Most people talk about jigs, reels and airs. Once in a while slip jigs and slides. What’s a barndance? Is it US or Irish?
Per Fiddler’s Companion:
BARNDANCE. A two-hand dance form in Ireland, thought to have been originally introduced from England, where they still exist.. Caoimhin Mac Aoidh says: “Barn dances and Germans - These are the same thing. The term German seems to be restricted to west and central Donegal. They are in 4/4 time and played at the speed of a hornpipe. Their characteristic is in the rythym of the tune. Typical barn dances have a recurring set of two or sometimes three crochets (quarter notes) at the end of a number bars which give it a very determined rythym. Hornpipes can be easily pared down to make a german. As for their geographic spread, see my comments above of highlands though barn dances are appearing to be on the increase outside Ulster.”
Kevin Krell
What about a schottische?
Per Fiddler’s Companion:
SCHOTTISCHE. A couple dance from the mid-1800’s which followed on the heels of the Polka. “Schottische” is German for ‘Scottish’, and the form originally was meant to mimic Scottish dance.
I suppose next you’re going to ask about highlands, flings and strathspeys. You’ll find plenty of definitions and arguments about the use of terms in different regions, and whether or not there are perceivable differences in rhythm, note sequences, or blah blah.
Kevin Krell
Tell us more about this intriguing blah blah of which you speak, Kevin!
Thanks, Kevin but I found that all rather blah…
You know, this is an interesting subject to me and I haven’t found much real info on it. Maybe I just haven’t known how to look.
The two quotes Kevin provided from Fiddler’s Companion are a nice start, but I went there and for the life of me can’t figure out where they came from. I was hoping for more blah.
Seriously.
There’s a tune I learned recently that I would have called a highland - as I heard it - but it was listed as a barndance. I was flummoxed. On corresponding with the one who recorded it, I learned only that the tune has been played as a barndance, a highland, and a strathspey. Now, I can usually tell a strathspey when I hear one, and I can get the idea of the tune I learned played as a strathspey. Apparently, though, there are some other subtleties between barndances/highlands/strathspeys beyond what I thought I’d learned to discern.
So, I’m looking for major blah. If I missed something in the FidComp or if there are other links on this subject, I’d much appreciate the info.
Try:
http://www.irishtune.info/rhythm/
and http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/TuneIndex/intro.html
in the section on Type, parts I, II, & III
There they make an outcry and walkaround the essence of a cakewalk.
Kevin Krell
Nyuk.
Thanks. For some reason I couldn’t get into the FidComp introduction page. Wasn’t sure if the site had gone wonky or what.
Yeah, that’s about as much info as I already had. But I was hoping for an even greater blah factor yet. Got any really geeky, nitpicky screeds for me to digest? Maybe some sort of detailed comparative study? I’d love that. 
Well, very interesting. I like barndances. I like tunes that are easy and fun to play but also sound interesting and I think the barndances I’ve been learning fall into that category. They really build your confidence as a newbie. I wish they were played more in sessions, or maybe they are and I just don’t know it. I’m not really able to discern the difference between all these types of tunes just listening. I can tell a waltz from 4/4 time but other than that, they all sound pretty similar to me.
I understood that a “highland” was what they called a Strathspey in Norn Iron. I dance the flaming things, and it’s still not clear to me what a Barndance is. “Like a Hornpipe” is probably the clearest I’ll get. When I’m playing classical guitar, I sometimes wonder what exactly an Allemande and a Bourree is, and how each one is danced. And then I play a Minuet or a Gavotte and I think: no, I’m content to not know.