8 Jul
2010
8 Jul
'10
10:08 p.m.
Greetings,
I'm planning for a one night stand, or, more precisely, a one dance
stand, at my brother's wedding. I'm seeing all sorts of advice here
for the kind of dances to use in such a circumstance, so thank you
all.
But... he's asking what tunes the band should play, and I have no clue
as to the names of the best traditional tunes for contra. I only need
a couple.
Thank you in advance.
-Chris
Christopher Buck
8 Jul
8 Jul
10:14 p.m.
New subject: Best tunes for a band that normally doesn't play Contra
Chris --
The best tunes for a band to play are tunes they _can_ play. Wizard's Walk is
a pretty great tune, but a band that doesn't play for contras is going to
massacre it anyway.
What kind of music do they usually play? Do they play from sheet music?
If they play old-timey, people here will have suggestions. (Angelina Baker,
Old Joe Clark, Liberty).
If they play Irish, people here will have suggestions (Swallowtail, maybe).
If they're classical musicians who can play anything put in front of them,
it may still not feel very contra-like. But I'd put some kind of strongly
phrased jig ("Blackberry Quadrille", maybe) in front of them, since I think
that's the likeliest to be legible to previously non-dancing wedding guests.
-- Alan
Greetings,
I'm planning for a one night stand, or, more
precisely, a one dance
stand, at my brother's wedding. I'm seeing all sorts of advice here
for the kind of dances to use in such a circumstance, so thank you
all.
But... he's asking what tunes the band should
play, and I have no clue
as to the names of the best traditional tunes for contra. I only need
a couple.
Thank you in advance.
-Chris
Christopher Buck
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
--
===============================================================================
Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025
===============================================================================
10:45 p.m.
New subject: Best tunes for a band that normally doesn't play Contra
There's also always the option of just asking them to play what they know,
whatever they know, so long as it's well-phrased, playable at about 110 bpm
(a little slow for a contra normally but not for a one-dance stand) and has
an AABB format. Plenty of bands play tunes that aren't necessarily trad,
and it works perfectly fine.
If they can't think of any that fit the bill, knowing what style they play
would help. I'm sure that, as Alan said, people on this list can think of
tunes for a wide variety of styles.
-Dave
On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 10:14 PM, Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing <
winston(a)slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
Chris --
The best tunes for a band to play are tunes they _can_ play. Wizard's Walk
is
a pretty great tune, but a band that doesn't play for contras is going to
massacre it anyway.
What kind of music do they usually play? Do they play from sheet music?
If they play old-timey, people here will have suggestions. (Angelina
Baker,
Old Joe Clark, Liberty).
If they play Irish, people here will have suggestions (Swallowtail,
maybe).
If they're classical musicians who can play anything put in front of them,
it may still not feel very contra-like. But I'd put some kind of strongly
phrased jig ("Blackberry Quadrille", maybe) in front of them, since I think
that's the likeliest to be legible to previously non-dancing wedding
guests.
-- Alan
--
David Casserly
Harvard Law School JD Class of 2011
david.j.casserly(a)gmail.com
(cell) 781 258-2761
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Greetings,
I'm planning for a one night stand, or, more
precisely, a one dance
stand, at my brother's wedding. I'm seeing all sorts of advice here
for the kind of dances to use in such a circumstance, so thank you
all.
But... he's asking what tunes the band should
play, and I have no clue
as to the names of the best traditional tunes for contra. I only need
a couple.
Thank you in advance.
-Chris
Christopher Buck
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
--
===============================================================================
Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone:
650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA
94025
===============================================================================
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
9 Jul
9 Jul
8:27 a.m.
New subject: Best tunes for a band that normally doesn't play Contra
David Casserly wrote:
There's also always the option of just asking them to play what they know,
whatever they know, so long as it's well-phrased, playable at about 110 bpm
(a little slow for a contra normally but not for a one-dance stand) and has
an AABB format.
You might also want to specify that the A and B each have 16 beats.
(Or 8 bars at two beats to the bar).
Jeff
11:36 a.m.
New subject: Best tunes for a band that normally doesn't play Contra
hey chris - i have worked with bands before that didn't know what "contra"
music was, and it can be an adventure!
if you have a chance to talk to the musicians ahead of time, PLEASE DO SO. you could give
them a CD to listen to so they know what "contra dance music" sounds like.
there are also some dance videos on the web, if they are interested. if you have the
opportunity to listen to the music they play, that will help you, too.
if they haven't played for a dance before, speed will be the most critical thing.
make sure you have a way to communicate with them about tempo. they may also have to have
"four potatoes" explained to them :-)
fyi - almost anything can be played for contra dancing if it's the right length and
tempo. i have danced to the liberty bell march (theme song from monty python), tv theme
songs, flight of the bumblebee (really!), and numerous other pieces of popular music -
it's not the "right tune" that will make the dance work, it's the
"right music".
whatever tunes they (or you) pick, what really matters is that the musicians have some
comprehension of how a contra dance is supposed to work.
good luck!!
barb
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2010 19:14:06 -0700
From: winston(a)slac.stanford.edu
To: butterwell(a)gmail.com
CC: callers(a)sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Callers] Best tunes for a band that normally doesn't play Contra
Chris --
The best tunes for a band to play are tunes they _can_ play. Wizard's Walk is
a pretty great tune, but a band that doesn't play for contras is going to
massacre it anyway.
What kind of music do they usually play? Do they play from sheet music?
If they play old-timey, people here will have suggestions. (Angelina Baker,
Old Joe Clark, Liberty).
If they play Irish, people here will have suggestions (Swallowtail, maybe).
If they're classical musicians who can play anything put in front of them,
it may still not feel very contra-like. But I'd put some kind of strongly
phrased jig ("Blackberry Quadrille", maybe) in front of them, since I think
that's the likeliest to be legible to previously non-dancing wedding guests.
-- Alan
_________________________________________________________________
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Greetings,
I'm planning for a one night stand, or, more
precisely, a one dance
stand, at my brother's wedding. I'm seeing all sorts of advice here
for the kind of dances to use in such a circumstance, so thank you
all.
But... he's asking what tunes the band should
play, and I have no clue
as to the names of the best traditional tunes for contra. I only need
a couple.
Thank you in advance.
-Chris
Christopher Buck
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers
--
===============================================================================
Alan Winston --- WINSTON(a)SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025
===============================================================================
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers(a)sharedweight.net
http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers 
2:35 p.m.
New subject: Best tunes for a band that normally doesn't play Contra
So, I'm a caller and a fiddler and a violin/piano teacher and a wedding
musician and this is a fun challenge I just HAVE to take a whack at.
What's your band's instrumentation? And can they read? And what style DO
they play?
A couple/three thoughts --
If they're an experienced wedding band, they already know the right style:
it's called The Chicken Dance.
A swing band's players might also be familiar with Broadway classics --
most of the uptempo tunes from shows like Sound of Music (Do Re MI), South
Pacific (Nothing Like A Dame) , Oklahoma (June is Busting Out) use the
exact same boom-chuck pattern as standard contra/square tunes.
A Bar Mitzvah band probably knows Bei Mir Bist Du Schon, which BTW fits
Galopede PERFECTLY (and now I've given away one of my trademark pieces of
schtick!)
A Country Western probably knows how to play Twosteps.
Whichever analogy works for them, tell the rhythm section to set the
keyboard's metronome to 112, and to make sure they use a tune that has a
repeat of
64 beats where the beat equals 112.
or
32 measures of 2/4
or
16 measures of 4/4
(tunes get written out on LOTS of different unit scales)
That takes care of style/length/speed. Now, tunes:
Good tunes are ones that have LOTS of quarter notes, that are singable, as
opposed to relentlessly note-y celtic reels.
"Red Wing" comes to mind.
If they are readers, how about a book of Scottish tunes that includes the
written-out piano accompaniment (there are lots)-- and have a musician
friend pick out some good marches with the right length. Mairi's/Mary's
wedding is a good starting point, so is Meeting of the Waters and Down the
Brae.
The fewer sixteenth notes, the better your lead player will like it --
ESPECIALLY if they're a wind player. Celtic reels are WICKED hard on sax
if you're not used to them.
Heck, just get a copy of Chimes of Dunkirk from New England Dancing
Masters and pick a dance or two that appeals. The dances are all good, the
music is right in the book and the explanations are lucid.
There's my .02 cents squared -- let us know how it works out!
Cheers,
Amy
If they're by-ear-only heavy metal dudes, I don't know what to tell you
except good luck!
5048
days inactive
5048
days old
contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net
5 comments
6 participants
participants (6)
-
Alan Winston - SSRL Central Computing -
Amy Cann -
barb kirchner -
Christopher Buck -
Dave Casserly -
Jeff Kaufman