as someone who's had a foot in both worlds, I think maybe the most important points to talk about are that dance band musicians have to listen hard because we don't have benefit of a conductor, or (usually) a specific arrangement to follow - e.g., the tune is eight times through, and here are all the variations written out for each iteration of the tune. The musicians have a lot of responsibility in terms of deciding what the tune needs to sound like. The notation isn't very important, all things considered, especially if it takes your attention away from listening hard.

The other thing is that sometimes I think people who are accustomed to classical music communities might assume folk music is somehow simpler or more naive, when in fact, the improvisation and nuance can be really sophisticated. (Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill "Live in Seattle" album is my favorite example.) So just playing the tune as written with the chords as written for 5 minutes straight can be sort of uninspiring to the dancers and leave the musicians wondering what they're missing. Some degree of improvisation is necessary, but it's not the same improvisation you might hear if you went to hear a jazz combo.

Finally, in terms of hearing things like "the fiddler wants to lead a dynamic shift," the fiddler I play with most often describes dance band dynamics as being a lot like stage makeup If an actor went out in public with the amount of makeup they wear on stage, they'd look like a clown, but on stage, with the bright lights, the makeup looks fine. Musical gestures have to be big -- and sometimes feel over-the-top -- for dancers to feel it.

There are some nerdier points I can get into, but maybe that's not called for here?

is this for an ECD or community dance gig? And how many people are playing? What's the instrumentation like?

meg

On Wed, Sep 4, 2024 at 10:46 AM Angela DeCarlis via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

I'm in the same boat right now, Seth!

BIDA's Open Band Tune List is a really helpful resource: https://www.bidadance.org/open-band-tune-list

But I've been having a hard time communicating about dynamics with them other than pulling up videos of experienced bands to demonstrate how much dance musicians break tunes down, improvise, and play. The energy needed to carry across a 7-minute set is harder to describe!! Following along in case others have ideas.

Ang

On Wed, Sep 4, 2024, 11:36 AM Tepfer, Seth via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

Hello hive mind

I have an upcoming ONS gig with a group of people who are all professional musicians, but have never played together nor played for a dance. What resources are out there to help give these musicians an understanding of what is coming for them? Any web videos or PDFs of hints so they know what to expect? They are asking for sheet music and videos, which will help but I know there is much more to it than that.

Seth

Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP (he, him, his)

Senior IT Manager, Emory Primate Center

Book time to meet with me

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