I love it when the band plays a "bluesy" tune or adds a "swing" to a 
traditional tune.  I am also intrigued when the band sings the words 
to a popular or traditional song while playing.  Sometimes I enjoy a 
waltz being sung.

These variations, however, can get tiresome fairly quickly.  I love 
them as a break from the "oom-pah" of traditional reels.  But I agree 
that some bands these days are carrying these variations too 
far.  Recently I danced to a band that played almost no tunes during 
the evening in a traditional style.  The dancers loved the swing in 
the music but something was missing.  Missing was the trance state 
achieved by the regular, repetitive, driving tempo of a traditional 
reel or jig.

Some bands have learned that, in order to achieve that magical trance 
state, it is actually better to play a steady, traditional reel 
through the entire dance slot--without switching tunes.  This allows 
the dancers to achieve that "dance nirvana" with a hypnotic tune like 
"Brenda Stubbert's Reel."

Phrasing is also important.  It should be noted, however, that 
phrasing can sometimes be achieved using only rhythmic "markers", or 
accents in the phrases--without any melody whatsoever.  As a 
percussionist I am delighted that more percussion is being used these 
days at contra dances.  Percussionists, however, need to recognize 
that there is a reason for the structure of the traditional 
tunes.  Like all dance musicians, percussionists need to dance, at 
least occasionally, to understand how the music "feels" to dancers.


At 07:54 PM 1/10/2010, you wrote:
>I'm looking for comments on a trend I've noticed in contra music,
>specifically, bands playing music far removed from pieces traditionally
>associated with the form.  The catalyst was  a mid-December  dance in the
>northwest where "as a special treat" the band shifted to rock music during
>the next-to-last contra.  The caller had stopped and we were left to our own
>devices.  The A/B parts and the beat were hard to pick out, and the dance
>began breaking down as people had to guess when one move ended and another
>began.   I was there with a group of experienced dancers and our opinions
>were uniformly negative.  This was not the only time the band's selection of
>tunes was hard to follow, just the most excessive.
>
>Over the last few years  I've seen bands play "unusual" music in several
>locations across the country and at both regular dance series and dance
>weekends.  There are some good examples in Youtube  (links provided
>offline.)  IMHO, contra music is an integral part of the dance, cuing on a
>nearly subconscious level the changes between figures.  Having to
>concentrate excessively on the timing takes emphasis off both the flow of
>the dance and the interaction with fellow dancers.
>
>Part of me can sympathize with the bands.  It must be incredibly boring for
>talented musicians to play, say, Jefferson Reel over and over.  On the other
>hand, they are hired to play for dancers, not each other, and some of the
>extreme examples smack of self-indulgence.
>
>I assume that essentially all of the members of this list are dancers and
>that a number of you are also  musicians.  I wondered what the group's
>feeling was on this and whether anyone felt it was a positive development.
>
>
>
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