In the Mind of an Active Contra Dance Pianist
Contra dance piano is a very interesting thing to play for two main reasons: one being that you get to supply the beat for the entire band, and the other being that you have a lot of room to fool around since harmony is one of the main parts of your job. Last night at the Medway dance, I realized that depending on which song I was playing and the difficulty of the chord changes, I was thinking about different things, sometimes not even about the music. I thought up this blog article while playing an easy reel, and by the end of the song, I was able to categorize my thoughts into five different contra piano modes:
1) Nervous concentration: “Man, I got to keep up with these changes or else it will sound really bad. How long will this song last? I got to stay on my toes.”
2) Band Chemistry: “Dad’s on fire! Man that’s cool! I should tell him that that thing that he did on the A rocked!”
3) Watching the Dancers: “That couple is really good! That kid is totally into it, and his mom seems to be liking it too. Whoa! Who would want to dance with her!”
4) Boredom: “Dear mom, well here I am at the Medway dance playing a good old one chord reel. I got bored, so I’m writing this letter to you with my nose.”
I have to agree with Peter Barnes when he said that one great thing about playing a contra dance is watching the dancers. Also, while doing this, you don’t have to worry about being caught staring at one hot couple for the whole time. Who would imagine that the pianist was watching you? Impossible! It also doesn’t help to have a nice old church to admire, but a lot of the time my dad’s so involved and active that I just watch him.
1) Nervous concentration: “Man, I got to keep up with these changes or else it will sound really bad. How long will this song last? I got to stay on my toes.”
2) Band Chemistry: “Dad’s on fire! Man that’s cool! I should tell him that that thing that he did on the A rocked!”
3) Watching the Dancers: “That couple is really good! That kid is totally into it, and his mom seems to be liking it too. Whoa! Who would want to dance with her!”
4) Boredom: “Dear mom, well here I am at the Medway dance playing a good old one chord reel. I got bored, so I’m writing this letter to you with my nose.”
I have to agree with Peter Barnes when he said that one great thing about playing a contra dance is watching the dancers. Also, while doing this, you don’t have to worry about being caught staring at one hot couple for the whole time. Who would imagine that the pianist was watching you? Impossible! It also doesn’t help to have a nice old church to admire, but a lot of the time my dad’s so involved and active that I just watch him.
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