The portal contains a vast range of resources by and for the dance, music, and song community. From expert tips from fellow organizers and callers, to databases of dances and songs, find what you need to help engage with the traditions you love!
Resources added before 2022 do not all have explicit permission from the authors. If your resource is in the portal and you’d like it removed, please email us.
Search the Portal
Use the search box and filters below to find resources.
Tip: Selecting multiple checkboxes will give you more specific results. For example, to see specific resources for contra dance callers, select both Callers and Contra Dance.
68 Results
Women/Black/Indigenous/POC/LGBTQIA+/People with Disabilities Music Instructor Nominee Directory
This spreadsheet shows a list of recommended music teachers from marginalized communities. The list is the result of a survey form created in 2019 by A’yen Tran with the intention of making it publicly available, particularly to music camp directors. The goal is to increase representation for women, people of color, people with disabilities, and gender-diverse people in music camps and other musical learning opportunities.
Categories: Experienced Participants, Musicians, Novices, Organizers, Singers
A Google map with many local dances in the US and Canada. Also searchable by zip code, for special events, and for dances using non-gendered calling. Created by Jeff Kaufman.
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Dancers, Musicians
The CDSS Community Culture and Safety Task Group (CCSTG) aims to support local communities in their efforts to provide a safe environment for music, song, and dance events. We are working to provide advice and resources that will help organizers develop the policies, procedures, and supporting documents needed to understand and facilitate safety in their communities.
CDSS is not prescriptive in regard to what your community ‘should be doing.’ We recognize and value the range of living traditions practiced by our communities.
Categories: Callers, Educators, Musicians, Organizers
Lissa Schneckenburger’s Tune A Week
Sign up to get a free tune delivered to your inbox every week, and join a group practice challenge.
Categories: Musicians, Novices
Starring Your Recorder is a free educational video series from GEMS NY. The recorder has been an important instrument worldwide for hundreds of years. It has often been played along with other beautiful instruments that are still played today. With these six videos, students can experience playing easy tunes on recorder accompanied by a Renaissance band.
From Gotham Early Music Scene, Inc.
Categories: Educators, Musicians
This article by Carol Ormond gives excellent tips on how organizers can create a great gig experience for a caller. Much of the advice applies to other hired staff as well.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Callers, Musicians, Organizers
Shared Weight: Dance Musicians Discussion List
This mailing list welcomes dance musicians and those interested in dance music for any form of traditional social dance. This includes contra, English country, traditional squares (e.g., Appalachian, New England, Quebecois, Cape Breton, etc), community/family/barn, ceili, bal folk, and more. Dance musicians ask/answer questions, discuss issues that come up for them, and share helpful resources. This is a great way to talk to dance musicians from throughout North America and beyond. Join the discussion!
Categories: Community/Family Dance, Contra Dance, Early American Dance, English Country Dance, Musicians, Square Dance
A collection of more then 40,000 North American, British and Irish tunes with new ones being added every month.
From Andrew Kuntz & Valerio Pelliccioni
Categories: Musicians
A collection of tens of thousands of trad tunes, contributed collectively by a strong community of musicians. There are updates to the tunes on a daily basis.
From Jeremy Keith
Categories: Musicians
Mickie Zekley has scanned many of Cecil Sharp’s piano arrangements of country dance tunes, originally published in 1912, and made them available online in PDF format. These scores provide ideas for piano players about how to accompany many popular English country dance tunes. Note that the key signatures of some of the tunes differ from those most commonly used by contemporary musicians.
From Mendocino ECD
Categories: English Country Dance, Musicians
This website contains hundreds of tunes with MP3 audio clips, sheet music and ABC notation. The tunes come from several regions around the North Atlantic: Scandinavia, the British Isles, Quebec, Cape Breton, Métis (Saskatchewan & Manitoba), New England, Appalachia, and more. The website also includes some of the Vermont Fiddle Orchestra tunes which often have harmonies included.
From North Atlantic Tune list
Categories: Musicians
SPUDS are an open/all comers dance band. Their website contains a large number of tunes in abc format and standard notation, along with links to other tune repositories.
From SPUDS
Categories: Musicians
Colin Hume gives his detailed thoughts and tips on composing dance music.
From Colin Hume
Categories: Musicians
“Do We Have To?” Copyright Basics
This article by Pat MacPherson provides some considerations on whether one needs to get permission to use someone else’s work when publishing a dance or tune book or when recording a CD.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Musicians
Tracking Copyrights and Composers
Susan Songer describes how she tracked down composers and copyrights for her one of her books of contra dance music.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Musicians
Making Jam Sessions Great, a guide for participants and leaders
An article from Dave Firestine about how to create a great jam session, both as a participant and leader.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Musicians, Organizers
This blog post provides some thoughts on how to lead an open band.
From Jeff Kaufman
Categories: Musicians
Madison’s Tuesday Night Dances—Fostering Talent for More Than Twenty Years
This article by Carol Ormand describes Madison, Wisconsin’s approach to developing talent through weekly dances that feature newer callers as well as an open band.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Musicians, Organizers
Improving the ECD Open Band Experience
Robert Reichert provides some suggestions on how to improve the experience of playing with, and the quality of music from an ECD open band.
From the CDSS News
Categories: English Country Dance, Musicians, Organizers
Open Dance Bands: Best Practices Shared by 35 Groups
This manual shares common best practices used by 35 open dance bands from throughout North America, and illustrates the diversity of approaches across communities. We hope this resource provides a great starting point for launching new open bands and additional inspiration for groups that have been playing together for years.
From Emily Addison and CDSS
Categories: Musicians, Organizers
This article by Sue Songer describes the power of guest musicians being able to play along with dance bands – in what is known as ‘the back row.’ It also describes how to successfully create this experience in your dance community.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Musicians
This blog post explores how bands can manage the money they make off CDs.
From Jeff Kaufman
Categories: Musicians
How Much do Dance Weekends Pay?
This blog postbreaks down what dance weekends pay musicians. Original post 2016 with an update in 2018.
From Jeff Kaufman
Categories: Musicians, Organizers
Communicating About Contra Dance Sound
This blog post provides some tips on how to communicate with sound technicians.
From Jeff Kaufman
Categories: Musicians
A flyer that highlights what goes into playing for a dance in relation to what musicians get paid/dancers pay.
From Sarah Gowan
Categories: Musicians, Organizers
Road Trip! A Practical Guide for New Touring Bands
This article by David Firestine provides some tips on how to arrange a tour playing dances.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Musicians
How to Play Contra Dance Percussion
Melissa Kacalanos explains how to play percussion for reels and jigs, using Middle Eastern rhythm notation.
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
How to make your own footboard, including a piezo contact microphone, from Jeff Kaufman.
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
In this blog post, Jeff Kaufman (Free Raisins) gives research-based suggestions for how to mic a mandolin.
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
In this blog post, Jeff Kaufman (Free Raisins) explains and gives audio examples of percussive mandolin playing for contra dances.
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
A series of videos from Jeff Kaufman (Free Raisins) about how he plays mandolin for contra dances.
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
In this blog post, Jeff Kaufman describes some basics of playing guitar for contra dances.
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
Simple and Less Simple Contra Dance Piano
In this series of blog posts, Jeff Kaufman describes how to play piano for contra dances.
Simple Contra Dance Piano (2011)
Simple Contra Dance Piano: Interesting Left Hand (2011)
Simple Contra Dance Piano: More Left Hand (2011)
Less Simple Contra Dance Piano (2019)
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
Perpetual e-Motion Interview Series
Interviews with Perpetual e-Motion (Ed Howe, John Cote) on a variety of aspects of playing for contra dances including fiddling for dance, guitar rhythms for dance, fitting music and dance, acoustic playing, electronic effects, and doing your own sound.
From Dennis C Merritt
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
In this blog post, Jeff Kaufman explores some considerations to make when creating dance sets. Community discussion follows.
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
In this blog post, Jeff Kaufman provides some thoughts on how to match tunes to contra dances.
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
Should Square Music be ‘Square?’
This blog post discusses when (and if) tunes played for square dances should follow the 32-bar AABB format.
From the Dance Caller’s Journal
Categories: Musicians, Square Dance
In this blog post, The Last Gaspé reflect on what it takes to be good band and how to play together effectively.
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
In this blog post, Jeff Kaufman explains how to call chords during the middle of a dance so that fellow bandmates know where the chord progression is going.
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
Free Raisins Video Interview Series
In this video, series the Free Raisins (Amy Englesberg, Audrey Knuth, and Jeff Kaufman) talk about a variety of aspects of playing for contra dances with musical examples including phrasing, balancing rhythm and melody, varying chords, droning (pedaling), complex variations, balance of an evening, and evolution of a band.
From Dennis Merritt
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
Musicians Column: Aspects of Musicality
This article by violinist Martha Edwards explores the importance of phrasing when playing music for dancers.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Contra Dance, English Country Dance, Musicians
What is Phrasing in Contra Dance?
Jeff explores phrasing in contra dance music and how it relates to the dance figures. The post is followed by a community discussion.
From Jeff Kauffman
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
In this resource, Thomas describes what is needed from musicians for a one-off barn dance. This is a great resource for musicians who are only getting together once for a dance event.
From Thomas Green
Categories: Community/Family Dance, Contra Dance, Musicians, Square Dance
Some of the key considerations when playing for old time dances (various dance styles over the evening).
From Vivian and Phil Williams
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians, Square Dance
Andrew VanNorstand on Playing for Contra Dances
In this six-part video series, Andrew talks about the difference between playing for a concert and playing for a dance, matching tunes with dances, working with callers, and more.
From Dennis Merritt
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians
Playing for Contras: The Basics
This three-page PDF provides the basics needed to understand how contra dance music fits the dance.
From CDSS
Categories: Contra Dance, Musicians, Novices
Playing for English Country Dance: The Basics
This three-page PDF provides the basics of how to play for English Country Dance.
From CDSS
Categories: English Country Dance, Musicians, Novices
Miriam Newman explains the movement towards asking people about their pronouns.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Callers, Dancers, Educators, Musicians, Organizers, Singers
5 Things…Inside the Dancing Mind of…
A one-hour chat with Q&A from movers and shakers in the English Country Dance community from across the country about the 5 things that they feel are important to our passion for ECD and why.
From the Historical Tea and Dance Society.
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance, Musicians, Organizers
CDSS at Home: Sue Hulsether Teaches the Spoons
Dance caller and music educator Sue Hulsether teaches how to play the spoons, aided by Clara from Asheville, NC.
From CDSS
Categories: Families, Musicians
Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.