Musician and educator John Krumm has made his book "Tune Sets for Contra Dances," previously ~$20, now available as a free download. I had previously bought a multi-copy license for our new dance's open band. I highly recommend the book for note-reading musicians who are interested in learning to play for dances. Krumm, a formally trained musician, dancer, caller as well as a career childhood educator, clearly and knowledgeably explains how to play for dances. He then provides a musically tasteful choice of tunes and chord arrangements to do the job. Selections range from easy to challenging. Among the gems are some Quebecoise tune sets, an area of music where he's collected and published a separate volume. Tune Sets for Contra Dances 100 Dance tunes arranged as medlies for note readers who want to play for Contra Dancing. Adobe Acrobat Document 9.8 MB https://www.johnkrumm.com/ As a point of self-correction, this is a far easier route than asking musicians to absorb what's happening in Earth Wind and Fire's "September" -- or Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" or asking them to travel to N. Carolina and take David Kaynor's class. I hope this helps. Rob - - - - - - - - - - - - Robert Matson Innovation Media Corp. The Innovation Works, Inc. Cell: (917) 626-2675 On Thu, Feb 20, 2025 at 2:42 PM Russell Owen via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

Hi Joseph, Here in Seattle there have been a few different regular sessions for folks who want to learn to play for contras. The Monday Night Jam went for many years and spawned several bands. There's currently a jam, being led by a fiddler, for beginners. There's another that's a large band run by another fiddler. They've grown to be good enough to play occasional gigs, and are a very large band. There's safety in numbers. So, if you know just one person willing to start something like this it can develop into really good stuff over time. If there's someone in your community who can host a house dance for practicing with dancers and a caller that may help, too. Less pressure than a "real" gig. That could even be a place for folks who want to learn to call to practice, too. I wish you success and happy dancing at home! -Amy Wimmer Seattle On Wed, Feb 19, 2025, 9:04 PM Woody Lane via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

We have a lot of local old time bands here - but several years ago someone asked about getting an Irish band.  I went to a local bar where they have a weekly Irish jam and talked to them.  The jam is organized by a guitar player who is a very accomplished musician.  We talked about what was needed and booked them. He showed up with 2 fiddlers and a banjo player.  They were adequate but developed quickly into a very nice dance band Four potatoes were a problem - first we tried to just play the A part 3 times at the beginning - then then just started tapping loudly on the guitar 4 times - and that worked fine Took a while to refine the tempo - but that worked out too. Crooked tunes were not a problem - but that may have been due to the knowledge of the guitar player. I called with them that night.  The best part was after about 3 dances - one of them said "Wow - this is what we should be doing more of".  Money has never been an issue with them or any of our bands.  One of our series is very small - about 20+ dancers.  We get a 5 piece band to play for 2 hours and pay the band $60 and they just really like doing it. Not sure if this is helpful - but we did get non dance musicians to successfully play for dances (we use them a couple times a year) with very few issues.  Dancers are very forgiving if they understand the situation. Good luck Mac McKeever St Louis On Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 10:09:52 AM CST, Gregory via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: Hi Joseph, What is your musical experience/skill? I have a music degree, have plied my trade in a few different areas of professional musicianship, and I've been working with live musicians (particularly young fiddlers who i see as the future and want to give performance opportunities to) for 10 years as a dance caller in an area with little-to-no contra dancing. First off, I would get a sense of your musicians interest in the gig. Are they doing it for easy money? Are they genuinely interested to play for dancers and don't care how much they get paid? Are they making their living from gig work? Or is this something they do on the side for fun? Are they old-time experienced players? Or are they new upstarts, still forming their musical identity as a performer? Have they mastered their instruments or are they better-then-average amateurs? Answers to these questions can help set expectations for their commitment. I can confidently say that the suggestion of sending musicians new tunes / resources a few weeks before the dance is not a welcome prospect and not setting them up for success. You should, instead, encourage new repertoire over a long period of time, and for the next show focus on what is in their current repertoire that will suffice for dances (if you want them to play for you again). It may seem an imposition, but if you can attend one of their rehearsals or jams, and ask to go through their repertoire, that would be best. Keep a few things in mind while doing so:     1. No matter how experienced a fiddler is, playing for contra dances is a specific skill or knowledge base; don't be afraid to say that such-and-such doesn't work     2. Some tunes sound fine but they're actually crooked and will not work for contra. You need to be able to detect these tunes to prevent them being programmed and ruining one of the dances. Crooked tunes in the contra dance realm take multiple forms: additional beats within a measure, yes, but also additional measures on a phrase. Phrases that are 4 or 12 beats long, and tunes that have more than 2 parts are particularly hard to detect. Your musicians may or may not know the difference or whether this is important or not (even if you're clear that 32 bars jigs and reels is what you're after, before hand).     3. Different kinds of tunes work if the band is willing to play with the tempo. For example, jigs tend to be played faster than is comfortable for the dancers, so they need to be slowed down a touch, and polkas can also be played at a slower tempo. I suggest this to attempt to broaden the potential tunes that can be programmed while working within what they already know. Also be respectful of different musicians abilities... Dave Brubeck couldn't read music, and some traditional musicians also never learned how to read music, picking up tunes by ear instead. If this is the case, sending tunes a few weeks before a show is simply not going to work. Musicians have their own culture apart from dancers, so temper your expectations and be patient and respectful. Consider not hiring a "band" but hiring a fiddler. I don't know what the remote situation you're in is like, but if you have any professional musicians in your area, they should know how the gigs work. If you can find a single fiddler and hire them, they will find someone else to play with them as a duo or trio, as long as you explain what you're looking for (reels at 120 bpm, playing for dancers, etc.) and the pay. If you can pair less experienced musicians with more experienced musicians, this will benefit you in the long run, bringing up a new generation of fiddlers in this tradition. For example, many musicians have students. Ask if one of their students is up for the task of performing and they can join in on a few tunes. It also broadens your dance base when the parents come out and participate. You'll want to go over with whomever you hire a series of signals that indicate "speed up", "slow down", "keep playing", "stop immediately" and "stop at the end of the phrase / last time". You'll want to ensure that they start each tune with a 4 beat introduction ("Four for nothing" as Winton Marsalis says, and "Four potatoes" as is the phrase around here), which is a cue for you to cue the dancers. Musicians are NOT in the habit of doing this on their own, and waiting once through the tune instead is too long. Forcing a square peg into a round hole is not what i would consider setting anyone up for success. Expecting your blue grass band to convert to a contra dance band lickity-split is, in my opinion, not a good approach. I would suggest letting it be what it's going to be. Maybe your group likes blue grass tunes, and you form a contra/bluegrass syncretism. This is part of the folk process. Everywhere, everyone, is different and cherishing that and encouraging appreciation is what i would consider setting people up for success - my previous recommendations and advice support this idea, I think. For example, in my area, fiddling is heavily influenced by many repertoires, particularly Metis, which was originally used for Metis step dancing. I doubt the Metis fiddle tunes get played anywhere else, but they make for excellent contra dance tunes with their own flare and feel. I'm leaning into this, it's part of the Manitoba sound! Best of luck! Happy Dancing! Greg, Winnipeg Greg Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. This is filler text that changes the size of the messages I send - an added layer of security for detection and identification of encrypted information using metadata. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. This is filler text that changes the size of the messages I send - an added layer of security for detection and identification of encrypted information using metadata. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Sent with Proton Mail secure email. On Wednesday, February 19th, 2025 at 1:45 AM, Joseph Erhard-Hudson via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-leave(a)lists.sharedweight.net

Hi Joseph, What is your musical experience/skill? I have a music degree, have plied my trade in a few different areas of professional musicianship, and I've been working with live musicians (particularly young fiddlers who i see as the future and want to give performance opportunities to) for 10 years as a dance caller in an area with little-to-no contra dancing. First off, I would get a sense of your musicians interest in the gig. Are they doing it for easy money? Are they genuinely interested to play for dancers and don't care how much they get paid? Are they making their living from gig work? Or is this something they do on the side for fun? Are they old-time experienced players? Or are they new upstarts, still forming their musical identity as a performer? Have they mastered their instruments or are they better-then-average amateurs? Answers to these questions can help set expectations for their commitment. I can confidently say that the suggestion of sending musicians new tunes / resources a few weeks before the dance is not a welcome prospect and not setting them up for success. You should, instead, encourage new repertoire over a long period of time, and for the next show focus on what is in their current repertoire that will suffice for dances (if you want them to play for you again). It may seem an imposition, but if you can attend one of their rehearsals or jams, and ask to go through their repertoire, that would be best. Keep a few things in mind while doing so: - No matter how experienced a fiddler is, playing for contra dances is a specific skill or knowledge base; don't be afraid to say that such-and-such doesn't work - Some tunes sound fine but they're actually crooked and will not work for contra. You need to be able to detect these tunes to prevent them being programmed and ruining one of the dances. Crooked tunes in the contra dance realm take multiple forms: additional beats within a measure, yes, but also additional measures on a phrase. Phrases that are 4 or 12 beats long, and tunes that have more than 2 parts are particularly hard to detect. Your musicians may or may not know the difference or whether this is important or not (even if you're clear that 32 bars jigs and reels is what you're after, before hand). - Different kinds of tunes work if the band is willing to play with the tempo. For example, jigs tend to be played faster than is comfortable for the dancers, so they need to be slowed down a touch, and polkas can also be played at a slower tempo. I suggest this to attempt to broaden the potential tunes that can be programmed while working within what they already know. Also be respectful of different musicians abilities... Dave Brubeck couldn't read music, and some traditional musicians also never learned how to read music, picking up tunes by ear instead. If this is the case, sending tunes a few weeks before a show is simply not going to work. Musicians have their own culture apart from dancers, so temper your expectations and be patient and respectful. Consider not hiring a "band" but hiring a fiddler. I don't know what the remote situation you're in is like, but if you have any professional musicians in your area, they should know how the gigs work. If you can find a single fiddler and hire them, they will find someone else to play with them as a duo or trio, as long as you explain what you're looking for (reels at 120 bpm, playing for dancers, etc.) and the pay. If you can pair less experienced musicians with more experienced musicians, this will benefit you in the long run, bringing up a new generation of fiddlers in this tradition. For example, many musicians have students. Ask if one of their students is up for the task of performing and they can join in on a few tunes. It also broadens your dance base when the parents come out and participate. You'll want to go over with whomever you hire a series of signals that indicate "speed up", "slow down", "keep playing", "stop immediately" and "stop at the end of the phrase / last time". You'll want to ensure that they start each tune with a 4 beat introduction ("Four for nothing" as Winton Marsalis says, and "Four potatoes" as is the phrase around here), which is a cue for you to cue the dancers. Musicians are NOT in the habit of doing this on their own, and waiting once through the tune instead is too long. Forcing a square peg into a round hole is not what i would consider setting anyone up for success. Expecting your blue grass band to convert to a contra dance band lickity-split is, in my opinion, not a good approach. I would suggest letting it be what it's going to be. Maybe your group likes blue grass tunes, and you form a contra/bluegrass syncretism. This is part of the folk process. Everywhere, everyone, is different and cherishing that and encouraging appreciation is what i would consider setting people up for success - my previous recommendations and advice support this idea, I think. For example, in my area, fiddling is heavily influenced by many repertoires, particularly Metis, which was originally used for Metis step dancing. I doubt the Metis fiddle tunes get played anywhere else, but they make for excellent contra dance tunes with their own flare and feel. I'm leaning into this, it's part of the Manitoba sound! Best of luck! Happy Dancing! Greg, Winnipeg Greg Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. This is filler text that changes the size of the messages I send - an added layer of security for detection and identification of encrypted information using metadata. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. This is filler text that changes the size of the messages I send - an added layer of security for detection and identification of encrypted information using metadata. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) secure email. On Wednesday, February 19th, 2025 at 1:45 AM, Joseph Erhard-Hudson via Contra Callers &lt;contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote:

Can you describe the rough spots? Several suggestions: 1) Two to four weeks of so before the dance email them some resources about playing for contra dance Example resources (found with a Google search-- What makes a good tune for a contra dance?) https://cdss.org/wp-content/uploads/resources/CDSS-The-Basics-of-Playing-fo… http://www.tallydancer.com/SuggestedBasicCriteriaForBandsPlayingAContraDanc… 2) Find 3-5 good for contra tunes, send them recordings of them an if needed the sheet music. Ask them to practice them for the dance 3) After reading the material Have them select 5-7 dances in their repertoire they would like them to pla and listen to a record or video of them, suggesting which ones might not work well 4) Meet with them for a practice within a week a two (or maybe even an hour or so)before the dance On Wed, Feb 19, 2025 at 1:46 AM Joseph Erhard-Hudson via Contra Callers < contracallers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: