For Musicians
Occasional Wednesday dances
For some of our Wednesday dances, musicians are invited en masse to bring their instruments to play for the dance. Come dust off that flute, viola, French horn, or what-have-you, whether you play every day, or have left that instrument in your attic since high school.
The next open band is on Wednesday, March 17, with Sam Rotenberg calling, and Jenny Beer leading the musicians. [tune list]
Fish'n'Chips
Every year (usually in February), local musicians form a small orchestra, under the direction of Bob Pasquarello. This ensemble rehearses several times over a month, and then provides the music for one of GCD's First Saturday dances.
Musical Chairs
is GCD's Wednesday evening of ensembles, chosen by (virtual) dice roll, resulting in novel and sometimes surprising combinations of instruments. Sign-up information will be posted here, when such an event is imminent.
Repertoire List
All musicians who play with on Wednesday should be comfortable with this list of tunes. Callers may use these if they need to change their program unexpectedly. [GCD Repertoire List]
Open Band Listserv
There is an e-mail list for information about GCD open bands. If you'd like to be on it, you can sign up for the e-mail list.
Other resources
Music workshops
Every few years, GCD invites a well-known English country musician to give a workshop on playing for dancing. Past workshop teachers have included Jacqueline Schwab and Barbara Greenberg.
Peter Barnes' music collections
The sheet music for many of the tunes played at English country dances can be found in The Barnes' Book of English Country Dance Tunes (two volumes). These books are available from Peter Barnes' Canis Publishing, or through the CDSS store.
Other questions?
If you have questions about playing for Wednesdays, other music classes, or other questions, feel free to contact a member of the music committee (Steve Epstein, Jane Roberts, and Sam Rotenberg.)