Music:
Meat and Potatoes
adapted
from a post in 2007
I
think that good music for contras consists of well-phrased melodies
backed by solid rhythm. I want the music to tell me what to do. If
the melody disappears into an endless fog of non-stop improvisation
and the beat similarly wanders off the rails, I have to resort
to—aagh!—counting to keep track of where I am in the dance. Not
good.
[Digression:
Some squares, such as New England style quadrilles, require the same
musical underpinning, although other styles of square dances work
fine with a different kind of music behind them, such as the hypnotic
trance of some old-time string band tunes. Heck, I remember dancing
French-Canadian double quadrilles to seriously crooked tunes—the
dance had a long swing and it didn’t matter if there was an extra bar
or two of music there.]
So
for me, that clear melody line and the rock-solid underpinning are
the meat and potatoes of a contra dance meal. Here in New England
these days, that typically means a fiddle for the first and a piano
for the second, though there are a few guitar players who can propel
a band with the necessary drive and
rhythmic
clarity.
Now,
my culinary tastes go beyond a traditional New England boiled dinner,
so I do appreciate a little spice in my diet—a little fooling
around with the melody here and there, perhaps a musical quotation
thrown in, an unexpected change tune, a few jazzy choruses… such
bits liven up the meal and bring fresh
smiles.
All
too often, though, we are served meals that are little more than
spice, with the main ingredients buried somewhere deep in the pot and
only occasionally surfacing.
I
certainly understand the forces that drive musicians in this
direction. A spicy meal, by definition, attracts attention. If you’re
looking for the hardcore dancers—including those who do the booking
for other series—to notice you, you need something that will stand
out. This is a particular issue at a festival, where bands only have
a short time to wow an audience; it’s not uncommon to experience one
band after another trotting out the fancy tricks and leaving me
yearning for a clean beat and melody line.