strathspey@strathspey.org:1112

Etienne Ozorak

Re: tempos, etc

Feb. 27, 1995, 4:14 p.m. (Message 1112, in reply to message 1102)

>Have just read Syvia's story about the conflicting tempo requests.   
>Guess you just can't please everyone....  At a dance last year, I  
>consulted the branch teachers about tempo and found that both  
>preferred everything to be on the slow side, which is how we played.   
>Unfortunately, I discovered later that this very thing is a source  
>of major complaint from the dancers to their teachers -- so I left  
>knowing that there had been perhaps two happy people in the room  
>that night (albeit 2 influential/in-charge people)....what's a goil  
>to do???
>
>Kim McGarrity

When I worked in Toronto, we always had scads of experienced,  
knowledgeable teachers on the dance floors.  Of course, every one had  
their own opinion on what the proper tempo was.  We (Scottish Accent)  
quickly learned to develop our own sense of proper tempo.

I would say that, eventually, you develop your  own sense of what an  
appropriate tempo is for a given dance at a given time.  You begin to  
realize that people's (including your own) sense of tempo has a lot  
to do with age and mood (and other complicated things like hormone  
levels, adrenalin...who knows!).  Some groups I play for have more  
beginners, others have more advanced dancers who might prefer, for  
example, slower strathspeys.  I guess the key is flexibility and a  
keen awareness on what feels right at the time, given the variables  
involved  (and not just keying on one or two people within a group).
If it does indeed feel right, it will also be easier to maintain the  
tempo, especially for a 8 1/2 minute strathspey!

I should add that developing your own sense of tempo is easier if you  
are a dancer as well, as you depend as much on your dance sense as  
your musical sense.  I'll be the first to admit that, if I haven't  
danced much recently, my bias will be to take the reels and jigs a  
tad fast.

Hope this is useful to you.

Etienne Ozorak,
who is much pleased at having found the Non-NEXT text button!