Music of the Foxtrot
Music
The foxtrot can be danced to many different musical styles and tempi, however it is commonly danced to a moderate tempo (Bedinghaus). The music is in a simple duple meter in four bar phrases, and the first and third beats are accented more than the second and fourth beats. The Slow-Slow-Quick-Quick pattern would take up three measures with the Slow steps taking up two beats each and the Quick steps taking up one beat each. The Slow-Quick-Quick pattern would take up two measures.
The picture to the right shows an example of how the steps would line up with the beats.
Bedinghaus, Treva. "Slow Foxtrot." ThoughtCo, Jan. 15, 2017, thoughtco.com/slow-foxtrot-dance-1007195.
Examples of standard foxtrot music
Virginia Dare
The piece displayed to the left is called Virginia Dare, and the music was written by Chas Tinney. This piece is in cut time and the tempo is marked as moderato. This piece fits with the above description of foxtrot music.
That Night in Araby
The piece below Virginia Dare is called That Night in Araby, and the music was written by Ted Snyder. The music deceptively starts in 3/4 time for a six measure intro before it switches to cut time for the rest of the piece. From there the piece is standard for a foxtrot. One possibility for the introduction in 3/4 is that it would give dancers in a social setting time at the beginning of the song to find a partner.