Delaware Valley RSCDS: For Musicians

Apologies for the long time span in updating the musicians' pages. Dave Wiesler has been busy with childcare, and the musicians' group hasn't been meeting regularly for jams or dances for over a year. It is often better to contact one of us directly than to rely on these pages staying current.

Music Workshop and Dance, Saturday, Jan 9, 2010

Led by Elke Baker

Date: Saturday, January 9
Time: 3:30pm workshop, 8pm dance
Place: St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia
Address: 22 E. Chestnut Hill Ave, Philadelphia, PA

Flyer for more information:

Music Archive

Download music from prior events:

   2005-2006 music of the month (260KB), Dave Wiesler
   2006-2007 music of the month (324KB), Dave Wiesler

   2007 Morstein party (732KB), Jane Roberts
   Sept, 2007 social (841KB), Dave Wiesler
   Nov, 2007 social (834KB), Dave Wiesler
   Jan, 2008 social (416KB), Nora Smith
   2008 Morstein party (864KB), Dave Wiesler
   2009 Morstein party (868KB), Dave Wiesler

Please note: the music notated here is expressly for the use of Branch members and jam attendees.

Other Information for Musicians

Opportunities to Play for Dances in the Area

Most classes use recorded music, but two have live music weekly and one class has live music once a month. See the class schedules for details and directions.

DAY	LOCATION	CONTACT PERSON
Tuesday evenings	Swarthmore College Class	Jenny Beer
Wednesday evenings	BiCo College Class	Jane Roberts	list of standard repertoire
Last Monday evenings	Newark Social Dances	Dave Wiesler

Books of Scottish Music

There are many collections of Scottish and Cape Breton music, and we pull music from diverse sources. Most is not specifically arranged for ease of use in dances or dance classes. However, we use four music books regularly when playing for class:

Susie Petrov's book of tunes contains music sets (title tunes and alternates) for over one hundred common country dances, as well as a few waltzes and ceilidh dances. To order copies, email Susie.

Liz Donaldson has two books, pink and blue. The pink (Vol. 1) is less extensive, but more accessible to basic musicians. Both contain only alternate tunes, with similar tunes grouped together. To order copies, contact Liz.

Originally Ours, compiled by George Meikle and published by the RSCDS, contains title tunes in lead sheet format for all RSCDS published dances up to 2005. There are eight copies floating around the branch, so ask someone if you'd like to see or order one.