Favorite traditional tunes for endless repetition?
Blackberry Blossom (go figure!),
Favorite non-traditional tunes for endless repetition?
Favorite medlies?
Off She Goes (D) / Smash the Windows (D)
Whiskey Before Breakfast (D)/ Tam Lin (Dm)
Kesh Jig (G) / Coleraine (A)
Forked Deer (D)/ Growling Old Man and Cackling Old Woman (A)
Mississippi Sawyer (D) /Nail That Catfish (G)
Favorite bands?
Do ye dance too?
Oh yeah!.. but since I usually play bass, I don’t get to dance one out very often…
I have played for contra dances in the past and the band that I currently play with is practicing to play contra dances, if we can get a gig. The difference is that I play clawhammer style banjo and we play old time tunes rather than celtic. Since I have a different banjo tuning for each different key, I can’t play a set that changes keys from one tune to the next.
When we play celtic tunes, I play whistle.
Hmmm… perhaps I should have listed this as a contraversial topic?
bozemanhc wrote:
The difference is that I play clawhammer style banjo and we play old time tunes rather than celtic. Since I have a different banjo tuning for each different key, I can’t play a set that changes keys from one tune to the next.
We try to keep tunes in D… makes it a bit easier… So.. you play that East Asian music a lot eh? … “Tu -Ning”…
Contradance tunes are mostly what I play. In addition to being the webmistress for the Frederick, MD, contra dance group (Jan. 22’s dance is cancelled, by the way), I also organize an annual day-long dance musician workshop, typeset the music (arranged in medley sets), get the tune books printed, hire the instructors, and order the lunch. (The next iteration will be July 23, 2005.) The surviving members of the workshop play for that evening’s contradance.
One of the things we cover in the workshop is the excitement that can be generated by changing keys in the medley–often by going sharper, or minor to major. I don’t think we’ve EVER stayed in D for a whole set.
In the workshop, we don’t usually use the “cheap trick” the regular dance bands do–transition from a jig to a reel, which raises the energy on the floor and makes the dancers go “woo!” This decision is in deference to the less experienced musicians who might not easily make the transition from “jig-i-ty jig-i-ty” (3 notes a beat) to “wa-ter-mel-on wa-ter-mel-on” (4 notes a beat) while neither slowing down or rushing the 2-beats-a-bar pace at 130 to 135 beats per minute (we play very fast in this part of the country).
Send me a PM or e-mail if you’re in driving distance to Frederick, MD, and I’ll put you on the information mailing list.
When my band was still together, we played a contradance. Having to straighten out the reels for the dancers and regularize tempos really screwed things up for us. Unless you are very capable of splitting your musical personality, I don’t recommend playing contra music unless you keep your repertoire separate. It’ll mess up yer Irish style. The two styles are very different.
But the people sure have a lot of fun at those dances!
Sounds like good advice. One of the things I like about contradance music is the amount of new tunes that appear regularly. It would probably be easy to develop a separate repertoire, especially if you include some traditional Irish tunes that are particularly suitable for dancing.
There are several tune collections for the contradance musician, most notably The Portland Collection, the newly revised New England Fiddler’s Repertoire, and my new personal favorite, Along the River. Tune books and CDs of contradance bands can be found at Great Meadow Music, a small, trustworthy outfit with a personal touch.
Fun? I think it was legendary contradance caller Tony Parks who said, “It’s the most fun you can have with your clothes on.” I entirely agree.
I didn’t mean to imply that we try to only play in D, just that we tend to do more of tunes in D. The variations are very important, and do make it more fun to both play and to dance to. So… although we do play mostly in D, we do flavor it with contrast in both rhythm and key changes.
whew! “Playing in D” makes me think of fiddle players who refuse to play in flat keys, like, say, F.
Somehow, back when contradance bands had no electronic sound reinforcement and a lot of brass instruments brought up the volume, Fisher’s Hornpipe got transposed into F. Now there are hardcore Yankee contradance musicians who regard moving it to D as a cheap sellout. A fiddle player once explained in a workshop that an older New England musician told him, “Anyone who would play Fisher’s in D would suck eggs.” He went right home and learned it in F too.
I’ve heard musicians say–and I’m starting to agree–that the character and color of a tune is greatly influenced by the key it’s played in.
Heck, we’ve already got people saying the music all sounds alike, so playing in different keys can only help add a little variety.
Of course, new Irish tunes are being written all the time as well, in great quantities… It seems like all the traditions are a-bubble with new music these days.
