I'd like to summarize a few things I've learned recently: 1. Caller- band communication > It's important to coordinate how long to play. Who will the caller signal? Will they nod or make eye contact? (Some don't) What signals do they prefer? (3,2,1, fist) Generally, when there is a couple out at the top, the caller signals the band in the B section of the tune that there will be 1 or 3 (odd number) full times through the dance remaining. Some only want 1, & fist. First meaning we are now in the last time through the dance.
> We've had a few bands with very fancy or quiet potatoes. Like they start playing and I'm standing there thinking, "Are the potatoes coming soon? Surely that's not a potato?" Good to have them demonstrate and work out potatos before the night gets started. Callers often prefer very clear, loud, simple potatoes. > Tempo! Some use apps to track the band's tempo. We've had college music students that are very talented, but have not played contra gigs, vary tempo wildly in response to hand signals: Like from 90-150 bpm! It's good if you can help them zone in on a good contra range like 110-120 bpm. Sometimes when a fiddler in a 3 piece band doesn't know their tunes as well as the rest they can cause the music to get stuck in the 100-105 bpm range, which really is not as fun for the dancers. > This weekend I had a dance get started with music too fast for these particular beginners. The walkthrough had gone fine. It was that band's first contra set ever. The beginner dancers really couldn't keep up . I was so focussed on the dancers and trying to help them with clear 4 count calls that I forgot to *signal the band to slow down*. Anyway, the dancers got up to speed after 2 times through but I'd let us slip 8 beats behind the music (not super clear phrasing) trying to help the dancers keep up. So I signalled the band, "Here is the Top of the tune" (Flat hand tapped on top of my head) hoping they might adjust the phrasing back to where we were in the dance. They didn't respond. I extended a swing "keep swinging" to get back in groove with the 16 beat phrases, and signalled the band the next "top of tune". So maybe they'd get us synchronized with A1. They asked afterward what in the world that signal meant. They said, "Oh, we could probably do that. Now we know." When I was a beginner and was messing up more, George Paul would automatically adjust the phrasing anytime I got confused with the music and got behind in the song. I asked at the end how I got back sychronized wiht the music and he said, "Oh yeah, we fixed it a couple times. We are watching the dancers. We had a caller one time and we had to fix the tune every time through the dance . That wasn't very fun". 2. Contra music ideas: (I am not musical!) > Ed Howe was coaching my wife and I regarding calling to all sorts of contra tunes, and Ed said he often saw the A1 & A2 part of the tune as sort of a "call and response". (He then demonstrated a few examples) The music sounds like it's sort of asking a 8 beat question, and then answering the question in 8 beats. (A1), and then A2 does something similar. Then b1 &* b2 are much more like meandering or complicated "reasoning" chatter of music. This really helped me hear the 4 16 beat phrases much more automatically. > The best bands often get good at contra dancing. That will really help them be a good contra band. Then they really feel the music in the dance and learn what feels good and fun to the dancers. Good Luck! You'll learn something every time. Rob On Mon, Feb 24, 2025 at 1:35 AM David Kirchner via Contra Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > I'd like to cosign nearly all of Greg's excellent response below. Don't > tell people how to play their music. It's disrespectful. But you can say > that in order to have them play for your dance, you have certain needs. Are > they interested in working to meet those needs? If not, that's fine, it's > not the gig for them. If so, focus on your bottom line needs and build from > there. > > What is already in their repertoire that you can use? What is a > "must-have" (e.g. distinguishable phrases, steady beat), and what can you > do without if you have to? I once did a entire dance where I did without > 2-part tunes -- the band just played tune after tune, medleys of 5, 6 or 7 > tunes played two or three times each. Some were three-part, some > half-length, some regular. Fabulous musicians (internationally known, > actually), but in their style of music they had never thought much about > how many parts their tunes had. It was going to be a huge lift for them to > keep track of which tunes had how many parts, and so I just let go of it. > (Happily, all of their tunes had square phrases, at least.) > > I recently did a dance with an Irish bar band that had somehow heard about > contra dancing and managed to talk themselves onto the schedule without > having a clue what they were supposed to be doing. I went to a rehearsal > about a month out and told them a bunch of things about what would work and > what wouldn't, but I also realized there was no substitute for experience. > So I said, "which of the next few Saturdays could some of you go to one of > our dances? I'll arrange to get you a free pass." Eventually two of them > came the following week to a dance and simply watched what was happening > for about 90 minutes. The band leader called me the next day (I had a > conflict and could not be at the dance myself) and said "Ohhhh. Now we > understand." They ended up doing a nice job and were asked back. > > David > >> >> Date: Wed, 19 Feb 2025 16:09:40 +0000 >> From: Gregory <[email protected]> >> Subject: [Callers] Re: working with inexperienced bands >> >> Hi Joseph, >> >> What is your musical experience/skill? >> >> I have a music degree, have plied my trade in a few different areas of >> professional musicianship, and I've been working with live musicians >> (particularly young fiddlers who i see as the future and want to give >> performance opportunities to) for 10 years as a dance caller in an area >> with little-to-no contra dancing. >> >> First off, I would get a sense of your musicians interest in the gig. Are >> they doing it for easy money? Are they genuinely interested to play for >> dancers and don't care how much they get paid? Are they making their living >> from gig work? Or is this something they do on the side for fun? Are they >> old-time experienced players? Or are they new upstarts, still forming their >> musical identity as a performer? Have they mastered their instruments or >> are they better-then-average amateurs? Answers to these questions can help >> set expectations for their commitment. >> >> I can confidently say that the suggestion of sending musicians new tunes >> / resources a few weeks before the dance is not a welcome prospect and not >> setting them up for success. You should, instead, encourage new repertoire >> over a long period of time, and for the next show focus on what is in their >> current repertoire that will suffice for dances (if you want them to play >> for you again). It may seem an imposition, but if you can attend one of >> their rehearsals or jams, and ask to go through their repertoire, that >> would be best. Keep a few things in mind while doing so: >> >> - No matter how experienced a fiddler is, playing for contra dances is a >> specific skill or knowledge base; don't be afraid to say that such-and-such >> doesn't work >> - Some tunes sound fine but they're actually crooked and will not work >> for contra. You need to be able to detect these tunes to prevent them being >> programmed and ruining one of the dances. Crooked tunes in the contra dance >> realm take multiple forms: additional beats within a measure, yes, but also >> additional measures on a phrase. Phrases that are 4 or 12 beats long, and >> tunes that have more than 2 parts are particularly hard to detect. Your >> musicians may or may not know the difference or whether this is important >> or not (even if you're clear that 32 bars jigs and reels is what you're >> after, before hand). >> - Different kinds of tunes work if the band is willing to play with the >> tempo. For example, jigs tend to be played faster than is comfortable for >> the dancers, so they need to be slowed down a touch, and polkas can also be >> played at a slower tempo. I suggest this to attempt to broaden the >> potential tunes that can be programmed while working within what they >> already know. >> >> Also be respectful of different musicians abilities... Dave Brubeck >> couldn't read music, and some traditional musicians also never learned how >> to read music, picking up tunes by ear instead. If this is the case, >> sending tunes a few weeks before a show is simply not going to work. >> Musicians have their own culture apart from dancers, so temper your >> expectations and be patient and respectful. >> >> Consider not hiring a "band" but hiring a fiddler. I don't know what the >> remote situation you're in is like, but if you have any professional >> musicians in your area, they should know how the gigs work. If you can find >> a single fiddler and hire them, they will find someone else to play with >> them as a duo or trio, as long as you explain what you're looking for >> (reels at 120 bpm, playing for dancers, etc.) and the pay. If you can pair >> less experienced musicians with more experienced musicians, this will >> benefit you in the long run, bringing up a new generation of fiddlers in >> this tradition. For example, many musicians have students. Ask if one of >> their students is up for the task of performing and they can join in on a >> few tunes. It also broadens your dance base when the parents come out and >> participate. >> >> You'll want to go over with whomever you hire a series of signals that >> indicate "speed up", "slow down", "keep playing", "stop immediately" and >> "stop at the end of the phrase / last time". >> >> You'll want to ensure that they start each tune with a 4 beat >> introduction ("Four for nothing" as Winton Marsalis says, and "Four >> potatoes" as is the phrase around here), which is a cue for you to cue the >> dancers. Musicians are NOT in the habit of doing this on their own, and >> waiting once through the tune instead is too long. >> >> Forcing a square peg into a round hole is not what i would consider >> setting anyone up for success. Expecting your blue grass band to convert to >> a contra dance band lickity-split is, in my opinion, not a good approach. I >> would suggest letting it be what it's going to be. Maybe your group likes >> blue grass tunes, and you form a contra/bluegrass syncretism. This is part >> of the folk process. Everywhere, everyone, is different and cherishing that >> and encouraging appreciation is what i would consider setting people up for >> success - my previous recommendations and advice support this idea, I >> think. For example, in my area, fiddling is heavily influenced by many >> repertoires, particularly Metis, which was originally used for Metis step >> dancing. I doubt the Metis fiddle tunes get played anywhere else, but they >> make for excellent contra dance tunes with their own flare and feel. I'm >> leaning into this, it's part of the Manitoba sound! >> >> Best of luck! Happy Dancing! >> >> Greg, Winnipeg >> > _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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