Re: [Musicians] worthiness of a tune for contra?

I'm a mere caller and pretty much a musical muggle, but here are some observations about the jig for what they're worth. First off, in the video the jig is played at about 93 or 94 beats per minute (based on my stopwatch timing, which also appears to agree closely with the YouTube time counter). You might get a better idea of how it would sound as a dance tuen by playing it at 1.25x speed. (Click on the gear-shaped "Settings" button near the lower right of the YouTube video frame; then click on the Speed box (typically defaulting to "Normal"); then click "1.25" in the menu that pops up. YouTube should then play at 1.25x normal speed but with the audio pitch-shifted back down to normal pitch.) Also, the jig is played 3 1/2 times through--112 bars (not counting the lead-in and the extra ending notes). I'd count this as AABBAABBAABBAA, but when Emily writes about I'm not sure whether what she means by "the A" what I've just indicated as the A part or whether she means what I'm calling the B part. The part where I think the phrasing is most likely to be deceptive is beats 13-16 of what I reckon as the B part. Specifically, I think it may be easy to hear that part as if beat 13 were beat 1 of a new phrase. On repeated listening, I find that familiarity with the tune has made me far less tempted to fall into mis-hearing the phrasing in that way. Bottom line: I think it could be an OK (but unspectacular) contra dance tune if played at a normal dance tempo. It could be helpful for the band to give a clear 4-beat intro (so it's absolutely unambiguous which beat is beat 1 of the first A1 and for the caller to indicate correct timing clearly and confidently during the first couple rounds, to help dancers lock onto hearing the phrasing correctly. --Jim