# Cheersheet, full reference text > Every guide and the FAQ from https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev, converted from the published pages at build time. The short index is at https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/llms.txt. For cheer coaches and choreographers # 8-count sheet maker synced to your cheer mix Your mix came back. Load it here, tap the first 1, and Cheersheet lays the 8-counts over the actual music. Write the skills on the counts, shade the sections, print the count sheet for the athletes, and practise with the music slowed down and the counts called. Your mix, your count sheet and every athlete name stay in this browser. Nothing is uploaded, and no music ships with the site. Step 1 Load the mix, tap the 1 The waveform appears, the beat is found, and each 8-count starts where you tapped. Step 2 Check the grid Half or double tempo in one click, anchors where the music changes, drifting rows flagged. Step 3 Write the sheet Stunt, tumbling, jumps, dance and pyramid sections, a cue on any count, formation dots per 8. Step 4 Practise it slow 50 to 100 percent speed, pitch kept, counts spoken or clicked, loop any section. Step 5 Teach it Printed sheet, athlete cue cards, a projector count and a practice track for phones. Also Dance and pom teams The same grid, with a tempo range for dance music and formations per 8. ## How many 8-counts is your routine? At 144 beats per minute, a typical cheer mix tempo, one 8-count lasts 3.33 seconds. That makes: - a 1:30 routine: 27 full 8-counts - a 2:00 routine: 36 full 8-counts - a 2:30 routine: 45 full 8-counts Played at 75 percent speed for learning, the same mix runs at 108 beats per minute and a 1:30 routine takes 2:00. Cheersheet works these out from your own grid, including any tempo changes. ## Your mix stays yours Custom cheer mixes cost hundreds of dollars and are licensed to your team. The music is your team's own. Cheersheet reads the file you choose on this device and never sends it anywhere. There is no account and no upload: the file is decoded, gridded and played in this browser, and the sheet is saved here too. Cheersheet is a choreography and practice tool; it does not check skills against any ruleset, so check your own rules and your coaches' safety calls. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is Cheersheet? An 8-count sheet maker that works on your team's own mix. Load the music, tap the first 1, and Cheersheet lays a beat grid of 8-counts over it. Write a cue on any count, shade the sections, place formation dots, print the sheet, and practise with the mix slowed down and the counts called. ### Is it free? Yes. Everything on the site is free, with no account. ### Does my music get uploaded? No. Your mix, your count sheet and every athlete name stay in this browser. Nothing is uploaded, and no music ships with the site. The file is decoded by your browser on your device, and the beat grid is worked out there too. ### How does it find the beat? It measures where the sound gets suddenly louder or brighter (the onsets), finds the steady pulse in them, and follows that pulse through the mix. You tap the first 1 so the grid knows where each 8-count starts. If the pulse it finds is half or double what you hear, one button fixes it. --- Guides # Cheer 8-count sheets: the complete guide An 8-count sheet is a grid with one row for every eight beats of the music and one box for every count, where the coach writes what happens on that count: the load, the hit, the tumbling pass, the jump, the motion. Written over the team's own mix, it is the single page everyone learns the routine from. ## Why counts, and why eights Cheer and dance music is built in bars of four beats, and phrases of two bars. Counting to eight covers one phrase, which is why choreography is taught "5, 6, 7, 8" and why every skill is placed on a count. A mix made for competition is usually at one steady tempo, so once the first 1 is found the rest of the counts fall in a regular grid, and the sheet can be written row by row without guessing where each 8 starts. ## How long is an 8-count? The length of one 8-count depends only on the tempo, in beats per minute. For the tempos cheer mixes usually use: Table: One 8-count and a 1:30 routine at common cheer tempos | Tempo | One 8-count | Full 8-counts in 1:30 | Full 8-counts in 2:30 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 140 BPM | 3.43 s | 26 | 43 | | 144 BPM | 3.33 s | 27 | 45 | | 150 BPM | 3.2 s | 28 | 46 | These numbers come from the same arithmetic the sheet uses. On a real mix the intro, a voiceover or a tempo change moves the count, which is why Cheersheet builds the grid from the music itself instead of from a single number. ## From the mix to the sheet The work always goes in the same order. First the music: load the mix, find the first 1 and check the grid by ear, because every cue written afterwards hangs off it. Then the structure: mark the sections of the routine (stunts, tumbling, jumps, dance, pyramid and the transitions between them) across the 8-counts they cover. Then the detail: the cue on each count, who does it, and where the athletes stand. Finally the teaching: a printed sheet, athlete cards, and practice at a slower speed with the counts called. ## What makes a good sheet A good count sheet can be read from across the mat. That means short cues (a word or two on a count, not a sentence), the section named on every row, blank counts left blank rather than filled with filler, and the time of each 8-count printed so a coach can find the spot in the music. It also means one version: when the choreography changes, the sheet changes, and the old printout goes in the recycling. ## Every guide - [How to write an 8-count sheet](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/how-to-write-an-8-count-sheet/): filling in a cheer count sheet row by row, with how many 8-counts fit a 1:30, 2:00 and 2:30 routine. - [Finding the 1 in a cheer mix](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/finding-the-one-in-a-cheer-mix/): hearing the downbeat, tapping the tempo, and fixing a grid that runs at half or double speed. - [Slowing a mix without changing pitch](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/slowing-a-mix-for-practice-without-changing-pitch/): practice speeds from 50 to 100 percent, what they do to the tempo and the length, and why pitch stays put. - [Count sheets for stunts and pyramids](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/count-sheets-for-stunts-and-pyramids/): writing stunt groups, loads, hits and dismounts on the counts, with formation dots per 8. - [Teaching counts to a team](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/teaching-counts-to-a-team/): a practice plan for teaching a routine by the counts: slowed track, loops, athlete cards and the projector. - [Dance team count sheets](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/dance-team-count-sheets/): count sheets for dance and pom teams: the same 8-count grid, with formations and changes of tempo. Ready to try it on your own music? The [count sheet editor](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/sheet/) loads your mix in the browser, finds the grid with your tapped 1, and prints the sheet. Nothing is uploaded, and questions are answered in the [FAQ](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/faq/). ## Sources Checked on 27 September 2026. Count sheets have no single governing standard; what is written here is common practice in our own words, and every number in a worked example is computed by Cheersheet's own engine when the page is built. Where your gym, choreographer or ruleset does it differently, follow them. - **Cheersheet's own engine and its tests.** Every worked number on these pages (tempos, 8-count lengths, how long a routine takes at a practice speed, what the detector found on the test tracks) is computed by the same code the sheet runs, when the page is built. - **MDN Web Docs, BaseAudioContext: decodeAudioData.** How a browser turns an MP3, M4A or WAV file into samples in the page, with no upload. Formats depend on the browser's own decoders. - **Dixon, S., Onset Detection Revisited, DAFx 2006.** Spectral flux, the onset measure the grid is built from: how much brighter and louder each short slice of sound is than the one before. - **Ellis, D. P. W., Beat Tracking by Dynamic Programming, Journal of New Music Research 36(1), 2007.** The idea behind following a pulse through a mix: pick beats that sit on strong onsets while keeping the spacing close to the tempo. ## Frequently asked questions ### Where should a new coach start? With how to write an 8-count sheet, then finding the 1 in your own mix. Once the grid sits on the music, the stunt and teaching guides show how to fill it and use it at practice. ### Do these guides apply to dance and pom teams? Yes. The 8-count grid is the same. The dance team guide covers what changes: slower tempos, more tempo changes and more formations. ### Is there an official count sheet format? No. Every mix company and gym uses its own layout. The rows of eight counts are common to all of them, and that is what Cheersheet prints. --- Guide # How to write an 8-count sheet for cheer Write one row for every 8-count of the music, starting from the first 1 the choreography uses, and in each row put a short cue on the counts where something happens: the load on 1, the hit on 5, the toe touch on 7. Label each row with its section and the time it starts in the mix. At 144 beats per minute a 1:30 routine is 27 rows. ## What an 8-count sheet is for A count sheet turns a routine into something the whole team can read. Choreography is taught on counts, not seconds, because the music is built in phrases of eight beats and every athlete can count to eight under pressure. The sheet is the single source of truth: when a coach says "stunt group two, you are late on the 5 of row 14", everyone can find the same box. ## The steps - **Find the first 1.** Listen to the start of the mix and count along until the music settles into eights. The first count the choreography starts on is the 1 of row one; everything before it is intro. - **Number the rows.** Write one row for every 8-count, numbered from 1, with the time each row starts in the mix. At 144 beats per minute a row lasts 3.33 seconds. - **Block out the sections.** Mark which rows are stunts, tumbling, jumps, dance, pyramid and the transitions between them, and shade or label each block so the sheet reads at a glance. - **Write a cue on the counts that matter.** Put one short cue on each count where something happens: load, hit, toe touch. Keep it to 3 words or fewer and leave empty counts empty. - **Add who and where.** Note who does each cue (a stunt group, the flyers, All) and sketch the formation for any row where athletes move. - **Check it against the music.** Play the mix and follow the sheet row by row. If a cue lands off the count you meant, fix the sheet before anyone learns it. ## How many rows your routine needs The number of rows depends on the length of the routine and the tempo of the mix. Cheer mixes usually sit between 120 and 170 beats per minute. At 144: Table: Full 8-counts at 144 BPM | Routine length | Full 8-counts | | --- | --- | | 1:30 | 27 | | 2:00 | 36 | | 2:30 | 45 | A partial row at the end still gets a line on the sheet; the last pose often lands on it. If your mix changes tempo, count each part at its own tempo, which is what the sheet editor does when you drop a tempo anchor. ## Worked example: the first rows of a sheet **Worked example.** A mix at 144 BPM has a two bar voiceover, and the first 1 of the choreography falls at 0:04.2. Each row then starts 3.33 seconds after the one before. These times are computed by the same grid the sheet uses: - Row 1 starts at 0:04.2 - Row 2 starts at 0:07.5 - Row 3 starts at 0:10.9 - Row 4 starts at 0:14.2 - Row 27 starts at 1:30.9 The opening stunt might read: row 1, count 1 "load", count 3 "dip", count 5 "hit"; row 2, count 1 "prep", count 3 "cradle". Seven words across sixteen boxes, and every athlete knows where the hit is. ## Writing cues people can read A cue is a label, not an instruction. "Hit" is better than "everyone extends to the top of the stunt", because the sheet is read at a glance, often from across the mat. The editor allows 24 characters per box and warns at more than 3 words. Use the same word for the same move every time: if the load is "load" on row 1 it should not become "load in" on row 12. Put names or groups in the Who field instead of the cue, so each athlete's card can be printed from it. ## Common mistakes - Counting from the first sound instead of the first 1, which pushes every row off by the length of the intro. - Letting a cue spill across two boxes. If it needs two counts, write the start on one and the end on the other. - Forgetting that a tempo change moves every later row. A sheet timed at one tempo will drift after the change. - Keeping two versions. When the choreography changes, change the sheet, print it again and throw the old one out. - Filling empty counts with dashes or arrows. Blank boxes make the busy counts easier to see. ## Doing it over the music Writing a sheet from memory is where most counting errors start. The [count sheet editor](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/sheet/) loads your mix in the browser, lays the rows over the waveform from your tapped first 1, and prints the sheet landscape with the times and sections on it. If the grid is off by half or double, read [finding the 1 in a cheer mix](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/finding-the-one-in-a-cheer-mix/). ## Sources Checked on 27 September 2026. Count sheets have no single governing standard; what is written here is common practice in our own words, and every number in a worked example is computed by Cheersheet's own engine when the page is built. Where your gym, choreographer or ruleset does it differently, follow them. - **Cheersheet's own engine and its tests.** Every worked number on these pages (tempos, 8-count lengths, how long a routine takes at a practice speed, what the detector found on the test tracks) is computed by the same code the sheet runs, when the page is built. - **MDN Web Docs, BaseAudioContext: decodeAudioData.** How a browser turns an MP3, M4A or WAV file into samples in the page, with no upload. Formats depend on the browser's own decoders. ## Frequently asked questions ### What goes in each box of an 8-count sheet? The move that happens on that count, in a word or two, and who does it if it is not everyone. Empty counts stay empty so the busy counts stand out. ### How many 8-counts are in a 2:30 routine? At 144 beats per minute, 45 full 8-counts. At other tempos the number changes: divide the seconds by the length of one 8-count at your tempo. ### Do I start counting from the first note of the music? No. Start from the first 1 the choreography uses. Intros, voiceovers and sound effects often come before it and are not part of the count. ### Should I write the time next to each row? Yes. The time of each 8-count lets a coach jump to that spot in the music at practice, and it shows at once if the grid has drifted. --- Guide # Finding the 1 in a cheer mix The 1 is the first beat of the steady music where the choreography starts, usually on the biggest drum hit after the intro. Count 5, 6, 7, 8 along with the music until the strong hit lands on your 1, then tap it. If the count then runs twice as fast or twice as slow as you would count, the tempo was found at double or half, and one click fixes it. ## The steps - **Skip the intro.** Let the voiceover, the sound effects and any build-up play. The 1 is where the steady beat starts and the choreography starts with it. - **Listen for the strongest hit.** In most cheer mixes the 1 of each 8-count carries the biggest drum hit or the start of a new musical phrase. Count 5 6 7 8 out loud until the next strong hit lands on your 1. - **Tap it.** In the sheet editor, play the mix and press Tap the 1 now on that hit. The grid snaps your tap to the nearest beat it detected, so a tap a little early or late still lands on the beat. - **Check the speed of the count.** Play from 8-count 1 with the click on. If the clicks come twice as fast as you would count, choose Half tempo; if half as fast, choose Double tempo. - **Check the end.** Jump to the last section and listen. If the clicks have drifted off the music, the mix changed tempo somewhere: look for rows flagged as drifting and add a tempo anchor there. ## How the beat grid is found Cheersheet reads the mix on your device and measures, every hundredth of a second, how much brighter and louder the sound just got. The peaks of that measure are the onsets: drum hits, claps, the start of a note. It then looks for the steady spacing between onsets, which gives the tempo, and follows the beat through the mix, allowing it to drift slowly so a tempo change is followed rather than fought. Finally it fits the beats into segments of steady tempo, each starting on an 8-count, and counts them from your tapped 1. The guard for half and double tempo works like this. If the strongest pulse sits outside the expected range for the kind of mix (for cheer, 120 to 170 BPM) and its double or half sits inside, and that alternative still carries at least 33 percent of the strength of the original, the grid moves to it and says so. A tapped tempo overrides all of that. ## Worked example: the grid on four test tracks **Worked example.** These are synthetic tracks with known beat times, run through the same code as the sheet editor when this page was built, with the 1 tapped 20 ms late: Table: What the grid found on each test track | Track | Strongest pulse | Grid tempo | Anchors | Mean error | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Steady 144 BPM, kick on every beat | 144 BPM | 144 BPM | none | 1.3 ms | | 144 BPM for 8 eights, then 152 BPM | 76 BPM | 144 then 152 BPM (doubled by the guard) | 8-count 9 | 1.3 ms | | 144 BPM with a half time kick and backbeat | 72 BPM | 144 BPM (doubled by the guard) | none | 0.8 ms | | 150 BPM, hits spread by up to 8 ms, more noise | 75 BPM | 150 BPM (doubled by the guard) | none | 1.8 ms | On the half tempo trap the kick drum plays every other beat, so the strongest pulse is 72 BPM. That is below the cheer range, so the guard moves the grid to 144.1 BPM. On the tempo change track the grid proposes an anchor at 8-count 9, where the music speeds up. Real mixes are messier than test tracks: voiceovers, effects and breaks have no steady pulse, which is why the tapped 1 and your ears still decide. ## When the grid drifts After the grid is built, every 8-count is checked against the onsets in the music. A row whose onsets sit, on median, more than 40 ms off the grid beats is flagged on the sheet. That is about the point where a clap on the count sounds early or late to a trained ear. A run of flagged rows usually means the tempo changed: add an anchor at the first flagged row and refit the tempos. A single flagged row in a voiceover or a break is often just a section with no drums. ## Common mistakes - Tapping the first sound of the file instead of the first 1 of the choreography. - Accepting a count that feels frantic: at 280 BPM nobody is counting, so it is double tempo. - Moving the whole grid by a beat to fix one late section. Add an anchor instead, so the rows before it stay right. - Trusting the grid through a voiceover or a stop. Listen through breaks and check the first row after them. - Forgetting that the 1 can be a quiet beat after a big pickup on the 8. Load your own mix in the [count sheet editor](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/sheet/) to try it. When the grid is right, the next step is [writing the sheet](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/how-to-write-an-8-count-sheet/). ## Sources Checked on 27 September 2026. Count sheets have no single governing standard; what is written here is common practice in our own words, and every number in a worked example is computed by Cheersheet's own engine when the page is built. Where your gym, choreographer or ruleset does it differently, follow them. - **Cheersheet's own engine and its tests.** Every worked number on these pages (tempos, 8-count lengths, how long a routine takes at a practice speed, what the detector found on the test tracks) is computed by the same code the sheet runs, when the page is built. - **Dixon, S., Onset Detection Revisited, DAFx 2006.** Spectral flux, the onset measure the grid is built from: how much brighter and louder each short slice of sound is than the one before. - **Ellis, D. P. W., Beat Tracking by Dynamic Programming, Journal of New Music Research 36(1), 2007.** The idea behind following a pulse through a mix: pick beats that sit on strong onsets while keeping the spacing close to the tempo. - **MDN Web Docs, BaseAudioContext: decodeAudioData.** How a browser turns an MP3, M4A or WAV file into samples in the page, with no upload. Formats depend on the browser's own decoders. ## Frequently asked questions ### Why does the count come out twice too fast or too slow? A mix has pulses at several speeds at once: the kick drum, the claps and the hi-hats. A detector can lock on to the half speed pulse, especially when the kick plays every other beat. The half and double tempo guard catches most of these, and one click fixes the rest. ### What tempo is a cheer mix usually? Most sit between 120 and 170 beats per minute, which is the range the guard uses for a cheer mix. Dance and pom music is often slower, so the sheet has a separate range for it. ### Is the 1 always the loudest beat? Usually, but not always. A mix can put the big hit on the 8 as a pickup, or start a phrase with a quiet 1. Trust the choreography: the 1 is where the first move starts. ### What does tapping the tempo do? Tapping four or more times in time with the music tells the detector which speed you hear. A pause of more than 2 seconds starts a new set of taps. --- Guide # Slowing a cheer mix for practice without changing pitch Play the mix at a lower speed with pitch preservation on: current browsers keep the pitch when a recording is slowed, and Cheersheet's practice track uses its own time stretch so the saved file keeps it too. At 75 percent, a 144 BPM mix plays at 108 BPM and a 1:30 routine lasts 2:00; the counts stay on the same beats. ## Why slow the music at all New choreography is learned in pieces, and the pieces are learned slowly first. A slower mix gives athletes time to hear the count, place the skill on it and fix their timing before the speed hides mistakes. It also lets a coach watch the count land: at full speed a stunt group that hits on the 6 instead of the 5 looks nearly right; at 75 percent it is plainly late. ## What each speed does The tempo and the length change together. For a 144 BPM mix and a 1:30 routine: Table: Practice speeds for a 144 BPM, 1:30 routine | Speed | Tempo heard | One 8-count lasts | Routine lasts | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 100 percent | 144 BPM | 3.33 s | 1:30 | | 90 percent | 129.6 BPM | 3.7 s | 1:40 | | 85 percent | 122.4 BPM | 3.92 s | 1:46 | | 75 percent | 108 BPM | 4.44 s | 2:00 | | 60 percent | 86.4 BPM | 5.56 s | 2:30 | | 50 percent | 72 BPM | 6.67 s | 3:00 | ## How the pitch is kept A record player slowed down sounds lower because each sound wave is stretched. To slow the music but keep the pitch, the sound is cut into short overlapping slices (a few hundredths of a second each), and the slices are laid down further apart than they were taken. Each slice keeps its own pitch; the joins are chosen where the waveforms line up best so they do not click. This family of methods is called overlap-add with waveform similarity. In the browser the player uses the built-in version: the pitch is kept by default when the playback speed changes, and MDN lists that as supported across current browsers since December 2023. Drums smear slightly at very low speeds because each hit is repeated or stretched between slices. That is why Cheersheet stops at 50 percent: below it the count is hard to hear. ## Worked example: a practice track **Worked example.** A coach saves a practice track of a 1:30 routine at 75 percent. The file is exactly 1/0.75 times as long as the mix: 2:00, or 5,292,000 samples at 44.1 kHz. Every count gets a click at its slowed time, highest on each 1 and higher on each 5, and a 4 count lead-in (5, 6, 7, 8) before the first 1 when the intro leaves room. The same routine at 50 percent gives a 3:00 file with 7,938,000 samples. The track is rendered by Cheersheet's own code, sample by sample, so the same routine at the same speed gives the same file every time from the same mix in the same browser. Another browser decodes the mix with its own decoder, so its file can differ slightly. ## A practice plan by speed - 75 percent: teach the section, counts called out loud, clicks on. - 85 percent: run the section, clicks on, the coach watches the hits. - 90 percent: run the section, clicks off, athletes count in their heads. - 100 percent: run it full out, then drop back to 85 for anything that fell apart. ## Common mistakes - Slowing with an app that lowers the pitch. The music sounds wrong and athletes learn the wrong feel. - Going too slow. Below about 60 percent the count stops sounding like music. - Never practising at full speed. Timing learned only at 75 percent falls apart at 100. - Counting a slowed mix at the full speed tempo. The counts move with the music; only the time between them grows. The [count sheet editor](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/sheet/) plays your mix from 50 to 100 percent with clicked or spoken counts, and loops any section. For a whole practice plan, see [teaching counts to a team](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/teaching-counts-to-a-team/). ## Sources Checked on 27 September 2026. Count sheets have no single governing standard; what is written here is common practice in our own words, and every number in a worked example is computed by Cheersheet's own engine when the page is built. Where your gym, choreographer or ruleset does it differently, follow them. - **Cheersheet's own engine and its tests.** Every worked number on these pages (tempos, 8-count lengths, how long a routine takes at a practice speed, what the detector found on the test tracks) is computed by the same code the sheet runs, when the page is built. - **MDN Web Docs, HTMLMediaElement: preservesPitch.** Pitch is kept by default when the playback rate changes; listed as Baseline, widely available since December 2023. Opened 27 September 2026. - **Verhelst, W. and Roelands, M., An overlap-add technique based on waveform similarity (WSOLA), ICASSP 1993.** The family of time stretch methods the practice track uses to slow music while keeping its pitch. ## Frequently asked questions ### Why does slowed music usually sound deeper? Playing a recording slower stretches its sound waves, which lowers every pitch. Keeping the pitch needs a time stretch: the music is cut into tiny overlapping pieces that are spaced further apart without being stretched themselves. ### What speed should we practise at? Start new choreography at 75 percent, where the counts are still musical, then 85 and 90 percent once it is clean. Below 60 percent the music stops sounding like music and athletes lose the feel of the count. ### Does slowing the mix change the counts? No. The counts stay on the same beats; only the time between them grows. An 8-count that lasts a certain time at full speed lasts that time divided by the speed. ### Can athletes practise with it at home? Yes. The practice track is a WAV file of your mix at the speed you choose with a click on every count, which plays on any phone. --- Guide # Count sheets for stunts and pyramids Give each stunt or pyramid its own shaded section on the sheet, write the load, the dip, the hit and the dismount on the exact counts they happen, and put the stunt group in the Who column so every group can see its own counts. Draw the formation on the 8-count where groups set, so everyone knows where they stand before the load. ## Why stunts need the most precise counts Stunts are where counting keeps athletes safe and makes a routine look clean. A group that loads a count late hits a count late, and a pyramid is only as sharp as its slowest connection. On a sheet, the stunt section is the one place where nearly every count may carry a cue, and where the Who column matters most. ## Worked example: one stunt sequence on the counts **Worked example.** An elevator to extension with a cradle, starting on the first 1 of a 144 BPM mix. The times are when each count falls, from the grid: Table: A stunt sequence at 144 BPM | Cue | 8-count | Count | Seconds from the first 1 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Load in | 1 | 1 | 0 | | Dip | 1 | 3 | 0.83 | | Extend (hit) | 1 | 5 | 1.67 | | Hold, sell it | 1 | 6 | 2.08 | | Prep the cradle | 2 | 1 | 3.33 | | Cradle | 2 | 3 | 4.17 | From load to hit is four counts, 1.67 seconds at this tempo. At 75 percent practice speed it is 2.23 seconds, which is why new stunts are learned slowed down. ## Writing a stunt section - Shade the rows as a stunt section and name it (Opening stunt, Stunt 2) so it can be found on the sheet and on the athletes' cards. - Write the preparation count: the count where groups must be set and ready, usually the 5 6 7 8 before the load. - Write each phase on its count: load, dip, hit, the transition, the dismount. Leave the counts between them empty. - Put the group in Who. If groups are staggered (a ripple), each group gets its own cue on its own count. - Mark the formation on the 8-count where groups set, and again where they finish if they travel. ## Pyramids A pyramid is several stunts connected, so its sheet shows both the individual groups and the connections. Write one cue for the whole pyramid on the counts where everyone moves together (the hit, the release), and group cues where they do not. A pyramid often spans three to five 8-counts; if the section runs longer, split it into two named sections (Pyramid build, Pyramid transition) so the shading shows the structure. Formation dots matter most here. The mat drawing on each row is 9 panels by 5 rows, front at the bottom; one dot per stunt group is enough. Copy the formation from the row before and move only the groups that travel. ## Common mistakes - Writing only the hit. The load and the preparation counts are where timing is lost. - Mixing groups in one cue. "Groups 1 and 3 load, 2 dips" belongs on two counts or in the Who field, not in one box. - Counting a stunt from the music's big hit when the choreography hits on the count after it. - Leaving out the dismount. It is part of the count and athletes need to know when it ends. - Treating the sheet as a safety check. It records timing only; spotting and progressions are coaching decisions. Build the section in the [count sheet editor](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/sheet/), then print cards for each group. For using the sheet at practice, read [teaching counts to a team](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/teaching-counts-to-a-team/). ## Sources Checked on 27 September 2026. Count sheets have no single governing standard; what is written here is common practice in our own words, and every number in a worked example is computed by Cheersheet's own engine when the page is built. Where your gym, choreographer or ruleset does it differently, follow them. - **Cheersheet's own engine and its tests.** Every worked number on these pages (tempos, 8-count lengths, how long a routine takes at a practice speed, what the detector found on the test tracks) is computed by the same code the sheet runs, when the page is built. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I show different stunt groups doing different things? Put the group in the Who field of each cue, for example Group 1 on the load and Group 2 on a delayed load two counts later. Each group then gets its own athlete card for the section. ### Should the sheet say which skills are legal for our level? No. Cheersheet is a choreography and practice tool; it does not check skills against any ruleset, so check your own rules and your coaches' safety calls. ### How much detail goes in a pyramid section? The transitions: who loads, who connects, when the top athletes hit, and when the braces let go. Hand placements and grips belong in a coach's notes, not the sheet. ### How do formation dots help? Each 8-count can carry a small drawing of the mat, 9 panels wide and 5 deep, with a dot for each group or athlete. It shows where groups travel between stunts, which a list of counts cannot. --- Guide # Teaching 8-counts to a cheer team Teach each section on the counts before adding music, then play the mix slowed to 75 percent with a click on every count and loop that section until it is clean. Speed up to 85 percent and full speed, put the running count on a screen, and send athletes their cue cards and a practice track so they learn the counts between practices. ## The plan - **Count it without music.** Walk the section with the coach counting out loud, 5 6 7 8 into the 1, so athletes learn which count each move sits on before the music is added. - **Add the slowed mix.** Play the section at 75 percent with a click on every count. At 144 BPM that is 108 BPM, slow enough to place every move and fast enough to still sound like the song. - **Loop the section.** Loop just that section, starting from the 5 6 7 8 before it, and run it until it is clean. Then loop the section before it and join them. - **Put the count on the wall.** Put the projector view on a screen at the front of the gym so every athlete can see the 8-count and the count while they learn. - **Speed it up.** Move to 85 percent (122.4 BPM), then full speed. Turn the clicks off at full speed so athletes count in their heads. - **Send it home.** Print each athlete's cue cards and give them the practice track, so they can rehearse the counts between practices. ## Why counts before music Music carries athletes along, which is exactly why it hides counting mistakes. Taught without it first, each move gets a number, and the number is what an athlete falls back on when nerves speed them up at a competition. The count sheet is the reference: when two athletes disagree about a count, the sheet settles it. ## Worked example: a practice block **Worked example.** A 45 minute block for the opening stunt and the tumbling pass after it, on a 144 BPM mix: - 5 minutes: counts out loud, no music, walking the stunt. - 10 minutes: the stunt looped at 75 percent (108 BPM, one 8-count every 4.44 s) with clicks. - 10 minutes: the tumbling looped at 75 percent, then both sections joined. - 10 minutes: both at 85 percent (122.4 BPM), projector count on the wall. - 10 minutes: full speed, clicks off, then back to 85 percent for anything that fell apart. The tempos and 8-count lengths above are computed from the same grid the player uses. ## Spoken counts or clicks? A click lands within a few hundredths of a second of the count, highest on each 1, and on the practice track it is written into the file exactly on the count. Spoken counts ("five, six, seven, eight") are what athletes are used to hearing from a coach, and they help with learning which number is which, but a browser voice can lag a little at full speed. Use spoken counts for slow learning runs and clicks for timing work. The practice track always uses clicks, because a browser voice cannot be recorded into a file. ## Common mistakes - Teaching from full speed. Mistakes get locked in before anyone can see them. - Starting a loop on the 1. Without the 5 6 7 8 lead-in, the team is always late into the section. - One sheet for the coach only. Athletes learn faster with their own counts in their hands. - Never running clicks off. The competition floor has no click track. - Changing choreography without changing the sheet. The printout on the wall is what the team believes. Everything above runs in the [count sheet editor](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/sheet/). For the speeds and what they do to the music, see [slowing a mix without changing pitch](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/slowing-a-mix-for-practice-without-changing-pitch/). ## Sources Checked on 27 September 2026. Count sheets have no single governing standard; what is written here is common practice in our own words, and every number in a worked example is computed by Cheersheet's own engine when the page is built. Where your gym, choreographer or ruleset does it differently, follow them. - **Cheersheet's own engine and its tests.** Every worked number on these pages (tempos, 8-count lengths, how long a routine takes at a practice speed, what the detector found on the test tracks) is computed by the same code the sheet runs, when the page is built. - **MDN Web Docs, Web Speech API: SpeechSynthesis.** The browser voice used for spoken counts. Voices and their timing vary by browser and device. - **MDN Web Docs, HTMLMediaElement: preservesPitch.** Pitch is kept by default when the playback rate changes; listed as Baseline, widely available since December 2023. Opened 27 September 2026. ## Frequently asked questions ### Should athletes count out loud? While learning, yes. Counting out loud keeps the whole team on the same count and shows the coach who is lost. Once a section is clean, counting moves inside their heads. ### How do I teach a section in the middle of the routine? Jump to it with a lead-in. Cheersheet starts 4 counts before a section so the team hears 5 6 7 8 before the 1, the same way they would coming out of the section before. ### What goes on an athlete card? The athlete's own counts, section by section: every cue with their name or their group in the Who field, plus every cue marked All. ### Do athletes need the app? No. They get printed cards and the practice track, a WAV file that plays on any phone. Names and cues stay in the coach's browser. --- Guide # Dance team count sheets from your music A dance team count sheet is the same 8-count grid as a cheer sheet: one row per eight beats from the first 1, a cue on the counts where moves happen, and a formation drawn on the rows where dancers travel. Set the tempo range for dance music, add a tempo anchor wherever the song changes speed, and print the sheet and each dancer's cards. ## What changes for dance Dance and pom music is usually slower than a cheer mix and changes more: a hip hop section into a jazz section, a slow lyrical build, a sudden stop. Choreography also travels more, so formations change on most 8-counts rather than a few. The counting is the same; the sheet just carries more tempo anchors and more formation drawings. ## Row lengths at dance tempos Table: One 8-count and a 1:30 piece at dance and cheer tempos | Tempo | One beat | One 8-count | Full 8-counts in 1:30 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 132 BPM | 0.455 s | 3.64 s | 24 | | 140 BPM | 0.429 s | 3.43 s | 26 | | 144 BPM | 0.417 s | 3.33 s | 27 | | 150 BPM | 0.4 s | 3.2 s | 28 | | 160 BPM | 0.375 s | 3 s | 30 | ## Worked example: a tempo change **Worked example.** The test track for tempo changes plays 144 then 152 BPM, speeding up after eight 8-counts. Run through the sheet's grid when this page was built, it came out as 144 BPM from 8-count 1, then 152 BPM from 8-count 9, with every beat within 1.5 ms of the true time. On a dance mix the change is often bigger and less tidy, so listen at each anchor, and move it by an 8-count if the music changes a little earlier or later than the grid thinks. ## Formations on every row For a travelling piece, draw the formation on every row where dancers move, and copy the row before as a start. Label dots with initials or line numbers rather than full names; the printed sheet shows the drawing small at the end of each row, and each dancer can find their own dot. Names and formations stay in the coach's browser. ## Choosing the tempo range The half and double tempo guard uses the range you choose. For a cheer mix it expects 120 to 170 BPM; for dance or pom, 85 to 150. A slow piece around 70 BPM will often be heard at 140 under the cheer range, which counts it twice too fast; choose the dance range or tap the tempo to tell the grid which speed you count. ## Common mistakes - Using the cheer range on a slow dance piece, which doubles the count. - One grid through a medley. Each part of a medley needs its own tempo anchor. - Formations only at the start of a section. Dancers need to know where they travel, not just where they begin. - Counting a pause as silence. The count keeps going through a stop unless the choreography says otherwise; mark it on the sheet. Set up your piece in the [count sheet editor](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/sheet/). For the basics of a sheet, start with [how to write an 8-count sheet](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/how-to-write-an-8-count-sheet/). ## Sources Checked on 27 September 2026. Count sheets have no single governing standard; what is written here is common practice in our own words, and every number in a worked example is computed by Cheersheet's own engine when the page is built. Where your gym, choreographer or ruleset does it differently, follow them. - **Cheersheet's own engine and its tests.** Every worked number on these pages (tempos, 8-count lengths, how long a routine takes at a practice speed, what the detector found on the test tracks) is computed by the same code the sheet runs, when the page is built. - **MDN Web Docs, BaseAudioContext: decodeAudioData.** How a browser turns an MP3, M4A or WAV file into samples in the page, with no upload. Formats depend on the browser's own decoders. - **Ellis, D. P. W., Beat Tracking by Dynamic Programming, Journal of New Music Research 36(1), 2007.** The idea behind following a pulse through a mix: pick beats that sit on strong onsets while keeping the spacing close to the tempo. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is a dance count sheet different from a cheer one? The grid is the same: one row per 8-count. Dance sheets usually carry more formations and more tempo changes, and fewer stunt style group cues. ### What tempo range should I choose for a dance mix? Choose Dance or pom, which expects 85 to 150 BPM. A slow lyrical piece may need Any tempo, or a tapped tempo. ### How do I handle a song that slows down in the middle? Drop a tempo anchor on the first 8-count of the slow part and refit. The rows before the anchor keep their times and the rows after it follow the new tempo. ### Can I count a waltz or a 6-count phrase? The sheet counts in eights, which fits most team dance music. For music in threes, count two bars of three as one row of six and leave counts 7 and 8 empty. --- FAQ # Cheer count sheet questions and answers Short answers about the tool. For writing the sheet itself, start with [the guides](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/guide/), or go straight to the [count sheet editor](https://cheersheet-web.pages.dev/sheet/). ## Frequently asked questions ### What is Cheersheet? An 8-count sheet maker that works on your team's own mix. Load the music, tap the first 1, and Cheersheet lays a beat grid of 8-counts over it. Write a cue on any count, shade the sections, place formation dots, print the sheet, and practise with the mix slowed down and the counts called. ### Is it free? Yes. Everything on the site is free, with no account. ### Does my music get uploaded? No. Your mix, your count sheet and every athlete name stay in this browser. Nothing is uploaded, and no music ships with the site. The file is decoded by your browser on your device, and the beat grid is worked out there too. ### Which files can I load? MP3, M4A (AAC), WAV and most other formats your browser can play. Cheersheet uses the browser's own decoder, so a file that plays in your browser will almost always load. Protected files from streaming services cannot be loaded. ### How does it find the beat? It measures where the sound gets suddenly louder or brighter (the onsets), finds the steady pulse in them, and follows that pulse through the mix. You tap the first 1 so the grid knows where each 8-count starts. If the pulse it finds is half or double what you hear, one button fixes it. ### What if the tempo changes partway through? The grid is built in segments. Cheersheet proposes a new segment where the tempo shifts, and you can drop a tempo anchor on any 8-count yourself. Rows where the music drifts off the grid are flagged so you can check them by ear. ### Can I slow the music down without it sounding low? Yes. The practice player plays from 50 to 100 percent speed with the pitch kept where the browser supports it, which current Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari all do. The practice track WAV uses Cheersheet's own time stretch, so it keeps pitch on every device. ### Can the counts be spoken? Yes. The practice player can speak the counts with your browser's voice or play a click on every count, louder on the 1. The practice track WAV uses clicks, pitched higher on each 1 and 5, because a browser voice cannot be recorded into a file. ### Does it check whether a skill is legal? Cheersheet is a choreography and practice tool; it does not check skills against any ruleset, so check your own rules and your coaches' safety calls. ### Who runs Cheersheet? An independent site. Cheersheet is not affiliated with any cheer or dance governing body, competition producer, event brand or music company.