tune names - may I vent?

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: Will Fly
Date: 08 Jun 17 - 04:07 AM

The variations in practice for different sorts of dances in different countries is fascinating.

Our 5-piece band (fiddle, mandolin/guitar, guitar/tenor guitar, bass & drums) uses either of two callers, depending on availability. So we have two dance lists - one for each caller - with dances which may or may not be on each list, i.e. there is some overlap. However, the same dance may have a different tune set, according to the arrangements we have with each of the callers! And we always have sets in reserve, for playing to a dance or for listening in between dances.

Our band plays mainly for private functions - weddings, birthday parties and PTAs and the occasional charity function. On the night, the caller will see who gets up to dance and assesses on the fly, as the evening goes on, the ability and enthusiasm of the dancers. In the main, the dancers are of mixed age and very varied ability, so the caller has to be able to get it right for the majority of the people. Many will never have danced at a ceilidh before - some (usually Scottish) will be more experienced and ask for a particular dance to be called. Dancing involving Strip The Willow is always a good one. The caller checks out the dancers and sets the agenda for the evening - always bearing in mind the wishes of the client.

So, the dance names might be titles like "Clopton Bridge", "Wringing Out The Washing" or "The Severn Bore" - and the tune sets to match them are ones we've agreed beforehand with the caller(s).

At our last gig (Saturday last) we played for the Anthony Nolan Bone Cancer charity and the dancers were predominantly in their 20s and 30s and fit as fleas, A very energetic evening!

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: Mr Red
Date: 08 Jun 17 - 04:58 AM

there is a slight divide here.
IME Contra and Irish Set are more complex and the leeway with music v dance is much much smaller.

One of the reasons I like ECeilidh is that it is accessible to newbies. And helping them is an art form I enjoy. There are things that don't work like grabbing & pushing but pointing and gesticulating works well.

As I invariably say "there are only two rules, 1)smile 2)keep moving".
That doesn't work with Contra. The dialect is alien, and the fun thereof is "getting it right". As can be inferred from the OP.

And while we are ranting, my two penn'th:
Callers, please consider the precise words. What they mean to you and dancers who know this dance, is not necessarily what is obvious.

Contra example: "left and right through up and down" went wrong, and the comment to me was "he didn't say how many" - me & many others were expecting a very familiar extended left & right down and back up the other side.

what he meant, and he had to patronisingly demonstrate (not actually correcting his words) was: "half left & right through with corner/shadow/other" (because it started up and down the lines)

his attitude was - well lets just say Dunning-Kruger would have recognised it!

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: Will Fly
Date: 08 Jun 17 - 05:07 AM

The identification derived from the cognitive bias evident in the criminal case of McArthur Wheeler, who robbed banks with his face disguised with lemon juice, which he believed would make it invisible to the surveillance cameras. Wheeler's incompetence was based on his misunderstanding of the chemical properties of lemon juice as an invisible ink.

Glorious!

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: leeneia
Date: 08 Jun 17 - 11:13 AM

Thanks for sharing. It's interesting.

Humorous titles are okay, as long as they are spelled in a logical way and don't waste volunteers' time. And there's no good reason to have two unrelated names (one for the dance moves and one for the tune) for a new piece.

Phil, I would very much like to hear or see the tunes named for your cats.

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 08 Jun 17 - 11:17 AM

A few years ago I heard someone play a fiddle tune I liked which they called "24 Hours Around the World". Have I been able to find it since?...

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: GUEST,Phil Cooper on spouse's laptop
Date: 09 Jun 17 - 08:24 AM

Hi Leenia, If you go to February Sky's soundcloud page there are rough mixes of several cat tunes (there are two Feb sky soundcloud pages, one is a full set, the other has several rough mix cuts). On the tune page the titles would be Spencer's March, Arthur's Determination, Misha on the Stairs, and Fo's Aig Caint/Bonnie's Reel. If you go to youtube there are video versions of Spencer's, Arthur's, and Bonnie's reel. Again there, if you type in February Sky, then the tune titles, they should pop right up.

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: leeneia
Date: 09 Jun 17 - 01:33 PM

Thanks for the info, Phil. 'Arthur's Determination' is my favorite.

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: Mo the caller
Date: 09 Jun 17 - 04:54 PM

To take this thread in a slightly off-topic.
When we dance to 17th century tunes do the musicians play them in a C17 style. Would it be a good / bad thing if they did. I know that how we dance is different.

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 09 Jun 17 - 05:21 PM

There is a weird subculture of people who like to dance Playford dances to thunderously amplified fiddle-and-accordion music as heavy-handed and style-free as the most commercial end of Scottish ceilidh. You'll know who I mean from Whitby.

Why they don't just do the dances to hip-hop I don't know.

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: leeneia
Date: 10 Jun 17 - 11:23 AM

Hip-hop lacks the verve.

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 10 Jun 17 - 11:31 AM

Verve is exactly what's missing from accordion-driven Playford.

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: GUEST,Peter
Date: 11 Jun 17 - 05:42 AM

"When we dance to 17th century tunes do the musicians play them in a C17 style. Would it be a good / bad thing if they did. I know that how we dance is different. "

The musicians that do aren't the ones that get booked for "Playford" dances. If you want to book a gig like that you need to talk to people who work in both the folk and early music circuits such as Hazel or Emily Askew.

Subject: RE: tune names - may I vent?
From: Mo the caller
Date: 11 Jun 17 - 06:09 AM

So how does the style differ?