thumb|13th Regiment QuickstepQuickstep, quick-step, or quick step is a lively style of the march music to accompany marches in quick time.[1] It was a common style of the American march music since the early 19th century, developed as an accompaniment to military cadenced step, which is faster than a ceremonial march.[2] The 1908 Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians writes that it is the English name for the music of the quick march in the army, in which there are 116 steps of 30 inches per minute, as compared to 75 steps of 30 inches in slow march and 165 of 33 inches in the double time march.[3]
An 1875 article in English Mechanic and World of Science gives the following description:[4]
See Ternary form#Compound ternary or trio form for the explanation of the term "trio" in this context.
In addition to an initial march and a trio, quicksteps often included an introduction and a closing section.[5]
Quickstep has become a dominant march form in the second half of the 19th century.[6]