open band online
These recordings of the Open Band are made each month by Bob and Julian Boilen. You can listen to the songs while on the website, or download the tunes to your computer by subscribing the podcast. A podcast is like a magazine subscription, when you subscribe to a podcast, each time we post new music it will automatically download to your computer (assuming you open your podcast software.) We recommend using iTunes for your podcasts.
Once the songs are on your computer you can then transfer them to your iPod or other portable music player, or just play them on your computer without being online. This podcast works best using iTunes 8. If you don’t have iTunes you at least need Quicktime to hear the songs online. Both programs are free.
Many of the songs used in the Open Band come from the Portland Collection a series of music books and CDs.
If you wish to download an entire evenings worth of music in one click, go here.
If you are having problems or have questions please write to us.
about the recordings
about
about contra dancing
Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) refers to several folk dance styles in which couples dance in two facing lines of indefinite length. Contra dances can be found around the world, though they are especially popular in the United States. Contra dance is also referred to as traditional New England folk dance. There are regularly scheduled contra dances in many North American cities, as well as in Belgium, Denmark, England, Czech Republic and Australia.
Most contra dances are open to all, regardless of experience. They are family-friendly, and alcohol consumption is not part of the culture. Many events offer beginner-level instructions for up to half an hour before the dance. A typical evening of contra dance is three hours long, including an intermission. The event consists of a number of individual contra dances, divided by a scattering of other partner dances, perhaps one or more waltzes, schottisches, polkas, or Swedish hambos. In some places, square dances are thrown into the mix. Music for the evening is typically performed by a live band, playing jigs and reels from Ireland, Scotland, Canada, or the USA. Often the tunes are traditional and more than a century old, and sometimes a few tunes are more recent compositions that follow the traditional form, perhaps composed by the musicians on stage.
about The Open Band
The Open Band plays contradance music at Glen Echo Park. Any musician can join the Open Band at 8pm on the 2nd Friday of every month in the Spanish Ballroom.
The recordings on this site of the Open Band and are here to help you learn to play contradance music: Contradance tunes are fiddle based tunes, Irish reels, jigs, polkas, French Canadian tunes, old-time mountain music, rags and more. The tunes are simple, and they repeat a lot, making them easier to learn, though it’s fast paced.
The Open Band has some of Washington DC’s best musicians and they make new musicians feel very welcome.
