A Music Lesson

The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.

This great truth was brought home to me while discussing the tempo of waltz music for the Second Annual Michaelmas Dance with my pianist brother. I had sent him weeks before a list of 6 waltzes, and he dutifully practised them according to the tempo preferred by their composers. It was only when he and the violinist met at my home to rehearse that I realized how inadequate “Not too fast” was as an instruction.

The International Standard Waltz, we learned from the internet, is danced at 84 – 90 beats per minute, which may explains why it is so often danced, in modern ballrooms and on television, to such sappy saccharine stuff. The Viennese Waltz is danced at 120 – 180 bpm, which is more the great composers’ speed.

However, if you hold a dance, you hold it not for the musicians (let alone the late, great composers) but for the dancers. Our dancers would range from the teen prodigies who waltz at home to the hopeful beginner with nothing more than my three-minute lesson on the Box Step to guide him. Therefore, I changed my requirements from “Not too fast” to “As slow as you are both comfortable playing.”

I am happy to say that this worked out well, and as yet I have not heard a complaint that the waltzes were played too fast or were too short.

“The Blue Danube” was most definitely not too short. When George and Mary first rehearsed it, we discovered it was ten minutes long. Ten minutes is a long time to dance with one person unless you are madly in love with him. Thus, I asked George and Mary to cut it down. It was still quite long at the Dance, though, and I blurted out “Oh, thank goodness” when it ended, for which I apologize profusely to my in truth very handsome and graceful partner. I was not thinking of myself but of 44 or so other people, especially the ones stuck in an eternal Box Step.

Thus, I learned that “The Blue Danube” is probably not a good choice as the FIRST waltz of the evening, even though it is instantly recognizable as The Real Thing. (Perhaps it would suit as the first waltz after the Intermission.)

By the way, may I indulge my joy that I had a pianist AND a violinist this time? (Squeee!) If loud enough–and this time we rented a concert grand–a piano will suffice, but strings add so much. In fact, from now on, whenever I meet someone new, I will ask them if they play any instruments, in case I run across a secret viola or cello player.

I had an email from someone asking my advice about music, and this time the rumbling you experienced was my long-time piano teacher revolving allegro in her grave. My advice is to ask the advice of dance teachers and to ask them to bring their own choice of music, if possible, to lessons (while stipulating that the songs not include risquรฉ lyrics). When you go to dances or dance lessons, be sure to discover and write down the names of tunes you like and find easy to dance to. Listen to them again on YouTube. I buy albums or individual tunes over Apple with my smartphone and create playlists for MMWP practice time.

If you engage musicians, be very clear what tunes you want played, what speed you want it played at, and how much artificial amplification is necessary. I absolutely underscore that you must meet with the musicians and any technicians beforehand. And remember that, whatever your–or your musicians–artistic dreams, your dance is for the guests, that is, the dancers.

To buy tickets for the Eastertide Dance 2025, please contact me at info@tradcathsocialdancing.co.uk.