Not everyone can hear the beat. The problem is very seldom a rhythmic thing. There is a psychological thing called entrainment that is innate in all normal humans and enables them to naturally fall in sync with repetitive musical patterns. It doesn't work well when you don't listen carefully because you're focusing on other things like dancing properly. It also won't work if you listen to the wrong things, like the cymbal instead of the instruments that are holding the beat your feet are supposed to be moving to.

You don't need to have great rhythmic sense in order to dance. All you have to do is learn the leads and footwork well enough so that you can listen to the music while you dance. If you dance with a partner that has challenges hearing the beat, try some of the following. Turning up the bass and turning down the treble is a good training tool. This helps them to learn just what they should be listening to. There is so much going on in that set of drums, that some people just aren't aware of what we are dancing to.

Some people are more tactile than auditory, and for those you may find it helpful to tap their body or shoulder in time to the music, and let them tap feet or clap hands or tap on a table. This gets them started with an extra physical cue reinforcing the auditory cue. Try to listen to the radio as much as possible, and to routinely tap the beat with your feet, or tap on the steering wheel, or clap the beat, or whatever... to try to practice hearing the beat. Fifteen minutes alone can often be equivalent to an hour while being watched. When they can hear the beat, then have them tap out the dance rhythm (quick- quick-slow-slow, etc.) Once he can clap quicks and slows consistently, let him try walking it. Walk it continuously, the living room will be too small, have him try it outside on his daily stroll Then you can move to the living room, don't worry about the space. Go in circles, back and forth, in place, and combinations of all of them. You might want to replace the words quick-quick-slow-slow with quick- quick-slow-lead occasionally, have him do the arm movements as best as possible at the same time.

When practicing, 1) KISS! If the newbie is a follower, be restrained in what you lead. And if the newbie is a leader, accept that you will be following a very simple dance. Dancing very simple basic patterns is much more enjoyable than struggling with complicated wraps, ducks, and whips when one partner can hardly hear the beat. 2) Select slower music to dance to. It may not be as exciting, but it will be far more comfortable for your newbie partner, and they will be far more likely to develop good dancing habits.