So we all have our prejudices, and here's mine: I live and die for the whoops.
I've got three things to say about contra dance music:
- Pound on the balances.
- Drive to the next phrase.
- Lead with your closer.
The fiddler's groove keeps the
dancers' feet moving. The piano's job is to match up with the phrases
of the dance and to keep the excitement building. The dancers want to
get into that Zone, where they don't have to think about the next move,
they just move. There's no technique to this -- boom-chuck
is as complicated as you'll ever need to do -- instead the suspense is
built mostly by playing less, or even dropping out completely.
Pound with both hands (block chords) on those balances, thump Thwam, thump
THWAM! When they're doing something swirly like contra corners or a hey,
play up high and swirly yourself, but always come back down
again and land on those balances with punch.
My favorite contra dance move ever is a
circle left and star back, on to a new neighbor for a balance and
swing. Starting softly-softly at the top of B2 (or even B1), build
the volume all the way up and then come crashing into that
balance. The whole room should know, without even thinking about it,
exactly where that balance is happening. Don't ever stop on 8, ever;
keep the phrasing going and the progressions hanging and the dynamics
building until you've propelled those dancers into the arms of the
next neighbor. Pat Spaeth (who knows what she's doing!) says it's
like those rubber-band airplane toys, wind it and wind it and wind it
and then let it fly. And then pick it up and wind it all over again.
And when you're not playing, get out there and dance. It's as simple
as playing what you yourself would want to hear.
eric@ericdancepiano.com
21 Aug 2001