It’s so much nicer having a live band! And just as singing around the campfire is great because there’s a mix of abilities, FSC can be a wonderful opportunity to have professionals, amateurs and children all playing instruments together. A scratch ceilidh band of 10 is much more fun than just listening to two pros playing together.
There are loads of musical staff on FSC, almost none of whom bring their instrument on camp, and many of whom haven’t played for years (or decades) and lack in confidence. To make a band on camp, you either need to get them to bring their instruments by telling them in advance to do so, or bring extra instruments for people to play (this has been wildly successful for us, but does rely on being able to bring extra instruments. Tin whistles & recorders are good if you don’t have a car). Often people need encouragement, and if you’re organising a band for an FSC event send around the setlist in advance so less experienced musicians can practice and get involved.
In the Country Dancing Manual, we have chosen specific tunes to go with specific dances to make it easier for beginner dancers and musicians. However, they’re mostly interchangeable with other tunes of the same length. The purpose of the Manual is to give a shared FSC lexicon of country dancing music, just as the songbook is for singing. Traditionally in folk, you learn tunes by ear, and know them off by heart. And it is definitely really amazing to play like this (and also practical because you can watch the dancers) – but it’s also just fine to use the sheet music if it makes it more accessible for you. Democratising music is all about collective playing, in whichever way people find it easiest to play.
Tips for FSC bands:
- Probably the most important thing is for the band to be silent when the caller is calling
- FSC callers might be inexperienced. Agree with them in advance who is deciding when the dance stops – caller or one of the band
- FSC standard is to have a 4 bar intro by one player, and then other musicians join in at the moment when the actual dancing should start. This makes it easier for inexperienced dancers to hear what’s going on and start at the right time
- Most dances work best with adults dancing on a hard floor at about 110 beats per minute (BPM). With kids in a field, it’s likely to be more like 80bpm. Try to avoid slowing down as you get tired of playing your instrument
- It is very fun to get kids playing. We’ve had woodlings who have never touched an instrument playing fiddle by just repeatedly bowing one or two of the open strings in the relevant chord, or getting involved on a melodica by alternating two chords
- A junk percussion station next to the band works well: upturned A10 tins & metal tent pegs; lentils in jam jars
- Band rehearsal at Peafair followed by end-of-camp ceilidh can be good (kids occupied, music at Peafair, everyone festive)
- It’s helpful if musicians can also learn to call. And callers to play, of course
- Doing a morning arise with a violin is not only a very special thing, but also appears a good way to find staff who can play one – if you wake people with distant fiddle music coming towards them they seem willing to come out of their tents and have a go
- When playing, there are a number of ways to keep it interesting:
- Speed up (each round getting faster)
- Add a harmony above or below the melody (available in the sheet music)
- Go quiet for a round and then get louder for the next round
- Vary the percussion (keeping the same pulse)
- Take it in turns to play different groups of instruments for a line (e.g. “just strings & percussion” or “clarinet solo”)