Country dance tunes meetings and workshops

Playalong tune YouTubes are listed here: Playalong tunes

If you haven’t got abc software installed and would like to try using abc coded tunes, There are various thinkwebsites that are good for playing tunes written out using the notation. The once I currently use is https://abc.rectanglered.com/

4th December: The Belfast Polka, Percy Brown’s Waltz for the Veleta, Cock of the North, Ding Dong Merrily on High

Music and chords:

The Belfast Polka, Percy Brown’s Waltz for the Veleta, Cock of the North, Ding Dong Merrily on High

abc files:

The Belfast Polka
Percy Brown’s Waltz for the Veleta
Cock of the North
Ding Dong Merrily on High

YouTubes:

(To come)

20th November: The Shropshire Lass, The Glakey Two-Step and The Sloe

music and chords for The Shropshire Lass, The Glakey Two-Step and The Sloe

abc files

The Shropshire Lass
The Glakey Two-Step
The Sloe

YouTubes

The Shropshire Lass
The Glakey Two-Step
The Sloe

6th November: The Kentish Cricketers, Buttered Pease No 2 and Dr Fauster’s Tumblers

music and chords for The Kentish Cricketers, Buttered Pease No 2 and Dr Fauster’s Tumblers, (Also Jenny Lind and Buttered Pease No 1)

abc files:

The Kentish Cricketers
Buttered Pease No 2
Dr Fauster’s Tumblers

YouTubes:

The Kentish Cricketers
Buttered Pease
Dr Fauster’s Tumblers
The Jenny Lind Polka

16th October: Buttered Pease, Jacob (or Enrico), Inisheer

music and chords for Buttered Pease, Jacob (or Enrico), Inisheer

Tenterden Folk Festival 2023 tunes workshop

music and chords for Speed the Plough and Jenny Lind

Youtubes:

Speed the Plough
Jenny Lind
The Man in the Moon

Bradfield Traditional Music Weekend learn a tune workshop 15 July 2023

Although I put this material together for another group, U3A tunes group types are very welcome to try them!

music and chords for A Trip to Highgate, Hey Diddle Diddle, Tweedly Park, The Ornithologist

YouTubes:
Hey Diddle Diddle
Tweedly Park
Trip to Highgate
The Ornithologist

19th June: Harlequin Air, A Trip to Highgate, The Oratava
music and chords for Harlequin Air, A Trip to Highgate, The Orotava

abc files:
Harlequin Air
A Trip to Highgate
The Oratava

YouTubes:
Harlequin Air
A Trip to Highgate
The Oratava

5th June – Theme Vannetaise

music for Theme Vannetaise

YouTube:
Theme Vannetaise

15th May – The Happy Farmer, The Moon and Seven Stars, and Elsey’s Waltz

music and chords for The Happy Farmer, The Moon and Seven Stars, and Elsey’s Waltz

abc files:
The Happy Farmer
The Moon and Seven Stars
Elseys Waltz

YouTubes:
The Happy Farmer
The Moon and Seven Stars
Elsey’s Waltz

24th April – The Ball and Cock of the North (and pairs)

music and chords for The Ball; and The March of St Timothy

abc files:
The Ball
The March of St Timothy

YouTubes:
The Ball
The March of St Timothy

3rd April – Rig-A-Jig Jig and Captain Lanoe’s Quick March; and The Cumberland Waltz

music and chords for Rig-A-Jig Jig and Captain Lanoe’s Quick March; and The Cumberland Waltz

abc files:
Rig-a-Jig Jig
Captain Lanoe’s Quick March

YouTubes:
Rig-a-Jig Jig
Captain Lanoe’s Quick March

27th March – The Kelso Accordeon and Fiddle Club; One More Dance and Then; and The Cock of the North

music and chords for The Kelso Accordeon and Fiddle Club; One More Dance and Then; and The Cock of the North

abc files:
The Kelso Accordion and Fiddle Club
One More Dance and Then
The Cock of the North

YouTubes:
The Cock of the North
The Kelso Accordion and Fiddle Club
One More Dance and Then

6th March – Jamie Allen and The Dashing White Sergeant; Over the Hills and Far Away, The Kentish Cricketers

music and chords for Jamie Allen and The Dashing White Sergeant; Over the Hills and Far Away, The Kentish Cricketers

abc files:
Jamie Allen
The Kentish Cricketers
Over the Hills and Far Away

YouTubes to play along with
Jamie Allen
The Kentish Cricketers
Over the Hills and Far Away

20th February – The Kentish Cricketers, some pairs and a list of tunes for the 21st February

Music and chords for The Kentish Cricketers (as requested)
Music and chords for Brighton Camp/Donkey Riding, The Hundred Pipers/The Famous Fiery Clockface, The Patacake Polka/The Sloe and The Kirkgate Hornpipe/Strike the Bell, Three Around Three/Sussex Bonny Kate

abc files:

Brighton Camp/Donkey Riding
The Hundred Pipers/The Famous Fiery Clockface
The Patacake Polka/The Sloe
The Kirkgate Hornpipe/Strike the Bell
Three Around Three/Sussex Bonny Kate

6th February 2023 – Sussex Bonny Kate, The Kirkgate Hornpipe and The Ornithologist

Music and chords

abc files:

The Kirkgate Hornpipe simpler chords
The Kirkgate Hornpipe more complex chords
The Ornithologist
Bonny Kate simpler chords
Bonny Kate more complex chords

YouTube tunes to play along with:

The Kirkgate Hornpipe
The Ornithologist
Sussex Bonny Kate

16th January 2023 – Pat-a-Cake Polka, The Sloe, Up the Sides and Down the Middle

Music and chords

abc files:

The Pat-a-cake Polka (simpler chords)
The Pat-a-Cake Polka (more complex chords)
The Sloe
Up the Sides and Down the Middle (simpler chords)
Up the Sides and Down the Middle (more complex chords)

YouTube tunes to play along with:
The Pat-a-Cake Polka
The Sloe
Up the Sides and Down the Middle

20th December – Roxborough Castle, Dan Leno’s and The Man in the Moon

Music and chords

abc files:

Roxborough Castle (simpler chords)
Roxborough Castle (more complex chords)
Dan Leno’s
The Man in the Moon, with lyrics as it’s also a song

YouTube tunes to play along with:

Roxborough Castle
Dan Leno’s
The Man in the Moon

5th December – Paddy Godden’s Lancers, The Italian Schottische, Ding Dong Merrily on High

Music and chords

abc files:

The Italian Schottische (simpler chords)
The Italian Schottische (more complex chords)
Paddy Godden’s Lancers (simpler chords)
Paddy Godden’s Lancers (more complex chords)
Ding Dong Merrily on High (simpler chords)
Ding Dong Merrily on High (slightly more complex chords)
YouTubes (for playing along with)
The Italian Schottische
Paddy Godden’s Lancers
Ding Dong Merrily on High

21th November – Sally Sloane’s Mazurka, Galopede, The Dashing White Sergeant
Music and chords
Abc files:
Sally Sloane’s Mazurka (simpler chords)
Sally Sloane’s Mazurka (more complex chords)
Galopede (simpler chords)
Galopede (more complex chords)
The Dashing White Sergeant (simpler chords)
The Dashing White Sergeant (more complex chords)
YouTubes (for playing along with):
Sally Sloane’s Mazurka
The Dashing White Sergeant
Galopede

7th November – Albert Farmer’s Bonfire Tune, Rusty Gully
Music and chords
Abc files:
Albert Farmer’s Bonfire Tune (easier chords)
Albert Farmer’s Bonfire Tune (more complex chords)
Rusty Gully (easier chords)
Rusty Gully (more complex chords)
YouTubes (for playing along with):
Albert Farmer’s Bonfire Tune
Rusty Gulley

3th October: The Cumberland Waltz
Music and chords
YouTube (for playing along with):
The Cumberland Waltz

6 September: Cock of the North and Redwing
Music and chords
YouTube demo Cock of the North
YouTube demo Redwing
– abcs Cock of the North, Redwing

15th August: Strike the Bell and Brighton Camp
Music and chords
YouTube demo Strike the Bell
YouTube demo Brighton Camp
Strike the Bell, Brighton Camp
– abcs Strike the Bell, Brighton Camp

1th August 2022: Donkey Riding and The Fiery Clock Face
Written music and chords
YouTube demo Donkey Riding
YouTube demo The Fiery Clock Face
– abcs Donkey Riding, The Fiery Clockface

18th July 2022: The Hundred Pipers
Written music and chords
YouTube demo The Hundred Pipers
– abcs The Hundred Pipers

4th July 2022: Three Around Three and The Sussex Cotillion
Written music and chords
YouTube demo Three Around Three
The Sussex Cotillion
– abcs Three Around Three, The Sussex Cotillion

An aide-memoire for tunes playing

There are various tips and tricks that you can use to bring interest and life to tunes. Good country dance tune players find all sorts of ways of embellishing them and emphasising their shape and form and especially their danceable rhythm – and they all do it in subtly different ways.

A good analogy is a child’s colouring book picture. The written music is like the printed outline waiting for the crayon to fill in the colours, and the pencil strokes and colours used and any added details are what makes the image individual.

Perhaps the most basic but also most important advice I can offer is this: generally keep notes considerably shorter than they are written, though lending extra length (within the specified length) when the phrase seems to call for it. This is a great place to start with nearly all types of tunes used for dancing, including the waltz. (Though clearly not the slow air or the slow retreat.)

I’ve listed out some ideas you might like to try using to add ‘colour’ to your playing below.

Phrases

Listening to the eight-bar phrases in the tunes, you’ll notice that there’s often a recognisable ‘call and response’ type of structure – perhaps two bars seem to make a statement and then the next two form a response, and then maybe you’ll recognise two or four bars where you can imagine the callers and responders are all together.

Consider playing the calls and responses slightly differently – say make the call louder and more clipped, and the response slightly softer or just a tad more legato.

Long notes

Where you have a long note, consider:

  • – inserting a lower note and going up to the higher
  • changing the chord during the note (if you have a chording instrument), say from the most obvious chord to one a fourth or fifth above and back. This is something to experiment with: try different options and see which one works best
  • – playing a second open or double-stopped note if your instrument can do this
  • – breaking it up into two or more notes and playing the first short and sharp (this is also good wherever you have two notes that are the same, ditto three notes, which you might play short, short, long)
  • – using turns (one note up, one the same, one down, one the same ) or trills (quickly and repeatedly play the p and the note above)
  • – playing the long note short and very loud, and then leaving a space
  • – if you’re a fiddler or a brass or wind player, add a little vibrato at the end of some of the long notes (I’m not how trad this is, but I’m sure the original owners of many of the fiddlers’ tunebooks that have come down to us were easily capable of using vibrato)
  • – again, with long notes, where possible play with a little pulse – that is, get louder and softer in time with the rhythm. This is particularly effective with waltzes. If pulsing isn’t possible on your instrument, try achieving the same kind of effect by repeated plucking on a mandolin or banjo, by using a little vibrato on a whistle or recorder, or perhaps by breaking the note up – though this may not work if you do it too much!
  • Repeated notes

As above, where you have repeated notes, consider making all the notes short /except/ for the last one.

Where you have repeated notes and you’re playing a chording instrument, consider changing the chord underneath, perhaps through a cycle of chords containing the same note.

For example, if the repeated note is a G, you might consider using the chords of C, Em, Am7 etc.

Dominant chords, perhaps with the 7th

Using a note or chord to add tension and ‘announce’ the next phrase. The last note of a tune is likely to be the key note – for example, if you’re playing in G, it’s likely the written music will end with a G note. (Ditto a C note when playing in C, or a D note if you’re playing in D. A good way to give shape to a tune and to ‘announce’ that the next phrase (say, the A music, B music or C music) is about to begin is instead of the key note to slip in the chord (even better the 7th chord) of the note that’s a fifth above.

This is called the dominant. So, for example, in a 4/4 tune in G, you might let the tune finish on a G notes with a G chord for two or three beats – but the last one or two would be a D or F# or A (all notes from a D chord) accompanied by a D or D7 chord. Ditto, an A or A7 chord when playing in D, of an F or F7 chord if you’re playing in C. It’s much easier and much more instinctive than it sounds! But be warned – it doesn’t usually work with waltzes!

Tune types

Thinking about different kinds of tunes, my take has been that in English sessions there seem to be broadly two kinds of tunes – lifting tunes such as polkas, jigs, hornpipes and schottisches where the emphasis is on the off-beat (oom-PAH, oom-PAH or oom-PAH-pah-PAH), and running tunes such as marches and reels where it is on the down-beat (OOM-pah-Oom-pah or OOM-pah-pah-pah). This is something to think about especially if you’re playing a chording instrument. In particular with guitars, I’ve found the ‘running’ tunes work best with all down-strokes across the strings, while the ‘lifting’ tunes work best with an alternating down (down-beat) and up stroke (off-beat). It’s especially cool it you can play the downbeat short (by damping on a guitar, or releasing the keys on a piano) and let the following chord sing a little.

Getting the emphasis that works best into a tune can bring real excitement to the tune itself and to a dance.

If you have any questions about any of this, please email me at gmatkin@gmail.com and I will be pleased to try to help.

Sing, dance and play – English traditional and old fashioned music, dance and song in the heart of Kent