[Callers] Tempo for Squares

[jim saxe]

Rich,

My impression, though I don't have solid data to back it up, is that in communities where it is (or was) common to mix contra with New-England-style phrased squares, the tempos for the squares tend(ed) to run pretty similar to tempos for contras in the same community, or perhaps just a little faster.

When I danced in Pittsburgh, PA, in the early-to-mid 1980s, there was a thriving "traditional" (maybe "revival" or "neo-traditional" would be a more accurate term) square dance scene that focused more on southern and traditional western squares, but some of the callers also included a few contra in their programs.  Again, I don't have solid data, but my vague impression of a memory is that the square dance tempos ran around 128 BPM and that the contras tended to be slower, maybe more in the 120 range.  In 1994, I made a return visit to the Pittsburgh area to attend what turned out to be one of the last years of the Coal Country Convention, a (trad-)square-centric dance weekend.  If memory serves, there were just a few contras included in the program, the band for that session played at similar tempos to what they'd been playing for the squares, and those tempos stuck me as inappropriately fast for the contras.

For what's worth, here's a video from 1992 of "The Route" as danced at the Concord Scourt House, with music by Yankee Ingenuity plus guest musician Steve Hickman and calling by Tony Parkes:

     https://squaredancehistory.org/items/show/267

By my reckoning, the average tempo is around 119 BPM at the start, but speeds up to around 123, for an average of about 122.

By contrast, here's a 1986 video of an Appalachian-style visiting-couple square dance called by visiting caller Dolores Heagy of Pittsburgh at Tod Whittemore's Thursday evening dance series, then held at the VFW hall in Cambridge, MA:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q6mUypeRZA

The tempo is in the low 130s, which I'm sure is quite a bit faster than typical for contras at that series.  By the way, if you pay *careful* attention to the timing of Dolores's calls, you may be surprised to discover how closely and consistently they are matched to the musical phrasing.

--Jim

> On Sep 21, 2019, at 11:51 AM, Rich Sbardella via Callers <callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> 
> I am asking about phrased squares as in the New England style.
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> 
> Folks,
> I am curious.  Tempo for contra is often below 120 bpm.  I learned to call squares at about 128 bpm.  
> Is this significant difference the norm, and if so why?
> Rich Sbardella
> Stafford Springs, CT
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