• Posts
  • RSS
  • ◂◂RSS
  • Contact

    • Contra Chords

    		 November 18th, 2022
    contra, music
    When you see contra dance tunes or other similar music written down there are usually chords along with the tune, but I rarely like them. Some of this is aesthetic differences, where the chords are often written in a style where you switch chords rapidly to closely follow the melody, but the real problem is that writing the chords for a tune isn't really possible. That is, there isn't a single set of chords you that will stay interesting as you play it ten times in a row for dancing. If you listen to great rhythm players they'll often pick different chords every time through the tune!

    I was thinking about this with Amy in the context of rhythm for open bands and one idea we had was to get around this by writing several sets of chords for a tune. In an open band context the leader can say "next time, variation (b)!", or if you're playing rhythm on your own you can make your own choices. This still isn't perfect—it's often good to be even more free with choosing chords that fit in the moment than this implies—but I think it's a good step up from the current situation.

    I sat down at the piano and wrote a few variations for tunes the way I'd likely play them. With each variation (a) is usually a good place to start, and some of the later ones you wouldn't want to do over and over or the novelty would wear off. The notation has each chord as two beats unless they're squished together, and "/" means to keep playing the same chord (more). I've put a few chords in bold to clarify that I really would play that chord, despite the dissonance.

    Coleman's March

    1. |: D G D A  D G A / :|
|: D A G D  D G A / :|

    2. |: D  / / /  G / / / :|
|: Bm A G D  D / A / :|

    3. |: D G Bm A  D G A / :|
|: D A G D   D G A / :|

    4. |: D  G D A  D  G A / :|
   Bm A G /  Bm A G /
   Bm A G /  G  / A /

    Star Above the Garter

    1. |: G D C CD  G D C / :|
|: D / C G   D / C G :|

    2. |: G / / /   G  /  / / :|
   D / C /   D  /  C /
   D / C /   Am Bm C D

    3. |: G Am C /  G Am C / :|
   Am / / /  Bm / / /
   C  / / /  D  / / /

    Sandy Boys

    1. |: A / / G   A / AG A :|
|: A / AGAG  A / AG A :|

    2. |: A / / G   A / AG A :|
|: A / ADAD  A / AG A :|

    3.    A / / G   A / AG A
   A / / G   D / E  /
   A / / /   G / /  /
   D / / /   E / /  /

    4. |: A / / G   A / AG A :|
|: F / / /   G / /  / :|

    5. |: A / / G   A / AG A :|
   A / / /   A / /  /
   C / / /   D / E  /

    Highland Laddie

    1. |: D /  G A  D /  G / :|
|: DGAD A /  DGAD G / :|

    2. |: D  / A /  D / G / :|
|: Bm / A /  G / / / :|

    3. |: D /  G A  D /  Bm / :|
|: DGAD A /  DGAD Bm / :|

    4. |: D  /  G A  D  /  G / :|
|: BmDGD A /  BmDGD G / :|

    5. |: D  / A /  D / G / :|
|: Bm / A /  G / / / :|

    6. |: Bm / / /  G / / / :|
   Bm / / /  G / / /
   Bm / / /  A / / /

    7. |: D A Bm G   D A Bm G :|
|: D A Bm G   D A Bm G :|

    Julia Delaney

    1. |: Dm CDm Dm CDm  Dm CDm Dm CDm :|
|: Dm C   Dm CDm  Dm C   Dm CDm :|

    2. |: Dm / /  /  Dm / /  / :|
   Dm C Bb C  Dm C Bb C
   Dm C Bb C  Bb / C  /

    3. |: Dm C G /  Dm C G / :|
   Am / / /  Bb / / /
   C  / / /  A  / / /

    4. |: Dm CDm Dm CDm  Dm CDm Dm CDm :|
   Dm  /  C  /    Bb  /  Am  /
   G   /  A  /    Bb  /  C   /

    On the Danforth

    1. |: A AF#m D /  A AF#m D / :|
|: A /  F#m /  D /    / / :|

    2. |: A AF#m D E  A AF#m D E :|
|: A /  F#m /  D /    E / :|

    3. |: A / D /    A / D E :|
|: A / F#m /  D / E / :|

    4. |: A   / / /   D / / / :|
|: F#m / E /   D / / / :|

    5. |: A / D /  F#m / E / :|
|: D / E /  D   / E / :|

    6. |: A / D /    F#m / E / :|
|: D A E F#m  D   A E / :|

    Bus Stop

    1. |: Am AmG Am CG  Am / F G :|
|: Am /   AmCDE  Am / F G :|

    2. |: Am / / /  Am / F G :|
|: Am / / /  Am / F G :|

    3. |: Am F / /  Am F / / :|
|: Am / C /  D  / G /:|

    4. |: Am / / /  Am / / / :|
   Am / G /  F  / E /
   D  / E /  F  / G /

    5.    Am / C /  G / D /
   Am / C /  D / E /
   Am / C /  G / D /
   Am / C /  D / E /

    Franks Reel

    1. |: A / D E  A / D E :|
|: A / D E  A / D E :|

    2. |: AD A D E  AD A D E :|
|: A  / D /  A  / E / :|

    3. |: A / / /  D / / / :|
   F#m / D /  F#m / D /
   F#m / D /  F#m / E /

    4. |: A / D E  A   / D E :|
   A / / /  F#m / / /
   D / / /  E   / / /

    5.    A / / /    D / / /
   F#m / / /  D / / /
   F#m / / /  D / / /
   F#m / / /  E / / /

    6.    A C# D /  A   C# D /
   A C# D /  F#m D  E /
   A /  D /  F#m /  D E
   A /  D /  C#  D  E /

    Marie's Wedding

    1. |: G Am C D  G Am C D :|
|: G Em C D  G Em C D :|

    2.    G  / C /  Em /  D /
   G  / C /  Am Bm C D
|: Em / C /  G  /  D / :|

    3. |: G / C D  G / C D :|
   G / C D  G / C D
   G / C D  G C D /

    4. |: G / /  /  G  /  / / :|
   C / Bm /  Am /  G /
   C / Bm /  Am Bm C D

    5. |: G Bm C /  G Bm C / :|
   Am / / /  Bm / / /
   C  / / /  D  / / /

    Hundred Pipers

    1. |: A D A E  A D E /:|
|: A D A E  A D E /:|

    2. |: AC#m D AD E  AC#m D E / :|
   A    / /  /  D    / / /
   F#m  / /  /  E    / / /

    3. |: A  / / /  D   / / / :|
   Bm / / /  C#m / / /
   D  / / /  E   / / /

    4.    A F#m D E  A F#m D E
   A F#m D E  A D   E /
   A C#m D E  A C#m D E
   A C#m D E  B C#m D E

    5. |: A C#m D F#mE  A C#m D E :|
   A /   D /     A /   D /
   A /   D /     A /   D E

    All the Rage

    1.    E / A B  E / AB EB
   E / A B  E / AB E
|: A / B /  A / B / :|

    2. |: EG#m A    C#m B     E G#m  A B :|
   A    AC#m B   /     A AC#m B BG#m
   A    AC#m B   BG#m  A /    B /

    3. |: E / / /  E   / /   / :|
   A / B /  C#m / G#m /
   A / B /  C#m / D   /

    4. |: E / A /  E   /    A B :|
   A / B /  A   AC#m B /
   A / B /  G#m A    B /

    5.    E C#m A /  E C#m A /
   E C#m A /  E C#m A B
|: A /   B /  A /   B / :|

    Shenandoah Falls

    1. |: A AD A DE  A AD AE A :|
|: Bm / A /   Bm / DE A :|

    2. |: A  / / /  A  D   E A :|
   Bm / A /  Bm /   A /
   Bm / A /  Bm C#m D E

    3.    A   / / /  F#m / / /
   D   / / /  E   / / /
|: F#m / D /  F#m / E / :|

    4.    A  / /   /  D / / /
   A  / /   /  D / E /
|: Bm / C#m /  D / E / :|

    5. |: A AD A DE  A AD AE A :|
   Bm / / /   C#m / / /
   D  / / /   E   / / /

    The Wren

    1. |: Em C D /  Em C D / :|
|: Em / D /  Em / D / :|

    2. |: Em C D Bm  Em C D / :|
|: Em / D /   C  / D / :|

    3. |: Em C D Bm  Em C D Bm :|
|: C  / D /   C  / D /  :|

    4. |: Em / C /  Em / C / :|
|: Em / C /  D  / Bm / :|

    5. |: Em / / EmD  Em / / EmD :|
   C  / D /    C  / Bm /
   C  / D /    C  / B  /

    Lady Anne Montgomery

    1. |: D / G A  D / G A :|
|: D / G /  D / A / :|

    2. |: D / / /  G / / / :|
   A / / /  A / / /
   A / / /  G / A /

    3. |: D DG D A  D DG A / :|
|: Bm / G /  D /  A / :|

    4. |: D  / /   /  D   / / / :|
   Em / F#m /  G   / A /
   Bm / G   /  F#m G A /

    Comment via: facebook, lesswrong, mastodon

    Recent posts on blogs I like:

    A Big Problem With The Going To Bed Book

    One day my dad was reading this book called the "Going to Bed Book" to my sister Nora. The book is basically about a bunch of animals who are getting ready for bed on a boat. They go down the stairs, take a bath, hang their towels on the wall, find…

    via Lily Wise's Blog Posts September 18, 2023

    Investing in boundaries with young kids

    Putting in some work to get the behavior you want The post Investing in boundaries with young kids appeared first on Otherwise.

    via Otherwise August 15, 2023

    Self-driving car bets

    This month I lost a bunch of bets. Back in early 2016 I bet at even odds that self-driving ride sharing would be available in 10 US cities by July 2023. Then I made similar bets a dozen times because everyone disagreed with me. The first deployment to pot…

    via The sideways view July 29, 2023

    more     (via openring)

  • Posts
  • RSS
  • ◂◂RSS
  • Contact