Musicians

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341 discussions

Musicians for a Saturday, December 23rd contra dance in San Diego

by Martha Wild

Hey, if any contra musicians are going to be in San Diego over Christmas, we are having trouble finding a complete local band for the evening. Contact Chris Page above if you may be here visiting family and would enjoy a gig! Martha >

7 years, 8 months

Test message - please ignore

by Seth Seeger

I’m setting up new archives. You can ignore this message. Seth

7 years, 8 months

Re: [Musicians] Seeking *lists* of tunes for patter squares

by jim saxe via Musicians

Folks, When I sent out my request back in May soliciting lists of recommended tunes for patter squares, I wrote: > ... If you got this query via a mailing list, please send > tune lists directly to me and *not* to the entire mailing list. > .., I'm trying to see which tunes get mentioned > *independently* by many recommenders, so I don't want the lists > anyone sends me to be influenced one way or another by whatever > suggestions other people have already sent. ... > > I plan to gather recommendations for the next couple months and > to post a summary some time in July. Now it's the end of July, and I find myself in a bit of a quandary, since I haven't gathered nearly as much data as I'd hoped, and I'd prefer not to have my results so far circulating around and possibly biasing anyone else who might yet supply input. On the other hand, I don't want to renege on providing a summary. So what I'm going to do is take some more time (possibly several months, at the rate things are going). But meanwhile if anyone's impatient for a summary, you can contact me off-list (Jim dot Saxe at-sign gmail dot com), and I'll send a brief synopsis of what I've gathered as of today, July 31. (Note: This will only include information from recent informants and a few other recent sources, not all the stuff I'm still working on from old books, articles, record catalogs, etc.) Meanwhile thanks to the following persons who have supplied tune lists in response either to my queries on trad-dance-callers and the SharedWeight or (more commonly) to other requests either by email or in person: T-Claw supplied a list of tunes that he and other participants shared at a session called "List of Favorite Square Dance Tunes" at the 2015 Dare To Be Square Weekend in Nashville. Bob Dalsemer supplied a short list of tunes that he had gathered from three Brasstown area fiddlers. He also supplied a tune list from an unpublished manuscript by the late D. B. Hendrix with more tunes than the ones listed in his book _Smoky Mountain Square Dances_ (but I'm not including that list in my "recent sources" category). I also got tune lists from Erik Hoffman, Bill Litchman, Tony Mates, Jim McKinney, David Millstone, Tony Parkes, Jordan Ruyle, Don Stratton, and Vivian Williams. Thanks, all. I also got at least one well-intentioned reply that seemed so far off target from what I requested that I couldn't use it (thanks all the same if you know who you are). --Jim

7 years, 9 months

Music classes at Dance, Music and Spice week, Aug. 13-20

by Carol Ormand via Musicians

Hello everyone, I am the Program Director for CDSS' Dance, Music, and Spice week, August 13-20, in Michigan. There are two daily classes that would be especially valuable for anyone who plays music for dancing: Dave Langford is leading a daily "tune session," where he will teach tunes but will also shape the class to meet the needs of whoever comes to it, and Karl Colon and Eric Schedler are leading a daily class on playing rhythm for contra dances, open to any musician (any instruments). There is also a daily class period for camper-led activities, which could easily include jamming, and camper musicians will play for one of the evening dances. You can read more about camp here: http://www.cdss.org/programs/dance-music-song-camps/camp-weeks/spice If you know of people who would be interested, please feel free to pass this info along to them. We have more than 100 people signed up for camp, but there is still room for a few more. Scholarships are available, if the price is beyond your means. cheers,Carol

7 years, 9 months

Second call Re: Seeking *lists* of tunes for patter squares

by jim saxe via Musicians

Folks, This is a reminder about the query I sent out in May asking for people's lists of recommended tunes for patter squares. If you were thinking of sending me such a list, please do. While I've gotten some responses, the number so far has been disappointingly low. (If anyone knows of some other online forum where it would be appropriate to post this query, perhaps with hope of a higher response rate, please let me know.) At the bottom of this message, I'm including a copy of my original, rather detailed, request. Perhaps that request was so wordy as to put some of you off reading and responding. To summarize the essential points: * Please send (if you feel qualified and inclined to do so) a list of tunes that you would play or recommend for traditional-style western and/or southern square dancing ("patter squares" for short, as distinguished from New- England-style prompted squares or singing squares of any sort). * Please send responses directly to me, <jim.saxe(a)gmail.com>, not to the entire mailing list on which you're receiving this, so that anyone else's responses won't be influenced by yours. I'll eventually send out a summary of the responses. * I'm hoping particularly to hear from people who can come up with a list of ten or more (perhaps many more) tunes without scraping the bottoms of their personal barrel. (At risk of belaboring the obvious, I mean ten or more tunes per responder, not as a grand total.) * Please don't send lists (or references to lists) where tunes suitable for patter squares are mixed in with other stuff. * You don't have to educate me about how "it's not just the tune; it's the way it's played." Thanks in advance for any responses. --Jim On May 12, 2017, at 6:24 PM, James Saxe <jim.saxe(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > [I'm sending this query to the trad-dance-callers list, to the > SharedWeight callers' and musicians' forums, and to a number of > individuals. Please send responses directly to me *off-list* > (see Note 1 below). I plan to collect responses for about the > next two months and will summarize results to the lists and to > individual respondents some time in July. Thanks. --Jim] > > Folks, > > As some of you may know, I've worked on and off in fits and starts > for some time at gathering lists of recommended tunes [see Note 2 > below] for (traditional-style) patter squares. [In case you're > wondering what I mean by "(traditional-style) patter squares", see > Note 6 below.] My idea is to compile lists from a wide variety of > sources and to look for tunes mentioned independently by many > different recommenders. So far, I've compiled tune lists from a > few dozen books and albums, and I'm currently adding lists from > a bunch more books, articles, record catalogs, etc. I'm sending > this message because I'd like to supplement all these sources with > lists from current informants, possibly including you. So ... > > * If you are a musician who has substantial experience > playing for (traditional-stye) patter squares and if > you have a list of recommended tunes that you're > willing to share--either an existing set list or a > list you come up with by sitting down and scratching > your head for a while--please send it to me *off-list* > [see Note 1] at > > jim dot saxe at-sign gmail dot com > > * If you are a musician who mostly plays for other things > than patter squares (e.g., contras or New-England-style > squares or concert performances) or even if you're not > a musician, but if you nonethelessAå have accumulated a > list of tunes you particularly like *for patter squares*, > I'd also be interested in hearing from you. > > * I'd also be interested if anyone can supply lists of > tunes played *for patter squares* by players skilled > in the genre who are no longer living (e.g., Ralph > Blizard, Lyman Enloe, Benton Flippen, Bob Holt, Pete > McMahan, Lee Stripling, Joe Thompson, or Melvin Wine, > to name a few). However, see Note 5. > > * If you know other people who might be willing and able > to contribute lists of recommended tunes, please feel > free to pass this request along. (But please try not > to put up my email address in places where spammers > are likely to harvest it. Also, see Note 1. Thanks.) > > Below are some notes clarifying what kind of responses I am > and am not interested in. ***Please read at least Notes 1-3 > before responding.*** > > Note 1: If you got this query via a mailing list, please send > tune lists directly to me and *not* to the entire mailing list. > As stated above, I'm trying to see which tunes get mentioned > *independently* by many recommenders, so I don't want the lists > anyone sends me to be influenced one way or another by whatever > suggestions other people have already sent. If you pass my > request along to some of your friends, I'd prefer that you each > send tune lists just to me rather than discussing tunes among > yourselves first and then sending me a combined list (unless > you and your friends are in the same regular band and such > discussions are how you normally create your set lists). Please > look carefully at the "To:" (and "Cc:") line of any reply and > make sure that that it doesn't include the address of any mailing > list. That would include addresses of the form > > James Saxe via ... <...> > > where <...> is a list address. > > I plan to gather recommendations for the next couple months and > to post a summary some time in July. > > Note 2: Please *don't* explain to me that the suitability of > a tune for a particular kind of dance can depend very strongly > on how it's played. I'm already quite well aware of that. > However, I also think it would be widely agreed that some tunes > lend themselves to being played well for dancing more than > others. (If you strenuously disagree, I will look forward to > your forthcoming album of rip-roaring square dance arrangements > of tunes from the Child ballads and _The Sacred Harp_. Meanwhile, > please don't respond to my query by attempting to un-ask it.) > > After I've settled on a list of frequently-recommended tunes, > a possible follow-on project would be to try to identify one > or more renditions--online and/or on commercial recordings--of > each tune played in a danceable style worthy of study by > musicians learning to play for patter squares. For such a > project, style of playing would of course be a prime concern. > But that's not what I'm working on or asking about right now. > > Note 3: Please *don't* give me lists (or references to lists, > albums, tune books, syllabi, etc) where tunes well suited for > patter squares are mixed with other sorts of tunes without > specific indication of which tunes are which. > > Note 4: I'm not all that interested in recommendations for just > one or a few tunes. If you have substantial experience playing > for patter squares, I'd expect that you can come up with at least > ten tunes that you think are quite suitable, and perhaps you > can come up with many more than that without feeling that you're > starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel. (If you send a long > list, you might want to distinguish which are your favorites and > which are the second-tier or third-tier choices.) > > Note 5: If you send me a list of tunes from the repertoire of > some deceased musician, please tell me something about how you > compiled that list. I'm not merely looking for a list of tunes > played or recorded by, say, late great fiddler Bestus Bowslinger, > but for a list of tunes that Bestus actually played *for patter > squares*. And if you happen to have some tapes of Bestus playing > at actual dances, and if they include 30 different patter-square > tunes, and if you send me the names of the 20 tunes you happen > to recognize, then I'd like to be informed that the your sampling > of Bestus's repertoire has been filtered by the limitations of > what tunes you recognize. > > Note 6: When I say "(traditional-style) patter squares," I mean > to exclude singing squares and squares that are prompted to the > phrase of the music in the New England style (or in the style of > 19th-century quadrilles) and I mean to include the kinds of > squares generally thought of as traditional to the western and/or > southern U.S. I specifically would include visiting couple dances > in this genre, even when the progression is around a big circle > or by a scatter promenade, rather than around a square of four > couples. I'd also include most "transitional" (50's era) western > squares (other than singing calls) as well as more recent > compositions in similar style. I do *not* mean to say that the > dances in question must be called in a style that includes a bunch > of rhyming doggerel ("do-si high, do-si low, chicken in the bread > pan scratchin' out dough") or other extra verbiage. > > Much of the "hoedown"/"patter" music produced in recent decades > for the MWSD market is, IMO, very non-traditional in character > and thus not of interest for purposes of my current inquiry. > (Hint: If a tune isn't found in any tune books, played at any > jam sessions, or recorded on any non-MWSD label, it's not what > I'm after.) > > I'm happy to get recommendations for recently-composed tunes in > traditional style, as well as for genuinely traditional (old) > tunes. I'm also happy to get recommendations for tunes from > "northern" sources that nonetheless have the right feel to work > well for traditional southern/western dances. > > Of course I realize there aren't precisely defined and widely > agreed boundaries between different kinds of square dances or > different styles of calling (prompted vs. patter vs. singing; > phrased vs. unphrased; New-England vs. southern vs. traditional > western vs. ...). Ditto regarding precise definitions of musical > genres. I also realize that a particular choreographic pattern > might be danced to different styles of music and calling, etc. > That said, I still hope that the preceding paragraphs will suffice > to provide an adequate idea of what I'm looking for. > > Thanks in advance to any of you who have tune lists to share. > > Regards, > --Jim

7 years, 10 months

Resume examples

by Jeanette Mill via Musicians

I am putting together a resume/CV with emphasis on my calling and music skills. I would be interested in seeing some models of how this is done, so if anyone is happy to share theirs with me, I would be very grateful Kind regardsJeanette Jeanette Mill Contra dance caller, musician, workshop facilitatorCanberra, AustraliaPhone: +61 (0)449 686 077 Email: jeanette_mill(a)yahoo.com.au Skype: jeanette.mill "The piano - 88 little mistakes waiting to happen"Kate Barnes

7 years, 11 months

Seeking *lists* of tunes for patter squares

by James Saxe via Musicians

[I'm sending this query to the trad-dance-callers list, to the SharedWeight callers' and musicians' forums, and to a number of individuals. Please send responses directly to me *off-list* (see Note 1 below). I plan to collect responses for about the next two months and will summarize results to the lists and to individual respondents some time in July. Thanks. --Jim] Folks, As some of you may know, I've worked on and off in fits and starts for some time at gathering lists of recommended tunes [see Note 2 below] for (traditional-style) patter squares. [In case you're wondering what I mean by "(traditional-style) patter squares", see Note 6 below.] My idea is to compile lists from a wide variety of sources and to look for tunes mentioned independently by many different recommenders. So far, I've compiled tune lists from a few dozen books and albums, and I'm currently adding lists from a bunch more books, articles, record catalogs, etc. I'm sending this message because I'd like to supplement all these sources with lists from current informants, possibly including you. So ... * If you are a musician who has substantial experience playing for (traditional-stye) patter squares and if you have a list of recommended tunes that you're willing to share--either an existing set list or a list you come up with by sitting down and scratching your head for a while--please send it to me *off-list* [see Note 1] at jim dot saxe at-sign gmail dot com * If you are a musician who mostly plays for other things than patter squares (e.g., contras or New-England-style squares or concert performances) or even if you're not a musician, but if you nonethelessAå have accumulated a list of tunes you particularly like *for patter squares*, I'd also be interested in hearing from you. * I'd also be interested if anyone can supply lists of tunes played *for patter squares* by players skilled in the genre who are no longer living (e.g., Ralph Blizard, Lyman Enloe, Benton Flippen, Bob Holt, Pete McMahan, Lee Stripling, Joe Thompson, or Melvin Wine, to name a few). However, see Note 5. * If you know other people who might be willing and able to contribute lists of recommended tunes, please feel free to pass this request along. (But please try not to put up my email address in places where spammers are likely to harvest it. Also, see Note 1. Thanks.) Below are some notes clarifying what kind of responses I am and am not interested in. ***Please read at least Notes 1-3 before responding.*** Note 1: If you got this query via a mailing list, please send tune lists directly to me and *not* to the entire mailing list. As stated above, I'm trying to see which tunes get mentioned *independently* by many recommenders, so I don't want the lists anyone sends me to be influenced one way or another by whatever suggestions other people have already sent. If you pass my request along to some of your friends, I'd prefer that you each send tune lists just to me rather than discussing tunes among yourselves first and then sending me a combined list (unless you and your friends are in the same regular band and such discussions are how you normally create your set lists). Please look carefully at the "To:" (and "Cc:") line of any reply and make sure that that it doesn't include the address of any mailing list. That would include addresses of the form James Saxe via ... <...> where <...> is a list address. I plan to gather recommendations for the next couple months and to post a summary some time in July. Note 2: Please *don't* explain to me that the suitability of a tune for a particular kind of dance can depend very strongly on how it's played. I'm already quite well aware of that. However, I also think it would be widely agreed that some tunes lend themselves to being played well for dancing more than others. (If you strenuously disagree, I will look forward to your forthcoming album of rip-roaring square dance arrangements of tunes from the Child ballads and _The Sacred Harp_. Meanwhile, please don't respond to my query by attempting to un-ask it.) After I've settled on a list of frequently-recommended tunes, a possible follow-on project would be to try to identify one or more renditions--online and/or on commercial recordings--of each tune played in a danceable style worthy of study by musicians learning to play for patter squares. For such a project, style of playing would of course be a prime concern. But that's not what I'm working on or asking about right now. Note 3: Please *don't* give me lists (or references to lists, albums, tune books, syllabi, etc) where tunes well suited for patter squares are mixed with other sorts of tunes without specific indication of which tunes are which. Note 4: I'm not all that interested in recommendations for just one or a few tunes. If you have substantial experience playing for patter squares, I'd expect that you can come up with at least ten tunes that you think are quite suitable, and perhaps you can come up with many more than that without feeling that you're starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel. (If you send a long list, you might want to distinguish which are your favorites and which are the second-tier or third-tier choices.) Note 5: If you send me a list of tunes from the repertoire of some deceased musician, please tell me something about how you compiled that list. I'm not merely looking for a list of tunes played or recorded by, say, late great fiddler Bestus Bowslinger, but for a list of tunes that Bestus actually played *for patter squares*. And if you happen to have some tapes of Bestus playing at actual dances, and if they include 30 different patter-square tunes, and if you send me the names of the 20 tunes you happen to recognize, then I'd like to be informed that the your sampling of Bestus's repertoire has been filtered by the limitations of what tunes you recognize. Note 6: When I say "(traditional-style) patter squares," I mean to exclude singing squares and squares that are prompted to the phrase of the music in the New England style (or in the style of 19th-century quadrilles) and I mean to include the kinds of squares generally thought of as traditional to the western and/or southern U.S. I specifically would include visiting couple dances in this genre, even when the progression is around a big circle or by a scatter promenade, rather than around a square of four couples. I'd also include most "transitional" (50's era) western squares (other than singing calls) as well as more recent compositions in similar style. I do *not* mean to say that the dances in question must be called in a style that includes a bunch of rhyming doggerel ("do-si high, do-si low, chicken in the bread pan scratchin' out dough") or other extra verbiage. Much of the "hoedown"/"patter" music produced in recent decades for the MWSD market is, IMO, very non-traditional in character and thus not of interest for purposes of my current inquiry. (Hint: If a tune isn't found in any tune books, played at any jam sessions, or recorded on any non-MWSD label, it's not what I'm after.) I'm happy to get recommendations for recently-composed tunes in traditional style, as well as for genuinely traditional (old) tunes. I'm also happy to get recommendations for tunes from "northern" sources that nonetheless have the right feel to work well for traditional southern/western dances. Of course I realize there aren't precisely defined and widely agreed boundaries between different kinds of square dances or different styles of calling (prompted vs. patter vs. singing; phrased vs. unphrased; New-England vs. southern vs. traditional western vs. ...). Ditto regarding precise definitions of musical genres. I also realize that a particular choreographic pattern might be danced to different styles of music and calling, etc. That said, I still hope that the preceding paragraphs will suffice to provide an adequate idea of what I'm looking for. Thanks in advance to any of you who have tune lists to share. Regards, --Jim

7 years, 12 months

Re: [Musicians] Musicians Digest, Vol 15, Issue 4

by Emily Addison via Musicians

Hi fellow dance musicians :) I feel so guilty for not responding back in late February as I asked the question about how to share rhythm grooves among band members. I was swamped with work and our toddler and am finally catching up on all things volunteer including band stuff. Apologies! Anyway, I really appreciated Erik, Yaron, Meg and Sarah's comments. I'm just getting back onto how to work with our community band on this so I'll start with Sarah's idea on a few folks beginning with the groove and building from there. We've tried that in the past and I think what we really need to do is work on the listening part!!!! :) Thank you! Emily On Sat, Feb 25, 2017 at 4:07 PM, via Musicians < musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > Send Musicians mailing list submissions to > musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians- > sharedweight.net > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > musicians-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > musicians-owner(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Musicians digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Learning/sharing/remembering rhythms > (Yaron Shragai via Musicians) > 2. Re: Learning/sharing/remembering rhythms > (Erik Hoffman via Musicians) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2017 17:09:41 -0500 > From: Yaron Shragai via Musicians <musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > To: "Musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net" > <Musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > Subject: Re: [Musicians] Learning/sharing/remembering rhythms > Message-ID: > <CAEPAPhSupdqh0q9iF74XnxeLWOHxguj1UjpeEyDQVQpc5MBing@mail. > gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > The 123-123-12 rhythm appears in Middle Eastern, Balkan, and African music; > I would more than suspect that its occurrence in contra dance music has > come mainly via the African route, both via the slave influence in > Appalachian music and via the hippy/funky influence in modern contra. > > The klezmer/Romanian 123-123-12 has a different inflection to it - a > different articulation - the late great Balkan dance/int'l folk dance > teacher Dick Crum called it a "Get your Papers Here" rhythm - more of a > 2;1,2;1,2 articulation than a 3;3;2 articulation. > > ...Unless the rhythm you're thinking of is the rock-n-roll > boom-chuckboom-boomchuck - in which case we're back to the African > influence... > > - Yaron > > > On Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 3:31 AM, Erik Hoffman via Musicians < > musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > > > Hi Max & All, > > > > Interesting that you learned the 3-3-2 rhythm as Klezmer. > > > > - Klezmer rhythm (123-123-12) > > > > > > So many of the people I've studied from say the 3-3-2 came from Africa. > It > > has invaded many other genres. When I first learned about it (other than > > the clave), it came at me three times in one year: > > * A bunch of fiddle bowings used in Old-Time Appalachian tunes (highly > > slave influenced) > > * A doumbek rhythm (an Arabic drum) > > * In hamboning--body rhythm with African roots, from when slaves had > > their drums taken away. > > __ > > > > Erik Hoffman > > Oakland, CA > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Musicians mailing list > > Musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net > > >

8 years

Re: [Musicians] Website development

by Greg Allan via Musicians

Any of the standard and popular website-building tools should work for you. They are easily searchable with the keywords website, builder, free, online, create your own, etc. Some names are: wix.com weebly.com squarespace.com imcreator.com And you can also do similar stuff through Google's website builder, WordPress, and GoDaddy. This <http://www.top10bestwebsitebuilders.com/comparison?utm_source=google&kw=web…> website lists even more. They're all pretty much the same, assuming you want something simple, but I have dabbled in Weebly and it worked fairly well. I created this <http://www.communityspokes.com> website for Community Spokes while I was the coordinator of the shop, but, for the record, it has changed significantly with successive leadership in my absence. It should still give you an idea what someone like me (who has little computer knowledge :P) can accomplish. Enjoy! On Fri, Apr 21, 2017 at 3:08 PM, via Musicians < musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > Send Musicians mailing list submissions to > musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians- > sharedweight.net > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > musicians-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > musicians-owner(a)lists.sharedweight.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Musicians digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Website development (Jeanette Mill via Musicians) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2017 11:22:28 +0000 (UTC) > From: Jeanette Mill via Musicians <musicians(a)lists.sharedweight.net> > To: Callers List <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>, "A. Musician's > Discussion List" <musicians(a)sharedweight.net> > Cc: Paul Wayper <paulway(a)mabula.net> > Subject: [Musicians] Website development > Message-ID: <1365941131.1132023.1492773748851(a)mail.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Can anyone recommend an open source website development tool that is > appropriate for touring dance callers and musicians? > cheersJeanette?Jeanette MillContra dance caller, musician and workshop > convenor+61 (0)449 686 077Canberra, Australia > ?"The piano - 88 little mistakes waiting to happen" Kate Barnes >

8 years

Website development

by Jeanette Mill via Musicians

Can anyone recommend an open source website development tool that is appropriate for touring dance callers and musicians? cheersJeanette Jeanette MillContra dance caller, musician and workshop convenor+61 (0)449 686 077Canberra, Australia "The piano - 88 little mistakes waiting to happen" Kate Barnes

8 years

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