Woodwind section, Oct 2024. Photo by Pat McGrath.
Next Open Band: February 5th
Program for Wednesday, February 5th
Open Band tunes are all in the Blue, Red, or Green Barnes books. You can buy the Barnes books either for ipad or in old fashioned spiral bound paper.
- Tambourine Dance -- Blue
- Kelsterne Gardens -- Blue
- News From Tripoli -- Blue
- Jacob Hall's Jig (Em) -- Blue
- Golden Green -- Green
- Potter's Wheel -- Green
- Ties of Love -- Green
- Wooden Shoes -- Red
- Whirligig -- Blue -- Alternative setting PDF
- Anna Maria -- Blue
- Tom Jones -- Blue -- Simplified setting PDF
- Holborn March -- Blue
- After Dinner Maggot -- Green
- Closing Waltz: Nan's Waltz – Red
Videos, Tempos, Comments
Key for Tempo markings Q = Quarter Note, H = Half Note| Tambourine Dance H=105 Blue |
GCD performing team video – excellent character and tempo. |
| Kelsterne Gardens Q=108 Blue |
Video shows the dance, but I prefer a bit slower tempo. The A part Measure 7 – you could play an E note instead of A if it is too low on your instrument. B part Measure 2 – you could play an E note if the C is too high for comfort. |
| News From Tripoli H=97 Blue |
GCD performing team video – excellent character and tempo. The rhythm of this tune might catch you off guard if you haven’t played it before. It’s unusual in that more than half of the measures start with two eighth notes followed by a pattern of quarter or half notes. This pattern keeps things moving along which supports the dance figures really well. |
| Jacob Hall’s Jig Dotted Q=110 Blue |
No faster than this video. We will play the tune in Em not Fm. |
| Golden Green H=112 Green |
Excellent character and tempo. |
| Potter’s Wheel Dotted Q=100 Green |
Link chosen because of the delightful slower tempo. |
| Ties of Love H=111 Green |
GCD performing team video – please play slower. |
| Wooden Shoes H=106 Red |
A smidgen faster would also be fine |
| Whirligig Dotted Q=110 Blue | Alternative setting PDF GCD performing team video – excellent character and tempo. play 2 x thru sequence because I am only doing two parts of the dance This tune is played A (BBC x3). Then the sequence is repeated. It can be challenging to stay on track as it is written in Barnes -- with a repeat sign for the B, and because the A and C sections are identical. The PDF file here is probably easier to follow: The B part is written out twice (no repeat sign). Play A then the BBC section (3 times). Go back to the top and repeat the whole sequence one more time. There are several measures in each section with 3 repeated eighth notes. Especially the B section which has the rhythmic pattern in 6 of the 8 measures. Consider leaving out the middle eighth note some or all of the time - and instead play quarter/eighth. |
| Anna Maria H=103 Blue |
This is the only video available; tempo and character are pretty good. It can be tricky to make sense of the rhythm in 3/2 tunes. If you’re puzzled, try counting 6 beats in each measure. In A part measure 1- feel free to leave out the 16th notes. In the B part measure 7 is tricky with the surprise of both an Ab and A natural that happen quickly. |
| Tom Jones Dotted Q=108 Blue | Simplified setting PDF Tempo certainly no faster. You may find the simplified PDF easier to play. Pay attention to the accidentals in both the A and the B. |
| Holborn March Q=106 Blue |
Only video available; a slower tempo will feel fine. |
| After Dinner Maggot Q=110-112 Green |
Certainly no faster. GCD performing team video – excellent character and tempo |
Please also review dances on the GCD Repertoire List which we ask all GCD musicians to learn.
How Open Band works
Practicing
- Learn the tunes well enough that you can keep one eye on the Open Band leader for cues, and maybe occasionally watch the dancers.
- GCD often holds jam sessions that will be announced on this page and on the GCD musicians' page. You can host a jam too (or just invite a few friends to play together).
- You're welcome to dance for tunes that you'd rather not play.
Setting up
- Bring your music and a music stand. (No mics for the evening, it's all acoustic)
- 7:30 -- Arrive and set up in sections - strings, winds, squeezeboxes.
- 7:45 -- Tuning up, band leader instructions
- 8:00 -- The evening dance starts promptly!
- 10:15 -- Please help clean up the area after the dance.
During & after the Dance
- We are there to provide beautiful and dance-able music for the pleasure of the dancers.
- Listen to each other. Give those taking a solo, duet, or trio round some quiet space so they can be clearly heard.
- Keep an eye on the leader for guidance regarding: entrances, endings, dynamics, designation of what instruments are playing
- 10:15 -- the dance ends. Help with putting everything back in place much appreciated. Open Band is a challenging night for our sound and set-up folks!
Questions? Email or the