Music for one-off barn dances

I have been approached quite a few times for advice about music by people getting an ad hoc band together for a particular event.  On several occasions  they have told me that they've collected a group of willing players but none of those players has ever played for dancing before, and they want to know what to play and how to play it.  This page is specifically aimed at such brave souls, who are undertaking something like a fund-raiser or a celebration and are creating a band just for that one occasion.

First things

  I'm mainly a caller — sometimes a player — and I agree wholeheartedly with Thomas — I'd rather call with an average band than the best CDs in the world.

Start by reading 'So you want to play for ceilidhs', which is excellent; it's really aimed at players wanting to form a long-term band, not a scratch band for a one-off event, but it still has good advice.  (See the Resources page.)  Listen to some English barndance bands – get some CDs or MP3s of good bands if possible; the webfeet site has a list of bands, many of which will have audio samples on their websites.  (You can try YouTube, but be aware that searching YouTube for 'ceilidh' will bring up lots of Scottish-style ceilidhs, which are bit different, and 'barndance' can produce dances in US 'country/Western' style, which are also a bit different.)  Even better would be to go to a musicians' weekend organised for potential barndance/ceildh players.

Players  

For what it's worth, typical bands use a fiddle (with a pickup if possible) or a melodeon or an accordion to hold the tune.  Clarinets and saxes work but they have to be able to hold the tune – not always easy, since they will have to transpose – and they need to find places to breathe.  Flutes are less effective because they are quieter and have less attack on the note, except in very skilled hands; all the same, if there's a strong fiddle or accordion, a flute can add  variation in tone, especially if the player can put in twiddly bits now and again.  Descant recorders are surprisingly effective, and I've used both piccolo and wind-synthesizer.  A guitar or a keyboard is good for holding the rhythm, and of course a good melodeon player or accordionist can hold the rhythm too.  Drum kit is sometimes used but not to everyone's taste.  Bass guitars often make an appearance, but other deep instruments can do the same job – I've heard tubas, cellos, a bassoon, and even a bass viola da gamba.

Better to use unexpected instruments played dancily, even if inexpertly, than conventional instruments played with no life, even if expertly.  If you're choosing between a not-so-good sax who's not afraid to make the tune bounce versus an orchestral violinist who plays all the notes perfectly in tune but all in the same way, the sax probably wins.  (NB no prejudice intended – plenty of orchestral violinists are also superb dance musicians!)  Don't have lots of players, though, because it gets hard to keep the rhythm crisp.  And remember that each extra person in the band makes it harder to find a rehearsal date.

Finding Tunes  

Whatever you pick, go for tunes that are well-marked into strong 4-bar phrases, which helps both the dancer and the caller.  Until you're experienced, avoid tunes that are nothing but long strings of quavers (eighth-notes), because the rhythm can easily get blurred;  go for tunes with occasional crotchets (quarter-notes) or minims (half-notes), helping to structure the tune so that the dancers can feel its shape, and giving players a chance to collect themselves (and breathe, if they're playing winds).

Most of the tunes you use will be 32 bars, but do make sure you've got enough 3-part jigs (i.e. 48-bars) for at least two dances with 3 parts, such as Waves of Tory.  You'll probably want to organise your tunes into sets of two or three tunes, so that you can change tunes during a dance.

  In my experience the standard set of 48-bar jigs is Dingle Regatta and Sweets of May, or you might like to try Hexham Reel, Offa's Dyke or Castle Church Jig.  For 48-bar American reels I like Ragtime Annnie; for a 48-bar English reel you could try His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales' Favourite, or Galopede repeating the B and C music.

Jigs, reels, polkas, or hornpipes?  The caller is expected to tell the band what kind of tune he/she wants for the next dance.  If you're all working from scratch, a possible rule of thumb is to use jigs by default, polkas or reels as a change from jigs, hornpipes for anything that is to be stepped, and reels where a smooth walk is wanted.

Stepped dances might very well go at about 90 beats per minute, while walking dances might go at about 110 bpm.  American contra dancing is usually at about 120 bpm, which feels too fast for an English dance.  Remember: it's easy to play too fast for the dancers.  The caller should be keeping an eye out: be ready to follow his/her directions to go faster or slower (see below).

Finding Tunes on the Web  

See my other website at colinhume.com/abc.aspx?Title=* for a list of over 1,200 tunes available there.  Many are set tunes for specific dances, but there are plenty of others.

There are two ABC Search Engines that I use all the time:

• ABCNotation Tune Search
  This one shows you the first few bars of the tune, and you can hear it, though strangely enough it doesn't play the chords.
  Chris Walshaw says I'm the only person to have asked for this!
• JC's ABC Tune Finder
  You may not find this so user-friendly, but it often ferrets out more matches than the first one!

• Enter part or all of the title and press [Enter] (or click the button if you like clicking buttons).
• Select a suitable version.  Some are much better than others.  I always look first for one with chords, and I find that the versions by John Chambers (The “JC” of the second search engine) are the most reliable, but use your own judgement.
• Click on “tune page”.
• Click on “download: png”
• Print it.

Printing a tune using JC's ABC Tune Finder involves more trial and error, because you can't see or hear the tune from the search page.  Instead select a tune, then click “png” (or “pdf” though that gets complicated, or “gif”) and then on the next page click the png (etc.) file.  Or if you click “svg” it seems you go straight to the image.

The feel of the dance  

General advice: keep the rhythm.  Tune players – if you fall off, don't panic – play some notes that more or less fit the pattern until you can get back aboard somewhere.  Rhythm players – if you play the wrong chord, don't worry; it's much more important to play the right rhythm than the right chord.  Pianists especially, keep in mind that you're really playing a percussion instrument, as far as dancing is concerned.  As already said, tune players who are not used to playing for dance would do well to listen to recordings.

Tips for strong rhythm – listen out for these in the recordings:

• Go for attack, not for evenness of tone.
• Don't do classical phrasing – keep the speed constant and eschew those elegant little hesitations that classical players use.
• Stick in some gaps between notes, especially before a repeated note: a gap is surprisingly effective at defining the pulse.
• Cut down on slurs and use them to give rhythmic emphasis: long groups of quavers can treated as slur two, tongue (or bow) two, slur two, tongue two … String players can also do one fast down bow followed by three upbow quavers, which gives a very clear sharp attack to the group.
• Often slur onto the beat – very effective for string players, who can use an upbow onto a strong beat to give a whoosh.
• Don't let the written notes tell you what to play: get the tune in your head, then play something that you think will excite the dancers.  (A big difference here from orchestral playing!)

Starting, stopping and changing  

It is usual to change tunes from time to time during any one dance, to give variety.  Different bands change at different times; some bands play each tune twice, which means they need a lot of tunes, other bands play each tune until the leader decides it's time to move on and calls 'Change'.  If you do it that way, the leader has to make the call in good time for everyone to be ready for the next tune.  Stop when the caller wants you to, and not before.

Callers: agree with the band on how to signal.  One way is to hold up one finger so that the leader can see it, to mean “after this time through the tune,   play it once more and then stop”, a method that I find works very well as long as the caller does it at the right time, such as at the start of the second half of the tune, when it's unambiguous.  Waving a finger right at the end of the tune can leave the band uncertain about whether to stop right then, or to play one more.

Callers will also need signals for “go a bit faster”, “go a bit slower”, and “stop right now!” – the last being used for those occasions one dreads when the dance has collapsed irretrievably, and also for dances where the band has to stop abruptly and unexpectedly while dancers scramble for new partners.  This is what I use – but be prepared to use different signals: all that matters is that the band and the caller agree:

• pushing upwards – “go faster”
• pushing downwards – “slow down”
• cutting own throat – “stop dead, right now!”

Variations, tune sets and altering tunes  

In general the tunes in a set are fairly similar and are in related keys – switching from D to G and back is quite conventional, as is switching from D or G to E minor or A minor, but it takes a strong constitution to switch from a tune in D to a tune in F.  Still, if that takes your fancy, go for it.  Some players like a shift from a tune in G to a tune in A, and in fact that has become almost traditional on the Dorset Four-Hand Reel; not to my personal taste (reminds me of weak pop songs), but people claim it gives the dancers a lift.

When there's more than one melody instrument, it's a waste of resources if you both play the tune all the time.  Sometimes one, and sometimes the other; or one plays the tune and the other plays something different, whether improvised or worked out beforehand.  Players should *avoid drowning each other*.  Accordionists and other naturally loud instruments take especial note.  (Accordionists – consider not using the master coupler to turn on all your reeds: it thickens the sound and will obscure anybody trying to do variations above or below you.) 'So you want to play for ceilidhs …' explains all this very well.  (See Resources page.)

Rehearsing and performing  

Amplification