Introduction to A Little CoupleDancemusik

Couple dances have always had a special place in the traditional American dance scene. Scattered among the more group-oriented contras and squares of an evening's dancing in New England, waltzes, polkas, schottisches and hambos give dancers a chance to relate on a more intimate level with a partner, and this gives these dances a special personal significance. Songs have been written about the emotionally loaded last waltz, the dance at the very end of the night when you dance with your sweetheart or intended sweetheart; it sends a message. No choice of partners is watched more closely, especially by members of the band, ever-vigilant for things to talk about between dances.

Couple dances also offer a chance to display expertise, to show off, to clown around knowing that there are more people on the sidelines resting and watching. When I used to dance in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, the caller (Duke Miller) used to announce the names of especially adept couple dancers over the sound system or sometimes have them do a solo performance while everyone else watched. One woman, I remember, did the Varsovienne to perfection with a graceful lightness that made the rest of us sigh. Duke often asked her to perform for us, and she (and her partner of the moment) would reluctantly and unfailingly agree. Individuality, stylistic differences and romantic inclinations are all accentuated in the couple dance, everyone involved choosing to play it straight or showy as they move around the floor. (Always, mysteriously, in an anti-clockwise circle, perhaps due to the coriolis effect.)

This chance to shine applies to the musicians in the band as well, for with the possible exception of the polka, the noise level on the floor is quieter during couple dances and any subtleties in the music become more audible. Waltzes and other slow tunes also offer many more chances for expression than the quick reels and jigs that make up the bulk of an evening's dancing. Melody players will take individual solos more often during these dances, and the hapless rhythm players, pianists or guitarists, can use the slower tempos for variations or to take the lead themselves. For a dance musician a couple dance is as close to a concert as you can get.

My reason for putting together this collection was to provide musicians and dance leaders with a basic source book of the more common couple dances they're likely to run across in American traditional dancing, and to serve as a reminder of what's available for the active musician. In most bands I've been in, the choice of what tune to play for a given couple dance is made from whatever small mental list of current favorites resides in the melody players' heads. This can lead to a certain repetitiousness after a while, especially if you're doing more than one or two jobs per week. A wonderful tune is discovered, added to the limited list and played feverishly for a few weeks, then replaced by another. This is only natural, but with variety being the spice of music I've often thought it would be convenient to have, in one place, a wide selection of tunes to choose from when the band is stuck for something to play besides the current repertoire. Large collections of solely couple dance music are rare, and musicians wanting a wide variety at their fingertips in a performance situation might have to carry around five to twenty separate small collections to cover an adequate range of requests.

I've been involved in the New England contra and square dance communities for over twenty years, fifteen of those years as a professional musician. During this time I've managed, willy-nilly, to amass a huge collection of music, most of it consisting of single sheets of photocopied or hand-written music scribbled out for one job or another. It is largely from this mass, undoubtedly responsible for some of America's deforestation problems, that this book was distilled. While putting it together, the major task for me (apart from the ten other major tasks) has been in selecting the tunes as opposed to finding them. Couple dances have been around so long and are so popular and widespread that even a comprehensive sampling would be impossible. This collection, large as it is, is limited to music that a New England traditional dance musician (and his friends) happened to run across in a few years of playing. It is fairly eclectic, including pieces from North and South America, the British Isles and Europe, but whole traditions, regions and styles have been excluded or only lightly touched upon, due to size limitations. The desire to fit in all of the music which I have become excited about over the years has delayed this publication long enough as it is!

Given this as a starting point, my selection criteria have been as follows, in order of importance:

1. Classics, very popular pieces, common requests, tunes everyone should know.

2. Aesthetically pleasing melodies. (These were selected in a completely unbiased manner, of course.)

3. Tunes representative of a certain region or style.

4. Novelty dances or oddball pieces that might pop up at a dance unexpectedly, or that I thought might be enjoyable.

If a certain classic tune you are looking for does not appear in this collection, bear in mind, as I hinted at above, that any stopping point in researching this music would be arbitrary no matter where it happened. Or better still, find it somewhere else and send me a copy for possible inclusion in, God help me, volume two. I have chorded all of the tunes, but this doesn't necessarily mean that all of these tunes should be played with chordal backup. Additionally, chord choices are a very personal thing with rhythm players - the provided ones are only suggestions. I know from much experience that the phrase 'this is the right chord for that measure' is as subjective as any other question of taste. At a minimum all of these pieces can be accompanied with basic vamping or comping, the standard bass note on the downbeat - chord on the offbeat backup style so endemic in Western music. Note that the chords are written above the melody line (some traditions do it differently), that G/D means a G chord with a D in the bass, and that chords in parentheses are alternate suggestions.

And now, my favorite part, acknowledgements to the fine friends and musical associates who have helped me in this project. All of these people have a personal commitment to traditional music and to the betterment of their craft that has inspired and sustained me through many a dry spell.

This collection would be significantly smaller if not for the tireless collecting and searching of two people in particular. Richard Powers, dance historian, teacher and musician in Cincinnati, is responsible for most of the twentieth century material in this book as well as for many other pieces. Playing for Richard made me view couple dances as a lot more than just a pleasant diversion from a night of contras and squares. Mary Lea, skilled and eclectic violinist and trail buddy for most of my musical career, has also provided more material than I could ever adequately thank her for, as well as advice and encouragement. Many of these pieces were tested out in real time, on stage, with her help.

Two other good friends, Jack O'Connor and Bill Tomczak, generously lent me their collections of international music, which greatly enhanced the number of hambos, polskas and zwiefachers I was able to include. Other valued contributors include Sam Bartlett, Glenn Dickson, Ruth Dornfeld, Liz Dreisbach, Frank Ferrell, Earl Gaddis, Paul Hostetter, David Kaynor, Leo Kretzner, Bill Matthieson, Barbara McOwen, Jeanne Morrill, Robert Morris, Vince O'Donnell, Ed Pearlman, Ed Potter, Donald Sweig, Larry Unger and Jim Ventola. Thanks to Jeanne Morrill for support and advice on many decisions, and to Earl Gaddis for technical camaraderie and assistance. Thanks also to Larry Unger, Barbara Russell and Jeanne Morrill who suffered through endless hours of hearing these pieces being played one by one at metronomic tempos. And lastly, a great thanks to the dancers and players of traditional dance music. This is for you.

- Peter Barnes - September, 1992

(The above is copyright (c) 1992 by Peter Barnes.)