Editing East Coast Swing (section)

== Basic technique ==
'''Single-step Swing'''

East Coast Swing has a 6 count basic step.  This is in contrast to the meter of most swing music, which has a 4 count basic rhythm.  In practice, however, the 6-count moves of the east coast swing are sometimes combined with 8-count moves from the [[Lindy hop]], [[Charleston (dance)|Charleston]], and [[Balboa (dance)|Balboa]].

Depending on the region and instructor, the [[Basic (dance move)|basic step]] of single-step East Coast Swing is either "[[rock step]], [[Dance move|step]], step" or "step, step, rock step". In both cases, the rock step always starts on the [[Beat (music)#Downbeat|downbeat]].

For "rock step, step, step" the beats, or counts, are the following:

Steps for the "lead" (traditionally, the man's part)
{|
| Rock || Beat 1 - STEP back with your LEFT foot
|-
| Step || Beat 2 - STEP forward with your RIGHT foot (to where you first started)
|-
|      || 
|-
| Step || Beat 3 - STEP to the left with your LEFT foot
|-
|      || Beat 4 - Begin to shift your weight back to your right foot
|-
| Step || Beat 5 - STEP to the right with your RIGHT foot
|-
|      || Beat 6 - Begin to shift your weight to the left and back
|}
Steps for the "follow" (traditionally, the woman's part which mirrors the lead's part)
{|
| Rock || Beat 1 - STEP back with your RIGHT foot
|-
| Step || Beat 2 - STEP forward with your LEFT foot (to where you first started)
|-
|      || 
|-
| Step || Beat 3 - STEP to the right with your RIGHT foot
|-
|      || Beat 4 - Begin to shift your weight back to your left foot
|-
| Step || Beat 5 - STEP to the left with your LEFT foot
|-
|      || Beat 6 - Begin to shift your weight to the right and back
|}
For "step, step, rock step," the rock step occurs on beats 5 and 6, but the overall progression remains the same.

The normal steps can be substituted with a [[triple step]] or double step "step-tap"  or "kick-step" instead of a single step. This is commonly used during songs when a slower tempo makes the single step difficult (an example progression would be "rock step, triple step, triple step").