Band Time, the sequel to Band Swing, is designed to be user friendly to musicians, and tunes are written out in a straightforward way, and with phrasing to help callers and dancers. In the Reel, Polka, Jig, Hornpipe and Waltz sections, tunes are arranged so that they can be played down the page.
Some of the tunes in this book have easier arrangements printed on the opposite page, so that less experienced musicians can contribute to the band and play at normal band tempo. In workshops, I often suggest that everyone plays the easier version once or twice through, and then the more experienced musicians play the full version, while the less experienced continue with the easier version. In this way the less experienced will have heard what their tune sounds like before having to play it against the full version.
A chord is shown under each bar, and guitarists, pianists and accordionists etc. should play two vamps or um-chas per bar for reels and jigs. Where one chord is shown directly above another, the one below is an alternative. Minor chords are shown as e.g. Amin meaning A minor.
On page 43 you will find a couple of American style reels, Dick's Farewell and Crocker's Reel. Callers often ask for 7 x 32 bar reels for a square, which would typically be played: chorus, figure, figure, chorus, figure, figure, chorus. These two tunes work well together when a specific tune for a singing call not required. Play the first tune for the chorus and the second tune for the figures.
I hope that you enjoy playing the tunes and sequences in the book!
Pete Mac leads folk dance bands and music workshops, often in conjunction with the Camping and Caravanning Club Folk Dance and Song Group. His main instrument is the piano-accordion and he also plays melodeon and English concertina. He and his wife, Nicole, are enthusiastic folk dancers now live on the south coast at Exmouth in Devon. With Nicole as caller they run the ‘Redwing Barn Dance Duo’, and the ‘Pete Mac Folk Dance Band’.
Contents
Tunes
All the Way to Galway
Amoureuse du Val de Salm, L'
Arkansas Traveller
Athol Highlanders
Atlantic Star, The
Aunty Mary's Canadian Jig
Barley Farm Fiddler
Bear Dance, The
Bielbie's
Blaydon Races
Bold O'Donahue
Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine
Bonny Kate
Bonny Lass
Bouffard's Waltz
Branle des Chevaux
Burning Bridges
Captain and his Whiskers, The
Chanticleer Rag
Charlotte's Jig
Cock of the North
Come Up the Back Stairs
Crocker's Reel
Cupid's Waltz
Curly Headed Ploughboy, The
Dancing Dustman, The
Dark Island, The
Dear Old Donegal
Denis's Hornpipe
Dick's Farewell
Down South
Drunken Sailor, The
Duke of Kent's Waltz, The
Farewell to Whisky
Father's Polka
Ferryman, The
Flop Ear'd Mule
Flowers
Fraises et les Framboises, Les
Goodbye Girls I'm Going to Boston
Grandfather's
Gypsie Hill Jig
Harper's Frolic
Hebridean Waters
Hewlett
High Country, The
Hogmanay, The
Home Boys Home
Home to Texas
Honey Harbour
Horse's Branle
Huttons Ambo
If You're Irish, Come into the Parlour
Irish Rover, The
Ivory Keys
John of Paris †
Johnny Get Your Hair Cut
Joys of Quebec
Keep that Wheel A-Turning
Landlord, Fill the Flowing Bowl
Lemonville Jig, The †
Little Brown Jug
Log Cabin
MacNamara's Band
Mademoiselle from Armentieres
March of Saint Timothy
Marjorie's Milestone
Minstrel Boy, The
Miss Sayer's Allemande
Mists of Dornoch
Monck's March
Moonbeams
Mount Gabriel Reel
Nelly the Elephant
New York Girls
Northlands
Oats, Peas and Beans
Oban Bay
Old Rustic Bridge, The
On the Road to Boston
One More Step
Oyster 48
Paddy McGinty's Goat
Pays de Haut
Peat Island
Piper of Lorne, The
Pollyanna
Poppy Day Parade
Rattle the Cash
Redowa Sunset
Reel Saint Joseph
Ripple of the Teign
Rollstone Mountain
Rose Tree, The
Runaway Train, The
Russian Cavalry
Scan Tester's No. 2
Scotland the Brave
Set de la Baie Saint Paul
Sheep Shearing
Shetland Step
Sound of Barra, The
South Wind
Southsea Crumble
Speed the Plough
Spinning Wheel
Star Polka
Steamboat Hornpipe (Devon)
Steamboat Hornpipe (Sussex)
Stern Polka
Swedish Rhapsody
Tall Poppies
This Old Man
Three Around Three
Turkey in the Straw
Valiant, The
Vandals of Hammerwich, The
Weymouth Quickstep
Whinham's
Whistling Rufus
Wiltshire Six Hand Reel
Wind the Bobbin Up
Winster Gallop
Woodland Flowers
Dances
All the Way to Galway
Arkansas Traveller
Blaydon Races
Dancing Dustman, The
Dark Island, The
Duke of Kent's Waltz, The
Enchanted Place
Gay Gordons
Gypsie Hill Jig
Johnny, Fetch Your Wife Back
Miss Sayer's Allemande
Ninepins
Patacake Polka
Pioneer Polka Quadrille
Ploughboy, The
Postie's Jig
Return Again Worthingtons
Ripple of the Teign
Shades of Green
Shoemaker, The
Southsea Crumble
Stern Polka
Three Around Three
Timber Salvage Reel
Twelve Reel
Wiltshire Six Hand Reel
Winster Gallop
Band Time Book - Pete Mac
Band Time is the long awaited sequel to ‘Band Swing’ and is a tune book arranged for folk dance musicians who like playable tunes which work well together. Edited by piano accordion player Pete Mac, this book is an indispensable source for folk dance band musicians who need suitable playable tunes which work well together. Uniquely, some of the more complicated tunes have alongside them a simpler arrangement for less experienced musicians. Pete is a stalwart of the Camping and Caravan Club Folk Section.