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Thread: marches played for contra dance

  1. #1
    music with whales Jim Nollman's Avatar
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    Default marches played for contra dance

    Our contra dance band played a well-attended dance the other night. Early on, our caller requested that we do a set of "smooth tunes", to match the dance she was teaching. We weren't exactly clear about what she meant, so I showed her our tune list with 60 or more tunes on it. She immediately chose a set comprised of "Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine", "Jamie Allen", and Huntsman's Chorus".

    Discussing this at our following rehearsal, we realized that each of these tunes is actually a march. As such, we naturally play this set with a slightly different rhythm than any of our faster reel sets. We concluded that we all need to do some research to add a few more marches to our repertoire.

    Can anyone here suggest some marches (or even better, entire march sets) that will work in a contra dance setting? Keep in mind, that any march we ever do, will be played for dancing, not marching.
    Explore some of my published music here.

    —Jim

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  2. #2
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: marches played for contra dance

    Coleman's March is a nice smooth, graceful march in D. We often use that for a wedding march.
    Jim

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  3. #3

    Default Re: marches played for contra dance

    Most of the Marches that I know are intended for marching and woudn't fit a dance without being speeded up and 'dotted'. Using Napoleon Crossing the Rhine as an example trying to fit 'The Minstrel Boy' to that speed/rhythm just doesn't work. For 'smooth' tunes I usually try Polkas played slower than usual. The Jenny Lind Polka fits this category. Also, a lot of the Irish singing tunes (fast ballads) also fit that beat - The Jackets Green, Let the People Sing, Whiskey in The Jar etc.

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    Registered User harper's Avatar
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    Default Re: marches played for contra dance

    When my contra dance band is asked for a smooth set (meaning no balance and swings or other bouncy steps) we often play three smooth jigs. Here are a couple of examples:

    Humors of Whiskey / Swallowtail / Old Favorite
    I Wish that Peace Would Come / Road to Lisdoonvarna / 6/8 du Petit Sarny

    One high energy, smooth reel set we really like (all in Em) is:
    Evit Gabriel / King of the Fairies / Dancing Bear
    Harper (My other mandolin is a harp)

  5. #5

    Default Re: marches played for contra dance

    King of the Fairies is a Hornpipe - so I assume you play it 'undotted' to match the beat of the two reels with it?

    I don't understand the term 'smooth jig'. Don't you accentuate the first beats (of each triplet) in Swallowtail and Lisdoonvarna?

  6. #6
    Registered User harper's Avatar
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    Default Re: marches played for contra dance

    Eddie,

    Yes, we play King of the Fairies as a reel undotted. On the jigs we accent beat 1 and somewhat less beat 4 of each measure, but the melody is flowing for smooth moves like Ladies' Chain and Half Hey. The line-up is accordion, flute, clarinet, fiddle and guitar. Here is Old Favorite:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails EJB Old favorite 2 treble II.pdf  
    Harper (My other mandolin is a harp)

  7. #7

    Default Re: marches played for contra dance

    My take on the OP is he is looking for 4/4 or 2/4 tunes that are played naturally slower than reels (kinda march speed) but not as stiff as most marches. By smoother do you mean slower?

  8. #8
    music with whales Jim Nollman's Avatar
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    Default Re: marches played for contra dance

    Yes definitely, Eddy, we seek smooth tunes without the stiffness one associates with bagpipes.

    And also yes, Harper, "no balances or bounce".

    Last night at rehearsal we looked over our entire set list. It seems that in our 3 years of playing together, we all lean to choosing tunes with great melody and, incidentally, with a natural bounce. That eliminates a lot of potential smooth tunes like "Going to Boston", which we have always regarded as fun for a dancer, but boring for us players.

    With 2 fiddles playing the melody (often in two octaves with occasional tasteful harmony), and a piano and guitar who own the straight rhythm, I (on mandolin) tend to focus on syncopated counter-rhythms and counterpoint. And now that I know, musically, what "smooth" means, I realize that my style accents the opposite of "smooth". For example, if a melody phrase goes down the scale, I may create a syncopated double stop run that provides a harmony up the scale. Or I'll play one triplet for each measure of a reel, not unlike the guitar scratch in a James Brown tune.

    Everyone who plays this music eventually becomes aware that some listeners respond poorly to a band that plays these tunes out of unison. But I am basically a jazz and techno player operating, for a long moment, in a successful contra dance band. So I am the one who catches the evil eye of local purists. I keep at it because my style is the main thing that keeps me interested. Plus, of course, all the non-purist dancers really respond to our drive and our originality.

    I started this thread to discover what other contra players might recommend. No I'm listening closely to those choices in order to learn how to accentuate what it is, precisely that makes a tune "smooth". I hope to do "smooth" as well as I now do "bounce' without altering my playing style.

    I have passed all the tunes above, to the rest of the band.
    Explore some of my published music here.

    —Jim

    Sierra F5 #30 (2005)
    Altman 2-point (2007)
    Portuguese fado cittern (1965)

  9. #9

    Default Re: marches played for contra dance

    According to O'Neill's 1001 Gems and John Sheehan of The Dubliners, The King of the Fairies is a set dance tune.

    Dave H
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  10. #10

    Default Re: marches played for contra dance

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Hanson View Post
    According to O'Neill's 1001 Gems and John Sheehan of The Dubliners, The King of the Fairies is a set dance tune.

    Dave H
    If you are playing a SET DANCE for an INDIVIDUAL dancer, the dancer will be trying to fit a SET number of steps to the dance (usually in a competition) - jigs, slip jigs, hornpipes, and marches are more common for this - usually between 68 - 72 BPM.

  11. #11
    Registered User harper's Avatar
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    Default Re: marches played for contra dance

    Here is the notation for “King of the Fairies” from Stanford/Petrie, Complete Collection, No. 1281, p. 322 (1905). It’s a versatile tune that works well as a 32 bar reel (AABC) or as a hornpipe. I believe the set dance is played AABBCC, though I have never seen it danced. As I mentioned above, when we are playing “King” as a smooth reel for a contra dance, we play equal eighth notes instead of hornpipe rhythm.

    You may be interested in another closely related tune, “Scollay’s Reel,” which is a simpler version of “King.” Here are both tunes as played by my band. I inserted a touch of Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” in the flute descant for fun.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails King of the Fairies George Petrie collection 268-397.pdf   ERB King of the Faeries 2.pdf   ERB Scollay's Reel treble.pdf  

    Harper (My other mandolin is a harp)

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