Maud Arnold Shares Some of Her Favorite Tap Dance Songs
This week is all about the amazing Maud Arnold! She shared some of the songs she enjoys dancing to the most so I can now share them with you. Just scroll down and enjoy!
What I’m dancing too these days…Janelle Monae tap dancing on a Tightrope!
I have been jamming to “Tightrope” by Janelle Monae all Summer and now I am even working on some choreography with my students on it. It’s one of my favorite high energy tunes of the moment. Enjoy it!
Here’s some fun trivia: I once gave Janelle Monae a private tap lesson. I also performed at her previous album’s release party here in Atlanta.
She has a wonderful spirit and a great sense of rhythm. Here’s wishing her all of the success in the world!
The Boston Tap Company
A fellow tap dancer recently shared this amazing clip with me featuring the Boston Tap Company performing their signature piece as choreographed by Sean Fielder in collaboration with the company members. Prepare to be blown away!
The first minute or so features choreography executed to a song I think is called “Change”, though I’m not sure. (If you know the song please let me know and I’ll post a link later!) After that they get into the “Moments In Love” segment. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to locate the exact version they are using online…I believe its called the “Smooth version”.
Still, I think you’ll find any version of this song enjoyable!
A Tap Song That Will Carry You For Many Miles
This song has great soul, phrasing, and plenty of space for a tap dancer. Be sure to pull the melody into your dancing and you’ll feel what I mean!
Funky Tap Dancing Music
If you find yourself wanting to tap dance to this then you know you’ve got soul! Check out a live performance of this hit by the “Godfather of Soul” below!
Tap Music From Sade?
This incredible instrumental groove comes from Sade’s “Stronger Than Pride” recording. Give it a listen and I’m sure you’ll agree that this fits in better with the genre of Jazz than of R & B. If ever there were a piece of music that was perfect for romantic tap choreography, this is it!
Tap Dance Music, Books & Video!
TapDanceMan.com is a great place to get tap dance music, books, or tap dance videos.
I recently expanded the Store creating a great one stop resource for all things relating to tap!
I hope you find it helpful! If you would like to recommend any additional tap dance product, please post it to the comments section below or email me at Taps [at] TapDanceMan [dot] com.
Smooth Tap Music
In general, whenever you hear that producer Timbaland was involved in a song, you can assume that it will include a good beat for tap dancers. He gives us a lot of rhythms to work with. That being said, in this post I highlight great tap dance music from album releases involving Timbaland.
The first is by Aaliyah who died tragically several years ago. Her final release is self-titled and includes good music for tap solos & group dances.
Though most of the CD is upbeat, the standout tap song for me is a ballad. It’s called “I Care 4 U” and is perfect for expressing more subtle emotions through dance.
Tap Dance Music From Class
My latest session of adult tap classes has just begun so I have decided to feature the tap dance music that we are using in those classes here!
You can click the image to purchase from Amazon.com or use one of these great tap dance music sources!
In the beginner’s class our warm up is set to “It Had To Be You” by Steve Tyrell. The arrangement is very open and the bass walk’s on the downbeat, making it easier to dance on when you are just starting out. This CD also features many other great jazz standards for tap dancing!
In the intermediate class, we are developing a piece around Herb Alpert’s title track, Rise. It’s a very groovy, funky piece of music for tap dancing!
In the Wednesday night intermediate class we spent some time last night working on my Paddle warmup to the song “Come on Closer” on Jem’s “Finally Woken” album. This Cd has lots of good music for tap dancers.
Finally, in my advanced adult class, we are developing a piece of choreography to an arrangement of “La Petite Mambo” on Kenny Burrell’s, ‘Soulero’ album.
For my students, I definitely recommend picking these up for practice! For those who are not students, I still recommend experimenting with these pieces some!