CDSS Best Sellers for Contra Dance Musicians The Portland Collection

The go-to books for jigs and reels used in contra dances everywhere. No contra player’s library is complete without these! Each book contains over 300 tunes in Irish, Scottish, Québécois, Appalachian, and New England genres. The tunes are both traditional and recently composed and there is an extensive commentary on every tune including stories about the tunes from their composers. There are also chord suggestions, a discography, a bibliography, and more. Each book also has a companion CD with a selection of tunes for listening or practicing. Available at the CDSS Store

New England Fiddler’s Repertoire

Another backbone for contra dance musicians, this book aims to be a single, distilled resource for contra dance tunes. Pulling from other large collections this book contains 168 of what could be considered the tried-and-true “standard” fiddle tune repertoire. Tunes are printed in an easy to read format along with chords for guitar or piano. Available at the CDSS Store Bob’s Notebooks

Bob McQuillen is a legend in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire and beyond, and is an inspiration for the thriving Contra dance and traditional music community in the area. He has written over 1,500 tunes, published in fifteen tune books called "Bob's Notebooks." Each volume contains more than 100 unique tunes and a description of who he wrote the tune for. Available at the CDSS Store

The Waltz Books

Bill Matthiesen’s Waltz books have long been one of the best resources for waltzes played at contras, English dances, and everywhere else. Each book has over 50 carefully selected waltzes with notes on each dance as well as chord symbols. and the first book contains a section on piano accompaniment as well. Available at the CDSS Store

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