Re: [Musicians] CDSS News--A Query for Dance Musicians Musicians Digest, Vol 9, Issue 4

On Wed, 14 Oct 2015, Michele Roy via Musicians wrote: Hi, Shelly Ann! Another contra dance fiddler here, and this is one of my favorite topics! (Are you sitting comfortably?) You may know some of these things already, and be able to figure out others. Are you a dancer yourself? If so, next time you contra dance, pay attention to what you liked (or didn't) - and why - in the relationship between tunes (or the way the band played them) and dances. (You could alternate dancing and observing/taking notes.) Even if you don't contra dance, you can learn a lot by watching the dancers. It may be good to try this while *not* playing, just observing. If possible, observe and dance to a variety of other bands. When choosing tunes, I start by asking to see the caller's card. I also take into account where we are in the evening (beginning of a half, end of a half, or somewhere in the middle), what we've already played, and how close we are to the last dance of the half. Some things I think about are phrase length, character of the figures, mood of the dance (especially if the caller can tell you), and placement of that dance in the evening's program. *Phrase length:* You may already know how long certain contra dance figures take (how many beats or bars). The way the dance instructions are arranged on the card will tell you a lot of what you need to know: they're usually broken down into A1, A2, B1, and B2; each of those parts contains 8 bars or 16 beats). Appendix E of Mary Dart's 1995 book _Contra Dance Choreography_ has sample "cards" for 20 dances: http://www.cdss.org/elibrary/dart/appendix_e.htm Many figures take 8 beats (4 measures) or 16 beats (8 bars). Figures that I always watch for are balances (2 beats + 2 beats), forward & back (4+4 beats), and down the hall & back (usually 8 beats down & 8 beats to return, I think). Some tunes come with the phrasing you want; others can sometimes be adapted by adding or leaving out notes. As David Kaynor put it, "When there's a lot of four-beat 'forwards and backs' and real chopped up things, like when you circle left for eight beats and then change direction and circle to the right...the band should do things that chop up the musical phrases." (Dart 1995, ch. 2, http://www.cdss.org/elibrary/dart/contradance_event_2.htm#musicandhall ) *Mood or feeling:* You might try making some notes on your list of tunes or medleys, characterizing each one. Is a tune light-hearted? intense? slinky? straightforward? spooky? cheerful? mellow? exuberant? silly? elegant? etc. etc. Are there heys and gypsies, or figures that flow smoothly without choppiness? Look for tunes that do the same. (I particularly like slinky minor-key jigs to go with heys and gypsies.) Are there lots of balances? Consider exuberant, rowdy tunes. *Where the dance falls in the program:* The same dance done in different parts of an evening might go equally well with very different tunes. . . . . Yikes, look at the time! I'd better stop for now. Here's the link to that chapter of Mary Dart's book again because it contains so many good insights: http://www.cdss.org/elibrary/dart/contradance_event_2.htm#musicandhall Hope this helps, Susie Lorand (Ann Arbor, MI)