On Fri, 17 May 2019, tom hinds via Musicians wrote:
I’d like to know people’s opinion of using music while playing for a
contra dance. Is it easier to create excitement if the musicians play
by ear? Thanks in advance for your opinion, Tom Hinds
I heartily agree with the other responses so far. When we don't have the
dots in front of us, we can pay more attention to the other musicians, the
caller, and the dancers. When we watch the dancers, we can emphasize the
punctuation points in the dance phrases (balance, forward & back, and
changes of direction) or support the smoothness of figures that flow
together.
As a fiddler, I use books for English and Scottish dance music because
there's seldom time to memorize all the tunes for a given program, and the
harmonies for ECD tunes are often too complex for me to follow by ear. But
for contras, when the band controls the choice of tunes, I believe I play
better when I know the tune without looking at it.
- Susie Lorand, Ann Arbor, MI
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