Just adding something to this discussion based on recent personal experience:
I was at a barn dance - the band was fiddle, guitar and accordion, and they were excellent. Really well balanced, and playing at a high level. The guitarist in particular was very accomplished and improvised little counter-melodies and basslines all the time.
However they did the opposite of 'lift' - they were enjoying themselves so much that they would occasionally do very musical things which just confused the dancers. For example, the guitarist might strum on a complicated syncopated way for a few bars. Very impressive, and souded great, but it meant the dancers lost the beat. Or the accordion / guitar might just stop playing for a few beats - again, very impressively done (they came back in perfectly together) but as the fiddle was not so loud the dancers just thought the music had stopped.
Is there something to be said for dialing down the musical skills when playing dance music, in order to enhance the dancing enjoyment?
I was at a barn dance - the band was fiddle, guitar and accordion, and they were excellent. Really well balanced, and playing at a high level. The guitarist in particular was very accomplished and improvised little counter-melodies and basslines all the time.
However they did the opposite of 'lift' - they were enjoying themselves so much that they would occasionally do very musical things which just confused the dancers. For example, the guitarist might strum on a complicated syncopated way for a few bars. Very impressive, and souded great, but it meant the dancers lost the beat. Or the accordion / guitar might just stop playing for a few beats - again, very impressively done (they came back in perfectly together) but as the fiddle was not so loud the dancers just thought the music had stopped.
Is there something to be said for dialing down the musical skills when playing dance music, in order to enhance the dancing enjoyment?
:roll:
