Forbes LibrarySubject Guides » Contra Dance Music
On this page... (hide)
See Also: (hide)
This is a guide to resources for contra dance musicians and lover's of contra dance music with an emphasis on materials in the Forbes Library collection. Many wonderful resources are not included in this guide because they are not available in the library. A good starting point for further research is the Country Song and Dance Society
Sound Recordings
Compact Discs
The compact discs listed here can all be found at Forbes Library. See the Discographies section for more comprehensive lists which include discs not owned by the library.
(hide)
- Airplang / Rodney Miller. Rounder Records, 1997. FOLK M6175
- Big Bang / Big Bandemonium. Big Bandemonium Music, 2004. FOLK B48bi
- Choose your partners! : contra dance & square dance music of New Hampshire. Smithsonian Folkways, 1999. FOLK C4555
- The coming dawn / Nightingale. Epact Music, 1994. FOLK N564
- Danse ce soir! : traditional tunes of Québec. / Laurie Hart and Greg Sandell. 2001. INT 827 D234L
- Faster than a walk / The Moving Violations. Great Meadow Music, 2001. FOLK M8695
- Favorites of the Boston Centre / Bare Necessities. Country Dance Society Boston Centre, 1999. FOLK B237f [Other recordings by Bare Necessities are shelved nearby.]
- Flying on home / Airdance. Great Meadow Music, 2003. 'FOLK Ai75
- Frankie goes to town / Frankie Gavin. Green Linnet, 1991. INT 42 G245f
- Hand it down : contra dance tunes / Bob McQuillen, Laurie Andres and Cathie Whitesides. Avocet, 1997. FOLK M2435
- Hand me down / Dirk Powell. Rounder Records, 1999. FOLK P8713h
- Journeywork / Popcorn Behavior. 1997. FOLK P8105j
- New leaf / Rodney Miller & David Surette. Great Meadow Music, 2000. FOLK M6175n
- Northern melodies / George Wilson. Sampler, 1995. FOLK W6935n
- A Portland selection / George Penk, Clyde Curley, and Susan Songer. 2000. FOLK P837
- A Portland selection 2 : contra dance music in the Pacific Northwest / George Penk, Clyde Curley, and Susan Songer. 2005. FOLK B732pb
- A Portland play along selection : 97 contra dance tunes for listening and learning / Betsy Branch, Clyde Curley, Susan Songer. 2008. FOLK B732p
- Pure Quill / Rodney Miller, Bob McQuillen. Great Meadow Music, 2000. FOLK M6175p
- Quick Spin / The Moving Violations. 2004. FOLK M89695q
- Rodney Miller's all-round collection. Voyager Recordings, 1997. FOLK M6175aL
- Stepping up Topic Records, 2004. FOLK St435
- Strangest dream / Popcorn Behavior. 1999. FOLK P8105s
- Yankee dreams / Frank Ferrel. Flying Fish, 1991. FOLK F4133
Vinyl Records
The recordings listed here can all be found at Forbes Library. See the Discographies section for more comprehensive lists which include recordings not owned by the library.
- Heatin' up the hall / Yankee Ingenuity. Varrick, 1989. Y1655h
- Notes from my mind / Seamus Connolly. Green Linnet, 1988. C7625
Online audio
- [Excerpts from Smitten and other albums] / Contratopia.
- [Excerpts from Contradiction ; Live recordings] / Fromseier Rose.
- Open Band Podcast / The Open Band.
- [The Roaring Jelly music archive] / Roaring Jelly.
Discographies
Additional discographies can be found at the end of many tune books.
- Contra Dance Music on Compact Discs Charlie Seelig
Where to Find More Compact Discs
You will find additional dance music at the library in the sections with call numbers beginning:
| INT 42 | Irish music |
| INT 428 | Celtic music |
| INT 43 | Scottish music |
| INT 45 | English music |
| INT 827 | Québecois music |
| INT 829 | Nova Scotian music (including Cape Breton) |
Dance music can also be found among the discs with call numbers beginning FOLK. A librarian can help you find additional recordings.
Notated Music
Tune Books
(hide)
- Country dance tunes / collected and arranged by Cecil J. Sharp. Novello. 1909-1946. VYDF//Sh23c v.1-11
- English country dance tunes : a collection of 303 commonly used English dance melodies / Peter Barnes. 1988. VYDF+En36b
- The Fiddler's tune book : 200 traditional airs : hornpipes, reels, schottisches, polkas, waltzes, jigs / edited by Peter Kennedy. Dave Mallinson Publications. 1994. VYDF.F448k 1994
- Fitzgerald's escape, the Yellow Leaf and other tunes : 100 reels, jigs, slip jigs, polkas, hornpipes and other tunes / Brian Hebert. 2004. VYDF.H354f 2004
- Little couple-dancemusik : 400 waltzes, polkas, tangos, hambos, zwiefachers and other traditional dance tunes / Peter Barnes. Canis Minoris, 1992. VYD.B262L 1992
- Mel Bay presents danse ce soir! : fiddle and accordion music of Québec / Laurie Hart & Greg Sandell. Mel Bay, 2001. VYDF.D196h 2001
- New England fiddler's repertoire : a source book of established contra dance music. Fiddlecase Books, 2003. VYDF.N42m 2003
- The Portland collection : contra dance music in the Pacific Northwest / Susan Songer with Clyde Curley. 1997. VYDF.So58p 1997
- Portland collection : contra dance music in the Pacific Northwest : volume 2 / Susan Songer with Clyde Curley. 2005. VYDF.So58p 2005
- The waltz book / Bill Matthiesen. Common Wealth Printing, 1992. VYDW.W179a 1992
- The waltz book II / Bill Matthiesen. Common Wealth Printing, 1995. VYDW.W179b 1995
- The waltz book III / Bill Matthiesen. Common Wealth Printing, 2002. VYDW.W179c 2002
Online Sources
- [Good Parking tune sets] / Good Parking.
- Tune collections on the internet [links] / Mickey Koth?
- [The Roaring Jelly music archive] / Roaring Jelly.
- SlowPlayers music list / Michael Duffy.
Tune Indices
- Folk music index / Jane Keefer. An index of recorded folk music including over 57,000 titles from over 4000 sources. Includes some printed sources.
- Irishtune.info : Irish traditional music tune index / Alan Ng. An index of musically distinct Irish tunes found on 403 albums and in 46 tune books.
Playing Contra Dance Music
Books
- The fifer's delight / Ralph Sweet. 1981. A method and collection of tunes….arranged for drum corps or contra dance bands. VZFI+Sw36f
- Interview with a vamper : piano accompaniment techniques for traditional dance music / Peter Barnes. Canis, 1993. VYD.B262i 1993
Online guides
- Contra dance music: a working musician's guide [links] / Mickey Koth
- How to Play Contra Dance Percussion / Melissa Kacalanos (Melissa the Loud)
Updated November, 2012 by Benjamin Kalish.