Two sources of contra dance tunes that many dance musician should have are probably these: 1. The Portland collection: http://www.theportlandcollection.com/ And, 2. Bob McQuillen's tune books: http://www.greatmeadowmusic.com/teach.html Rich Hart. On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 11:32 PM, Leslie Gotfrit <lgotfrit(a)me.com> wrote:

Leslie, What skill level is the group? Can they play notey reels up to tempo? I would be happy to suggest a dozen or so tunes if I know what they'd be able to handle. As far as medleys go, that's an entire other can of worms. There are lots of ways to pick up energy between one tune and the next in a medley. Some possibilities: - Have the first tune be less notey, and the second more complex; marches to reels work well for this. For instance, try something like Coleman's March into the Merry Blacksmith - Have the second tune be in a higher key; going from G to A, for instance, can sound like an energy boost - Go from a minor tune to a major one (like A minor to A major), particularly if the minor tune is groovier and the major tune is driving. For instance, try Brenda Stubbert's into Road to Errogie Other than just the tunes, there are way too many ways to list for bands to raise the energy when changing tunes regardless of which tunes they're using. The band can end one tune very abruptly, with a break, then start the next all together. Or they could end one tune with just melody playing, and at the start of the next tune, have the whole band come in. Or many other possibilities. -Dave On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 11:32 PM, Leslie Gotfrit <lgotfrit(a)me.com> wrote: -- David Casserly (cell) 781 258-2761