Seattle Contra Tune Repertoire Builder

If you’re interested in learning the tunes that you dance to each week, come join us! We learn tunes by ear, practice playing together in a group, and build and maintain a shared local repertoire.

Each session, we’ll learn two or three contra dance tunes by ear. All instruments and skill levels are welcome. The focus will mainly be on melody.

🗓  We meet once a month for a 2-hour session: 2nd Sundays from 6-8 PM. Please arrive a few minutes early to unpack and be ready to start playing at 6!

🎶 There will be a jam session immediately following the from 8-9 PM, so we have a chance to practice playing in a jam and review the tunes we’ve learned. For now, we’ll stick to the tunes taught here, and expect to play them at a slow to moderate tempo. You are welcome to come to just the teaching session, just the jam session, or both!

🏡  We are grateful to have several generous hosts for the sessions, located just north of Seattle. We’ll send out the location with session reminders for everyone on our list.

🎵  We have two incredible teachers, who have a ton of experience playing for contra dances and teaching: Hayden Stern and Sarah Comer. We may also have a guest teacher now and then.

💸  These teaching sessions are free! Donations are appreciated, but not required.

💌  If you are interested in attending or would like more information, please send an email to contratunebuilder@gmail.com, or fill out the Email List Signup form on this page.

💡 This initiative has been strongly inspired by the Portland Contra Tune Sessions!