> Thank you all for sharing! You’ve been very helpful. > > As a caller I’ve always known that callers who are staring at a card and not > looking at the dancers are not in tune with the dancers I.e. so much > information coming from the dancers is lost. > > I’ve always assumed the same is true of musicians. > > The reason I’m asking is I’m playing percussion in a band with very good > players. They play good music but it could be more exciting. Their fear is > preventing them from going dotless. > > Reading your responses have made me think more about this and I’ve come up > with the following: > > Playing exciting contra music requires; > > Mastery of the instrument. > Willingness to take risks > Ability to multitask: listen to others, the caller, watch the dancers. > Know the ins and outs of the activity (rules, norms, traditions) > > I’m sure there’s more............. > > Tom > > Sent from my iPad > >> On May 17, 2019, at 2:49 PM, bschmid55 <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> That is such an evocative question and I'd love to hear how that came to >> your mind. I agree with the jeffs and meg and others... the ability to watch >> the dancers is an asset... and having spent lots of time with a particular >> tune so the rhythm is a part of you i think leads to knowing how to >> manipulate a dance that you're watching. >> Barb >> >> >> >> Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone >> >> -------- Original message -------- >> From: Jeff Kaufman via Musicians <[email protected]> >> Date: 5/17/19 8:34 AM (GMT-05:00) >> To: tom hinds <[email protected]> >> Cc: [email protected] >> Subject: Re: [Musicians] Dots >> >> I think learning the music well enough that you don't need to see it >> while playing is well worth it: once you're playing from memory you >> have much more ability to vary what you're doing in the moment in >> response to the feel of the hall and what the dancers are doing. >> (This goes for written chords as well as written notes.) >> >> On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 6:53 AM tom hinds via Musicians >> <[email protected]> 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 >> > >> > Sent from my iPad >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Musicians mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net >> _______________________________________________ >> Musicians mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/musicians-sharedweight.net
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