Disco

What it means

Disco designates a dance music that arose in the USA in the 1970s and is named after the discotheques in which it was played. It combines elements of soul, funk, and Latin American music into a style that is danceable throughout.

Characteristic is an even 4/4 time in which the bass drum strikes on every beat. This continuous pattern, called four on the floor in English, is the most important distinguishing mark. In addition come eighth or sixteenth notes on the hi-hat, an agile, often syncopated bass, and frequently string and brass arrangements.

The style differs from funk, from which disco partly emerged, in its greater evenness: funk emphasizes syncopations and the downbeat, disco the continuous quarter-note pulse. The tempo is likewise even and geared toward dancing.

In the notation

Disco is seldom notated completely. In arrangements the music is in 4/4 time, with a drum part that shows the constant pattern and a bass part with written-out figures. Harmonies are often given as chord symbols.

Musical use

Disco shaped the dance music of the 1970s and reached into the electronic dance music of the following decades. Many later styles took over the continuous quarter-note pulse as a basis. The music was closely tied to the culture of dance clubs.

Disco arose in the early 1970s in the clubs of New York and combined soul, funk, and Latin with a continuous quarter-note beat of the bass drum, the four-on-the-floor. Typical are string and brass arrangements, open hi-hats on the off-beats, and a tempo of around 120 beats per minute. The music was intended for dancing in clubs and for DJ mixes. From disco came house and other electronic dance musics, which take over the basic pattern to this day.

Performance practice

Keep the pulse unwaveringly even; the effect rests on steadiness. Play the bass figures precisely and with forward drive. Watch for close interplay with the drums. And keep tempo and volume constant — dance music of this kind lives from not letting up.