4 Aug
2010
4 Aug
'10
6:39 p.m.
There's a recording entitled "Slaunch to Donegal", which was recorded by Don
& Marie Armstrong many years ago. It starts with Don prompting the calls ahead of the
musical phrase, followed on the next repeat of the dance by Marie singing the calls,
"on" the phrase, if you will. The very last time through, Don joins in with
harmony as the two of them sing the last figure. It's very entertaining. However, I
would not recommend it for the first few iterations of the dance, since the call is sung
at the same time as the dancers need to dance on phrase, unlike a prompted call, which
precedes the phrase and gives time for the dancers to react. It's more like something
you would slip into as the dance progresses.
Ron Nelson
Chula Vista, CA
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 11:22:03 -0700
From: tfields8(a)yahoo.com
To: callers(a)sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] Sung contras
What a fun question.
This is not "real" singing, but because I sang for years before learning to
call, I often find myself matching the pitch of my voice to the key the band is
playing in. At first, this happened subconsciously. Dancers have commented on
how they find that 'singing' pleasing, which at first embarrassed me since I
wasn't even aware I was doing it and it's unusual. Now when I know the tune, I
sometimes will 'sing' entire lines to the tune, just for fun.
I once heard Roger Diggle call in a way that held out certain phrases in a long
singing fashion - "there's your traaaaaaail buddy," which added
considerably to
my enjoyment of the dance.
I think 'singing' contra bits can help some calls be much more integrated with
the music and dancers' moves than the more currently common 'chop chop'
spoken
calling style, especially because singing the call helps us stay right on
rhythm.
Someone told me that Ralph Page used to 'sing' calls like that too. Maybe
it's
time to bring it back!
Tina
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