Re: [Callers] Sung fiddle tunes?

A few Decembers ago the band surprised us with a holiday tune by playing the Chipmunk Song for the final waltz - everyone knew many of the words and  sung along - it was fun! Mac ________________________________ From: Alan Winston <winston(a)slac.stanford.edu> To: callers(a)sharedweight.net Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 3:40 PM Subject: Re: [Callers] Sung fiddle tunes? Waltz songs I've enjoyed dancing to when sung: - Log Riders Waltz - Tennessee Waltz - Star of the County Down - After the Ball (although the lyrics are really a downer) - Take Me Out to the Ballgame - Home, Sweet Home - I Could Have Danced All Night (And "Shall We Dance" is a fun polka, for that matter.) I've also experienced a wonderful band with a fabulous vocalist who can concertize on her own, but whose sung waltzes are often unsatisfying to me *as waltzes* because they're at the tempo which allows for full emotional expression of the song and that's too slow for good rotary waltz. In contra dancing I've enjoyed "mouth music" breaks on fast Irish tunes but haven't tried to dance to anyone singing lyrics. English dance has a rich history of dances set to ballad tunes and we've had balls where that was a theme. Unlike singing squares, I've more generally encountered bands that sing. The main thing to remember,  I should think, is that you're serving the dance experience.  Keeping the set from breaking down is more important than finishing the lyric.  Also, this should be spice, not meat and potatoes. Experiment slowly; do it on simple dances; use your judgment.  For getting your feet wet I would say that you might run a simple dance with instruments + calling 2/3 of the way through, then sing at a point where you could expect to drop out from calling - and then end the dance if it looks like there's a problem. I'd also say: rehearse, use a metronome, record yourself, make sure you can sing satisfactorily at dance tempo. Make sure your ego is okay with dancers essentially ignoring your singing; they're there to to dance with each other, not to to listen to you.  [You can get much more responsiveness to singing behind couple dances, I think.] And as for the less-experienced group of dancers: If you have any doubt about how it will work, you shouldn't do it. -- Alan On 11/27/2012 12:14 PM, Maia McCormick wrote: _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)sharedweight.net http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers