Hi,

There was also a discussion on this point on or around Sept. 4, 2024, started by Seth T. entitled: "[Callers] Resources to turn musicians into dance musicians?"  Unfortunately, I can't find it in the archives to send you the link.

Wearing my hat as a dance musician and band leader, and being in a situation similar to yours, in a college town far from an area with large numbers of skilled dance musicians, these are the suggestions I posted.  I hope they help.

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Hi All,

I think everything they [skilled musicians who are new to playing dance music] need to know is in "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire

https://youtu.be/Gs069dndIYk?si=Nn4OCiYYZv_kKcr1

Also, maybe listen to the interview of Verdine White, the EWF bassist, with producer Rick Rubin.  It may help convey how long and diligently dance musicians work at their craft and, therefore, help them appreciate the music form.

All musicians I recruit and audition, I ask that they study and understand everything going on in "September."

If they have a year, I recommend the Dance Musicians class at the John C Campbell Folk School, created by David Kaynor, and, in the year I took it, was taught by Betsy Branch, Susan Songer, Peter Siegel and Andy Davis.

https://www.folkschool.org/calendar/

They might also study recordings of the New England Dancing Masters on YouTube.

In my approach, the key element of dance music is a sense of inner pulse, and then, performance with a strong pulse or "groove."  However, like pitch and intonation, pulse and groove are subtle abilities that only a small percentage of musicians have or can develop.  Unfortunately, I have found that few musicians have a ready sense of pulse, though I believe it can be developed.

For our dance, I play solo, with live overdubbing and, usually, a drum machine, because, for the time being, I gave up on trying to develop dance musicians.  (Background: ours is an all-new, all-beginner dance community.  This clip is from our first dance of this school year which was a small group, but we doubled our number at last night's dance.)

https://youtu.be/LFSnfpyeS9o?si=jg8zqKNcwc3TpkrU


I hope this helps your musicians.

Rob Matson

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Robert Matson
Innovation Media Corp.
The Innovation Works, Inc.
Cell: (917) 626-2675