does 2:2 and the left still does 2:1? Or are both hands always mirror images of each other?I'm trying to understand how the beat counts go so I can understand what I'm supposed to be doing. I can't quite make out how it all works from the descriptions.
member
3 posts
Location: Cincinnati, OH, USA
3 posts
Location: Cincinnati, OH, USA
Posted:
doh. I swear I searched the site several times before I posted
I can't believe I missed such a useful page.Maybe there should be a link to that from the lesson pages for the various weaves. Just an idea.
doh. I swear I searched the site several times before I posted
I can't believe I missed such a useful page.Maybe there should be a link to that from the lesson pages for the various weaves. Just an idea. member
162 posts
Location: Springfield, MA - USA
162 posts
Location: Springfield, MA - USA
Posted:
Nice job Malcolm Getting some science in there...In case anyone is still confused on 4-beat versus 5, I tend to think of it this way:For 4-beat weave, you are doing different stuff on each side of the body. For instance you can wrap your wrists around each other on your right side, thus doing 4 beats on the right instead of 3.Then you (seemingly) do the normal 3-beat weave on your left side. The difference though is that when you bring both of your hands back to the left side to unwind them, they are still twisted around each other.Thus, the act of undoing your wrists is an added beat, giving you a total of 4 on the left side also.When you twist your wrists on both sides, you not only get the extra beat of twisting your wrists on each side, but the extra beat of untwisting them. This is what gives you a total of 5 beats on each side.Hope that helps... Shawn
Nice job Malcolm
Getting some science in there...In case anyone is still confused on 4-beat versus 5, I tend to think of it this way:For 4-beat weave, you are doing different stuff on each side of the body. For instance you can wrap your wrists around each other on your right side, thus doing 4 beats on the right instead of 3.Then you (seemingly) do the normal 3-beat weave on your left side. The difference though is that when you bring both of your hands back to the left side to unwind them, they are still twisted around each other.Thus, the act of undoing your wrists is an added beat, giving you a total of 4 on the left side also.When you twist your wrists on both sides, you not only get the extra beat of twisting your wrists on each side, but the extra beat of untwisting them. This is what gives you a total of 5 beats on each side.Hope that helps... Shawn © 1998 - 2025 Home of Poi
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