[Callers] Square dance calling book - What would you like to see?

[Ron Blechner via Callers]

Can the book have a digital version with embedded hyperlinks to relevant
videos?

Ron Blechner

On Oct 28, 2016 1:51 PM, "Tony Parkes via Callers" <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> Richard Hart wrote:
>
>
>
> *> *How about an answer to the question, Can contra callers who don't
> sing call squares, if so, how?
>
>
>
> The answer seems obvious to me, but that’s because I grew up with an
> eclectic assortment of squares in various styles, some of which involve no
> singing at all. Some square dance communities do singing calls exclusively;
> in others, the squares are done to fiddle tunes but in a chanting style in
> which every word is pitched to a note of the musical scale. If one’s
> background is in such a tradition, it can be hard to imagine calling a
> square without singing.
>
>
>
> I enjoy playing around with the harmony when I call. But it’s not
> necessary at all for effective calling. In fact, if you’re not comfortable
> doing it, it can get in the way.
>
>
>
> It’s quite possible to use either a patter or prompting style, or a
> combination of both, without singing a note. Ted Sannella, as he was the
> first to admit, was not a singer. He avoided singing calls for the most
> part; when he did one, such as Life on the Ocean Wave, it was obvious that
> he was uncomfortable and he had trouble finding the pitches. Yet he was one
> of the most successful and influential phrased-square callers of the 20th
> century. He simply spoke his calls rather than singing or harmonizing.
>
>
>
> If you look at YouTube videos of callers doing traditional squares
> (Eastern, Southern or Western), you can see that most of them don’t try to
> pitch their voices to the music. Some have a more shouting style, some are
> mellower, but nearly all are effective in their own way.
>
>
>
> Tony Parkes
>
> Billerica, Mass.
>
> www.hands4.com
>
>
>
>
>
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