Skip to main content
Music Selection5 minutes

Line Dance to Country Music: 7 Songs by Tempo

By Bernhard De LucaUpdated

In brief
  • This selection ranks seven country recordings from the slowest to the fastest basic musical pulse.
  • A Bar Song (Tipsy) opens the list, while Chattahoochee brings it to a fast finish.
  • Each recording is paired with a named choreography so you don't confuse different dance versions.
  • A low BPM value doesn't automatically mean the choreography is easier to dance.

A familiar chorus helps you recognize the song, but your feet need a reliable sense of timing. Between a relaxed recording and a fast country song, what changes most is how much time you have for each weight shift.

This is how the selection is organized

  • Country recording and named dance

    Each entry connects a released country recording with a specific choreography and names its creator.

  • Ascending by basic beat

    The order follows the approximate BPM values of the recordings mentioned, not a ranking of their dance difficulty.

  • No paid placements

    No one has paid to be included or to get a better position on this list.

  • Editorial update: November 2026

    The listed standard recordings are included, not live versions, remixes, or versions sped up afterward.

Position the speaker so that the back row can hear the rhythm just as clearly.
Position the speaker so that the back row can hear the rhythm just as clearly.

Seven recordings from a slow to a fast beat

  1. 01

    A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey

    Approx. 81 BPM, A Bar Song, Ben Murphy, 32 Counts

    • Country crossover
    • memorable chorus
    • tag

    Ben Murphy's choreography for A Bar Song is specifically tied to this recording: the steady underlying pulse leaves room to listen, while the rhythmically dense vocal line sounds much livelier than the BPM count might suggest. The planned additional dance section, the tag, makes this pairing especially important, because just any other sequence to the same hit won't necessarily follow the same pattern.

  2. 02

    Copperhead Road by Steve Earle

    Approx. 82 BPM, Copperhead Road, Steve Smith, 24 Counts

    • Country rock
    • instrumental intro
    • strong pulse

    Steve Smith’s 24-count version gives this recording a clearly defined dance association; its characteristic instrumental intro is a better recognition cue than vocals coming in early. Once the stronger accompaniment joins, the piece feels more energetic, although the slow underlying pulse remains a guide, and the movements within that pulse can certainly be brisk.

  3. 03

    Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus

    Approx. 122 BPM, Achy Breaky Heart, Melanie Greenwood, 32 Counts

    • Country
    • steady backbeat
    • recurring chorus

    This refers to Melanie Greenwood's 32-count choreography, not just any simplified class version set to the same song; the steady backing makes the moderate pulse easy to hear. The recurring chorus offers a familiar musical reference point, but it does not replace counting through the sequence, because a new vocal section does not necessarily coincide with your wall change.

  4. 04

    Boot Scootin’ Boogie by Brooks & Dunn

    Approx. 131 BPM, Boot Scootin’ Boogie, Bill Bader, 32 Counts

    • Honky-tonk
    • bouncy rhythm
    • version reference

    For this list, the Brooks & Dunn recording is paired with Bill Bader’s 32-count version; Bader’s choreography was originally created to the recording by Asleep at the Wheel, so this pairing does not claim a shared origin. The bouncy accompaniment invites clear accents, but at this tempo compact steps are more helpful than wide, sweeping movements.

  5. 05

    Watermelon Crawl by Tracy Byrd

    Approx. 138 BPM, Watermelon Crawl, Tracy Davis, 40 Counts

    • Country
    • storytelling vocals
    • longer dance sequence

    Tracy Davis’ 40-count choreography goes with the song of the same name by Tracy Byrd: the storytelling vocals and strong accompaniment give you two clearly distinguishable layers to listen for. Compared with the previous entries, not only does the music get faster, but the named sequence is also longer, so you should consider musical orientation and remembering the choreography separately.

  6. 06

    What the Cowgirls Do by Vince Gill

    Approx. 156 BPM, Cowboy Hustle, Cindy Meehl, 32 Counts

    • Fast country
    • clear beat
    • compact steps

    The specifically assigned dance version is Cowboy Hustle by Cindy Meehl with 32 counts. Its distinctly driving beat leaves less time between musical beats than the previous recordings. The sequence is suitable for beginners, but dancing to the original recording already requires confident weight changes, so your feet aren’t still moving when the next beat comes.

  7. 07

    Chattahoochee by Alan Jackson

    Approx. 174 BPM, Tush Push, Jim Ferrazzano, 40 Counts

    • Fast country
    • short gaps between beats
    • hip accents

    For a fast finish, Jim Ferrazzano's 40-count Tush Push is paired with this recording, not as a dance created specifically for the song, but as a well-known combination of choreography and country music. The lively instrumental backing provides a clear pulse, but weight changes and hip accents call for small movements completed on time, rather than extra embellishments.

Musical tempo explains only part of the exertion

The list shows a wide range, but it is not a scale from the easiest to the hardest dance. BPM counts musical beats per minute, not the steps in your choreography. A step can fall on one beat, extra movements can happen between two beats, and some counts include a pause. That is why Copperhead Road can demand quick feet despite its slow underlying pulse.

The length of the sequence is also different from the tempo. The 24 counts of Steve Smith’s Copperhead Road and the 40 counts of Tracy Davis’ Watermelon Crawl describe the length of each repetition. They do not tell you how many metres you cover or how strenuous a round will be.

That’s why your practice depends on the combination of the recording and the named version. The complete sequence of Cindy Meehl’s Cowboy Hustle remains on her dance page. If you arrive too late on your supporting leg when the music is fast, a clear weight shift during the Rock Step can help to start with. To pace your exertion, you can use your line dance training plan for the first four weeks, rather than immediately dancing to several fast songs in a row.

The breadth of this selection

Recordings with a specified dance version
7
Approximate BPM at the slow end
81
Approximate BPM at the fast end
174

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. The BPM values are guidelines, not precise measurements. A recording may contain slight tempo fluctuations, and different counting methods can produce half or double the value. The basic musical pulse is used here so that the seven listed recordings can be ranked on the same basis.

Practice together to a country song

On udansa connect, you can find people to practice named line dance versions to country recordings with. Mention the dance and the song in your request so you can prepare the same combination.

Join for free
Practice together to a country song

Related to this