A gripe from some friends' ceilidh band who we danced to a little while ago. The calling was OK, but the band made what to me was a huge mistake - they started playing at bar 1 and assumed all the dancers knew they were starting then. Not being mind-readers, most of the dancers predictably didn't react until halfway through the first bar. Somewhat-experienced dancers can cope with that by realising that the first measure they dance is going to be slightly short and compensating - inexperienced dancers will be doing it by the numbers though, so if they start two beats late, they're going to be two beats late for the rest of the dance, and things are going to go badly pear-shaped.

So please, ceilidh bands, play a few bars of the tune as an introduction. Then we know how fast it is, and more importantly we're all ready to start on beat 1 of bar 1. I have to say though, this does seem to be specific to that band - I've not heard other ceilidh bands do this. Everyone else I've danced to has given us a couple of bars of intro to prepare us. Still, if your band plays like this, consider not doing it. (Pretty please - your dancers will appreciate it. :-)

Graham.