Concentrating! Open Band Feb 2024
For Musicians
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Next Open Band
Wednesday, June 19th
Tanya Rotenberg calling. All musicians are welcome to join in. Program list and details will be posted on the Open Band page.
Fish & Chips returns!
After a pandemic hiatus, GCD is reconvening it's annual rehearsed open band, lead by Bob Pasquarello. Musicians of all skill levels are welcome to participate.
Rehearsals are Sunday afternoons: April 14, April 28, May 5. The Tea dance is May 19th.
Here's the poll to fill out if you're considering attending: Fish & Chips Poll
Details and dance list are on the Open Band page.
NEW! Tempo Spreadsheet
Check out Robert Mills' Tempo Spreadsheet for 150+ dances.
Playing for Wednesdays
GCD Musician Guidelines
Guidelines for Wednesday musicians (PDF) for all of GCD's musical participants. Please download and read!
How you can participate
Attend GCD's music workshops
Stretch your skills and enjoy playing with a variety of musicians. GCD sponsors musician workshops to improve individual and group playing in support of GCD's dancers.
Know what's happening--Subscribe!
Click the "Subscribe" button on this page to sign up for the GCD musicians' email announcements about Open Band, upcoming workshops etc. While you're at it, sign up for the GCD mailing list too. (You'll generally get one or two informational emails a month from these lists, including info about COVID cancellations.)Join us!
Become a member of Germantown Country Dancers. The very modest membership fee ($12/year) helps keep our dance and workshop fees low. Donations towards workshop costs are gratefully accepted, as is help with promoting GCD's events for musicians. If playing for dancing brings you joy, support us!GCD's COVID safety policies apply to all musicians, with some leeway for woodwind players.
Playing for Dancers: Our Vision
Germantown Country Dancers (GCD) is committed to fostering a vibrant community of English Country Dancing in the Delaware Valley. This works best when dancers, musicians and callers are fully committed to working together.
GCD offers a variety of workshops for dancers and musicians to achieve this goal, and also looks for other ways to nurture the development of local musicians.
We hope that our musicians will love playing for our English Country dancers and will join us as a dedicated and appreciated part of our dance community.
Music Workshops
Each year GCD provides workshops for musicians. Our purpose is to give musicians an opportunity to learn more about the variety and uniqueness of English Country Dance music. Workshops also explore techniques to help musicians approach the English Country Dance repertoire and to provide great music for dancers. We invite well-known English Country Dance musicians to give workshops on playing for dancing. Past workshop leaders have included Jacqueline Schwab, Mary Lea, Barbara Greenberg, Bob Pasquarello, Kate Barnes, Robert Mills, Rick Mohr, Kathy Talvitie, and Chris Rua.
Playing Music for our Wednesday dances
The Wednesday Music Committee engages musicians to play for Wednesday evening dances. If you are a skilled musician who is familiar with English Country Dance music, is able to maintain steady rhythms, and can play at dance tempo, you may apply with a band to play for a Wednesday dance. Musicians should also be comfortable playing the tunes on the GCD Repertoire List.
Open Band Opportunities
Three times a year for our Wednesday dances we invite both skilled musicians and those who are learning the English Country Dance music genre to play for an “Open Band.” The tune list is available ahead of time, and a rehearsal is often planned before the evening of the dance.
Fish & Chips
Fish & Chips provides another opportunity for musicians to work together on the skills needed to play English Country dance music. This rehearsed band, led by Bob Pasquarello, is open to all local musicians. The ensemble meets several times to prepare for an annual GCD dance.
Questions
If you have questions or suggestions about workshops or playing for Wednesday nights, feel free to contact the who is responsible for GCD's Music Development.