La Contredanse reel

This lovely tune comes from the repetoire of Louis Pitou Boudreault from the Saguenay region of Quebec. I learned it from Guy Bouchard at the Fiddle Tunes festival in Port Townsend Washington.

The c’s in the 2nd and 6th measures of the B part are sometimes played as c#’s. I’ve heard that some fiddlers play a note that sits almost exactly half-way between c natural and c# in this case. Folks I met in Washington call this note c-supernatural.

How fast would something like this usually be played?

It goes reasonably fast. I’d call it “reel-time.” It’s definitely meant for dancing. You can find a recording of it by the band genticorum on their website:

http://www.genticorum.com/mp3/rond-point.mp3

They switch to La Contredanse at about 1:48. Enjoy!

This tune can also be found on Airs Tordus by Les Tetes de Violon, who are Guy Bouchard ,Kevin Carr ,Judy Lipnick, Barbara Mendelsohn,Greg Raskin,Laurie Rivin,and Laura Sadowsky, and its probably the best version out there! If you like crooked tunes from Quebec, get this CD with no regrets.

Jim - sorry - I live in the UK!
What does a speed of “1:48” translate to in, say, crotchets per minute?

1:48 means that when you play the mp3 go to the 1 minute and 48 second mark if you want to hear the tune. You have minutes and seconds in the UK, right?

sorry, I was being dumb!

There’s also an excellent version of La Contredance on Cutting & Wood,s CASTAGNARI c.d.

This is a bit more readable and closer to the recording