Musicians

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CDSS web chat next week about singing and playing music in real time

by Emily Addison

Hi fellow dance musicians, CDSS is hosting a web chat next that I thought you might be interested in. See below! Emily Addison Join us for our next Web Chat: Singing and Playing Music in REAL TIME! An online discussion for organizers of song communities and open bands Wednesday, January 13, 2021, 7:00-8:30 p.m. ET Join us for this conversation with a member of the Sacred Harp group FaSoLa Philadelphia (PA) and a member of Phoenix (AZ) Traditional Music & Dance Society. During this Web Chat, they’ll be sharing their successes with using the computer program Jamulus to enable their groups to sing and play music in real time! We know a return to in-person singing and jamming is on the horizon, but it will still take some time before it’s safe to gather in groups. Tune in to find out how these groups have tackled the challenge of creating online real-time song and music sessions. We’ll make sure there’s plenty of time for Q&A and breakout sessions, so come with your questions ready! REGISTER online <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001v1vVRo2Ph1ZSiyUe6bfwwn0sXsJ9FN-4T8DQkBG9a7ad…> by January 11. Soon after you register, Zoom will send you a confirmation email with your own personal link. You’ll need this info for joining the Web Chat! To keep track of it, we recommend saving the email and/or creating a calendar event. Please share this invite with members of community music and singing groups! Questions? Contact resources(a)cdss.org.

2 weeks, 2 days

Announcing the Sannella Stories website

by David Smukler

Last month, David Millstone and I sent out a call for stories about Ted Sannella to mark the 25th anniversary of his death on November 18. There was a terrific response, and we are proud to announce a new website, Sannella Stories <https://sannellastories.syracusecountrydancers.org/> where these memories are shared. Nearly 70 people sent in their “Sannella Story.” These range from serious to silly, and include brief acknowledgments and more extended entries. In addition, we've assembled a collection of photographs, audio files, and videos. You'll also find dances and tunes that were written for Ted, an index of all his dances, and links to other sites with information of interest. Of course, it's still possible to add to this collection; you'll find that link on the site as well. The two of us will be presenting a short “Ted Talk” as part of the virtual Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, an event scheduled for Sunday afternoon, January 17. Details are still being arranged, but updated information will be available at the RPDLW site <https://www.neffa.org/ralph-page/33rd-annual-ralph-page-dance-weekend/>. Our sincere thanks to the many people who contributed and in this way are helping to keep alive the memory of a major figure in the world of New England traditional dance. David Smukler

1 month

New Shared Weight email discussion list - Growing Up Trad!

by Emily Addison

Hi dance musicians, There's a new Shared Weight list that I wanted to tell you about.... it's called Growing Up Trad! Here's our mission: *Growing up Trad! is an email discussion list for caregiving adults who love traditional dance, music and song. The focus of our conversation is around nurturing these traditions within our families and in particular with the children in our care. * *We are dancers, singers, callers, musicians, and/or lovers of the traditions. We are seeking ways to network with others so that our children can have increased opportunities to engage in our shared traditions, especially if we are isolated in our local communities and have few kindred spirits.* *We welcome parents, grandparents, and anyone else interested in discussing how to encourage the love of traditional dance, music, and song among children in their families. We also hope that this online community will help children and families prepare for connecting in person over time as we are able to meet locally, regionally, and beyond.* We'd love to have any of you join us. More info and how to join is here: https://www.sharedweight.net/lists/growinguptrad/ Thanks! Emily Addison

1 month, 3 weeks

Ted Sannella Stories

by David Smukler

Dear dance musician friends, November 18, 2020, marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Ted Sannella. Ted shaped our lives as dancers and callers, and we remember him vividly. Before more time goes by and memories fade, we'd like to use this occasion to collect stories and tributes from others who knew Ted. Ted published some 170 dances, including contras, squares, triplets, and mixers in various configurations. After the death of Ralph Page, Ted was widely considered the “Dean of New England Callers.” He left behind a vast collection of dance materials, which were donated along with his personal papers to the New Hampshire Library of Traditional Music and Dance at the University of New Hampshire to form the Ted Sannella Collection. Please send your stories to SannellaStories(a)gmail.com <mailto:SannellaStories@gmail.com>; we'll collect them and will arrange for them to be shared more widely. This may happen through a print or web publication of some kind, or—once the COVID-19 pandemic has abated enough that we can dance safely—in dance camp or festival settings. We could even arrange a special Ted Talk! We will also make sure that all contributions are passed along to the Ted Sannella Collection at UNH and shared with members of Ted's family. David Millstone and David Smukler

2 months, 3 weeks

Learn Fiddle from Erik Hoffman -- At Home! Via Zoom!

by Erik Hoffman

Learn to Play Fiddle! Have you ever wanted to play the violin? Jam with friends? Make Music? Take some time to learn fiddle in this Age of COVID? Erik Hoffman has been teaching fiddle for over 20 years, and teaching a fiddle class at The Freight & Salvage for around 10 years. Classes have gone Zoom! So this class is now available worldwide! Beginning Fiddle I, From the Ground Up We start making our fiddle is set up and tuned. The we go to how to hold the fiddle and bow, how to make sound. We start with familiar melodies so your ears train your fingers. We cover learning by ear and sight (seeing what finger goes where). Then we begin reading music. Along the way, we learn to have fun in the process! We learn from the repertoire heard in contra and square dances, though the basic techniques apply to almost all styles. This class is through The Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, and is a six week course. Then go on to Beginning Fiddle II, another six week course. To Register: https://www.thefreight.org/learn-to-play/classes/ Cost: $155. First Class: Monday, September 7, 2020, at 5:30 PDT, then weekly for six weeks. What you need: * A Working Violin * A Bow * Some Rosin * A Chromatic Tuner Suggested: * A shoulder rest (good ones are made by Kun and Wolf) What some students have said: Weiwei C.: I started learning fiddle in Erik's adult beginners' class and my classmates and I were playing in the community band for dances in 5 months! Erik is the most inclusive, supportive, and knowledgeable multi-instrument musician and teacher you may ever meet. It is a natural skill of his to make his students feel welcome, highly motivated to try and learn, and have extreme fun every step of the way. I wish I could talk to you in person since, in these few sentences it's just not possible to tell you how inimitable Erik is. Brian: Erik is a teacher, philosopher, expert musician and all-around nice guy; one of those rare teachers who can quickly assess a student's level and instinctively knows what they need to know at that moment of their musical development. He is very relaxed and puts his students at ease so that they too are relaxed and at their best. I've seen Erik immediately connect with people of all ages in a genuine, caring way that is thoughtful and kind; never judgmental. He gently and respectfully encourages his students to progress instead of making them feel inferior. No one ever leaves a lesson with Erik feeling ashamed about their abilities or that they "should" be doing something, instead they leave with a sense of accomplishment and inspiration. Valerie R.: Erik is a wonderful teacher-he's encouraging and informative, and his love of the music shines through. Zoe N.: Erik is a wonderful teacher and couldn't recommend him more. He shares from a wealth of experience and skillfulness, and at the same time is patient and encouraging with rank beginners. Communicating his own enthusiasm, sense of humor and community spirit, Erik is extraordinarily generous in his teaching and time-for instance, sending out summaries and notes of what was covered after each class, staying afterwards to answer questions, offering practice sessions, and inviting everyone at whatever level to participate in the community band that plays for local contra dances. Christy M.: The Fiddling Repertoire, and Beginning Fiddle classes taught by Erik Hoffman at the Freight are terrific and very affordable. Erik is knowledgeable in and covers a wide range of fiddle music, including Old-time, Irish, Scottish, Scandinavian, French, and more. Erik is happy to tailor courses to the interests of his students. He also includes a fair amount of music theory and teaches students various bowing patterns and embellishments. Mariko C.: Erik is an effusively generous teacher. Whether you've never picked up an instrument before in your life or you're looking to step up your game for playing for dances, Erik is willing and able to show you something new, all while maintaining a fun and supportive environment. And he has such a wonderful sense of curiosity and exploration as a musician that you may find yourself on an adventure together!

4 months, 3 weeks

CDSS Community Culture & Safety Survey

by Olivia Barry

Hi, everyone! My name is Olivia Barry. I am a member of the CDSS Community Culture & Safety Task Group (CCSTG). We are a volunteer group of board and community members working to compile a set of resources and examples for folk who are ready to dive in to work on safety of all kinds on the dance floor or music circle. An important element of such an effort is a *Statement of Community Values*. The goal of this statement is to identify core values for a local group. Core values communicate to the outside world what is important to you and what people can expect from your organization or events. In our last strategic planning process, CDSS identified core values for our work and we want to help local groups do the same. To assist groups in creating such a statement, the CCSTG aims to create a clearinghouse of samples for local communities across our constituency, and to synthesize existing examples into a succinct template or writing guide to help groups develop a statement of their own. We are asking our communities to fill out a short survey related to content that has already been developed surrounding your *community's values* to serve as examples. Other topics will be developed as this work unfolds, and we'll be sending additional short surveys as well as progress reports in the coming months. Please take a moment to fill out the survey to help identify who among you has resources on this topic that might be valuable to others: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwSUqM9dNCnMO-yjTawH8vi1Mv_4TuQMQ… Thank you in advance for any and all information you share! We hope this project will reflect and support the greater music, song, and dance community. If you would like to contact us with questions or content, please email CDSS.SafetyTG(a)gmail.com! Have a wonderful weekend, Olivia CDSS CCSTG Community Member

4 months, 3 weeks

Dance musicians - innovative ways that your spending this physically distanced time???

by Emily Addison

Hi fellow dance musicians, What creative ways are you finding to play dance music these days? Are you working on any music-related projects? The pandemic has certainly slowed me down. However, there's a few projects that I'm really enjoying... -The open band that I lead is still meeting once a month. We gather through zoom, spending about about 1/3 of the time visiting and the rest playing music. Only one mic can be on for the music playing but that seems to be working well. At first, it was either the lead fiddler or myself (piano). The last two sessions have involved the fiddler and I playing together while physically distanced outside. -I've been wanting to get better at playing fiddle and a friend in the US has been interested in learning how to play Cape Breton style piano so we've recently started swapping weekly lessons. We each teach for 15 minutes which gives the other person just enough to work on for the next week. (We both have kids so there isn't much practice time!) -I'm working my way through a new tune book: Honeywood by Emilyn Stam and John Williams. It's full of absolutely gorgeous European dance tunes... https://www.emilynandjohn.com/ -Finally, one of our local contra dancers organized a physically-distant picnic that was open to all last week. Ontario is currently allowing a maximum of 100 people to gather outside in groups as long as they maintain distance. 20-30 people showed up and everyone respected distance. I organized a few musicians to attend and we played in the background. There was no dancing but the dancers appreciated the music. I'm curious as to what you are up to! :) Emily in Ottawa

5 months, 3 weeks

Dots

by tom hinds

I’d like to know people’s opinion of using music while playing for a contra dance. Is it easier to create excitement if the musicians play by ear? Thanks in advance for your opinion, Tom Hinds Sent from my iPad

5 months, 4 weeks

What Key is it?

by Michael Pavan

The question of Keys, Key Signatures, and Modes comes up again and again. Most explanations seem somewhat jumbled and/or full of technical description. This is confusing, but over the years (decades?) it has become clearer to me. It comes down to: What note does the tune resolve too? (its Tonic Note) What notes are in the scale of the tune? (how many Flats or Sharps) Chords give clues, but they are subjective or 'symptomatic' as chord choices are not always universally agreed upon. Why does it matter what the Key is? Knowing what the Key is alerts melody players what notes, and chord players what chords, to expect (or not expect). Yes, it is possible to play well without knowing what Key, Notes, or Chords you are playing, but most people recognize they have names; and it is easier to understand if everyone uses the correct names. Tunes may also contain 'accidental' notes (not in the scale of the Key), but these usually stand out as different - the more one plays the more intuitive they are. TRAD MUSIC ONLY USES 4 MODES? Major, Mixolydian, Dorian, and Minor are the 4 Modes that virtually all Tradition (Western) Music use - Celtic, Old Time, Country, Blues, Bluegrass, Rhythm & Blues; and I believe Rock, and maybe Jazz too. Tunes that are in a Major (Ionian) Key tend to be self-evident, however the mislabeling of tunes in Minor (Aeolian) and 'Modal' Keys (Mixolydian and Dorian) cloud that clarity. There are also 3 other 'Authentic' Modes (Phrygian, Locrian, and Lydian) that rarely come up. There also happen to be 7 "Plagal (or Hypo-) Modes" where tunes resolve to the fourth note of the scale, instead of the first (or last) note. These are typically used in 'Renaissance' music, but commonly are likely never noticed that there is a 'different' name for the scale of same notes. For example the Hypoionian uses the same notes as the Ionian (Major), but the fourth note is the tonic. HOW TO DETERMINE THE KEY? 1) determine what note a tune (or each of its parts) resolve to - its Tonic Note. 2) determine what notes are played (comprise the scale - how many sharps or flats) - its Key Signature 3) match the Tonic Note and Key Signature with the appropriate Key Name. KEY NAME is the Tonic NOTE followed by the MODE: Start by presuming the note it resolves to is a Major Key, and how many flats or sharps would that be? C Major = 0b / 0# G Major = 1# D Major = 2# A Major = 3# E Major = 4# B Major = 7b / 5# Gb (F#) Major = 6b / 6# Db (C#) Major = 5b / 7# Ab (G#) Major = 4b Eb (D#) Major = 3b Bb (A#) Major = 2b F Major = 1b If less sharps (or more flats) are used, how many? 0 fewer, then Major (Ionian) -1# (or +1b), then Mixolydian -2# (or +2b), then Dorian -3# (or +3b), then Minor (Aeolian) -4# (or +4b), then Phrygian -5# (or +5b), then Locrian -6# (or +6b), then Lydian Example: If a tune resolve to A: A Major has 3#s but Key signature (or actual #s in tune) is 1# then A Dorian The attached chart may make it clearer.

7 months, 2 weeks

Free event from EFDSS open to North American educators

by Brent & Emily

Hi fellow dance musicians. You might be interested in the event below if you like working with kids. It looks as though there will be a few presentations focused on developing youth traditional music ensembles.... The English Folk Dance and Song Society is holding a free online event for Folk Educators and it's open to those of us in North America. Details and registration info is below. I asked the organizer whether it would be relevant to those of us across the pond. Kerry said *There will be some practical sessions, as well as presentations, on the day. And although it will be focused on projects in the North West and Yorkshire, I should think it would be appealing to folk educators from all over. It's about the rationale, approach to the material and the positive impact on the participants/communities, and often the educators too, that is usually the most interesting. * Maybe see you at the event?! :) Emily in Ottawa ******************************************* *Invitation to the next EFDSS ONLINE: Folk Education Development Day* Our Folk Educators Group <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.efdss.org%2flearnin…> national network will be holding its first ever online informal conference day. *Friday 19 June 2020,* 10:30am-4:30pm (10.30am-11am Arrivals in the Zoom Room) You are warmly welcomed to attend this free informal conference and CPD event, organised by EFDSS’ Folk Educators Group. Folk Education Development Days are typically attended by 30 – 40 people: a mixture of people working in folk arts education and related sectors such as music, dance, arts, heritage and education. As ever, this will be an action-packed day of presentations, practical sessions and discussions, designed to be thought-provoking, informative and enjoyable, and to encourage knowledge-sharing, discussion and networking. The theme for the day is: Celebrating folk education in the North West We’ll be focusing on folk education initiatives in the Greater Manchester area and will be presenting the day in partnership with our friends at English Folk Expo who are based in Rochdale, as well as other friends and partners in the North West and Yorkshire. *More details and to book a free place* <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.efdss.org%2fwhats-o…> Read on for more details… *Outline of the Day* The theme for the day: Celebrating folk education in the North West Join us for an action-packed day of presentations, practical sessions and discussions. The day will be thought provoking, informative and enjoyable, and will encourage knowledge-sharing, discussion and networking. *Speakers include:* · Rachel Elliott, Education Director and Sarah Jones, Programme Manager, National Youth Folk Ensemble - an update from the EFDSS Education Department on current work and future plans. · Tom Besford, Chief Executive, English Folk Expo - a presentation about EFEx, covering their response during COVID 19, an overview of their Artist Development Programme and their Promoter Training Programme, including Rochdale Folk Festival. · Georgia Woodhead, clog dance teacher with Oakenhoof Folk Arts – an overview of their work, including a practical session. · Kath Becker and Sorrel Harty, Bolton Music Service - setting up and running the Greater Manchester Folk Ensemble, and more widely about Bolton Music Service and the Greater Manchester Music Hub. · Rebecca Denniff, Flash Company Arts - a presentation of their Plough Stots project in Yorkshire, including a practical session. · Bella Hardy, Learning Programme Manager*, *Band on the Wall – an overview of their work, including a practical session. Having been enthused by the speakers' presentations, there will be the opportunity for discussion and sharing of ideas in breakout rooms. The agenda will be available soon and you can *book your free place here now!* <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.efdss.org%2fwhats-o…> ***************************************** *Here's a bit more information about EFDSS' Folk Educators Group...* The Folk Educators Group <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.efdss.org%2flearnin…> is a national networking group of folk arts educators from across England and beyond, run by the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS). Our membership encompasses all forms of the folk arts and we currently have over 360 members. Established in March 2011 the Group has become a rapidly growing network committed to promoting high quality folk arts education and supporting the practitioners who deliver it. It exists to provide peer information and support, and to encourage dialogue with the wider worlds of culture, learning and participation. The Folk Educators Group also offers other organisations a platform through which to consult, or inform, a committed group of folk arts educators.

7 months, 3 weeks

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