Gavotte Facts for Kids

The gavotte was a lively folk dance that started with farmers and villagers in the Brittany region of France. Later, it became very popular in the fancy courts of France and England during the 1600s and 1700s. It was a special favorite at the French court of King Louis XIV.

The Music and Steps of the Gavotte
The Gavotte in Classical Music
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The Music and Steps of the Gavotte

The music for a gavotte usually has a four-beat rhythm. It often feels like the dance starts with a little bounce on the third and fourth beats. When dancing the gavotte, dancers would cross their feet twice in each step. After each step, they would add a small hop.

Singers sometimes provided the music for the dancers. Other times, a small group of musicians would play instruments like a violin, a drum, bagpipes, or a shawm. A shawm was an old instrument that was a bit like the modern oboe.

The Gavotte in Classical Music

Over time, the gavotte changed from being just a dance to also being a type of musical piece. During the Baroque period (roughly 1600-1750), gavottes were often written in a binary form. This means the music had two main parts that were usually repeated.

When composers started writing musical suites, which were collections of short pieces often based on dances, the gavotte usually found its place between two other dances called the sarabande and the gigue. Some of the most famous examples of gavottes can be found in the suites and partitas written by the well-known composer J.S. Bach.