The Galop---How Fast?
peanutjake
music says "Tempo di Galop".
At what tempo is a Galop danced?
Bill Tomczak
I've played these for various vintage dances over the years. I started
singing one of the tunes we've used (Little Carrie's Favorite Galop -
1859) at a tempo that felt right to me. It came out at about 138bpm
according to my metronome. 132bpm definitely felt on the slow side and
144bpm was way too fast.
__________________________________________________
Bill Tomczak http://www.sover.net/~btomczak/
bi...@nrthwnd.com ICQ# 44275894
You have no responsibility to live up to what
other people think you ought to accomplish.
-- Richard Feynman
KMsSavage
I'm guessing 120 bpm. It's more of a mood than a tempo, I think.
--Karen M.
Alan Winston - SSRL Admin Cmptg Mgr
>On Tue, 27 Jun 2000 18:13:29 GMT, "peanutjake"
><peanu...@my-deja.com> wrote:
>
>>I am transcribing a nineteenth century Galop into a midi file. The sheet
>>music says "Tempo di Galop".
>>
>>
>>
>
>singing one of the tunes we've used (Little Carrie's Favorite Galop -
>1859) at a tempo that felt right to me. It came out at about 138bpm
>according to my metronome. 132bpm definitely felt on the slow side and
>144bpm was way too fast.
>
>
This may or may not answer the question, but luckily Bill and Karen already
have.
A Galop is a brain-dead couple dance - not that I mean anything bad by that;
just that it's simple enough for people who find polkas and waltzes too
complicated - where the basic step is a sideways chasse (about the same
as a slipping step in English or Scottish dance). It's not inherently a
turning dance. [Indeed, if you do four galops and then two turning steps,
that's not a galop - it's either a variation or a separate dance called
'Esmerelda', according to some 19th century dance manuals.]
Armed with this information, you should be able to tell that it's pretty
brisk, although how brisk might depend on the age of the dancers and the
temperature in the hall that evening. It should be fast enough to get you
off the ground in each step, but not so fast that you can't do the dance.
-- Alan
===============================================================================
Alan Winston --- WIN...@SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Physical mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 69, PO BOX 4349, STANFORD, CA 94309-0210
===============================================================================
frances...@my-deja.com
down for about 3 weeks and I have to rely on Deja News . . .
According to Allen Dodworth's _Dancing and Its Relations to Education
and Social Life_, 1885, the galop is danced at MM (Maelzel's Metronome)
76, one beat to a bar.
Although the basic galop is very simple, Melvin Ballou Gilbert's _Round
Dancing_, 1891, describes 22 galop variations in addition to the basic
one (and there are additional ones in other Victorian manuals). Some
are quite interesting to dance, and most turn in some manner (never
turning on the ballroom floor is likely to run you into someone pretty
soon). All the Victorian dance forms have many variations in addition
to the basic dance, most more complicated (Gilbert has 29 polka
variations in addition to the basic polka).
Hope this helps,
Fran Grimble
http://www.lavoltapress.com
http://www.best.com/~lavolta/dance/index.htm
In article <009EC437...@SSRL04.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU>,
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Bill Tomczak
>According to Allen Dodworth's _Dancing and Its Relations to Education
>and Social Life_, 1885, the galop is danced at MM (Maelzel's Metronome)
>76, one beat to a bar.
Yow! One beat to a bar?! I was using two beats to the bar in my
estimate. Dodworth is saying 152bpm by the same reckoning.
I must be getting old......
frances...@my-deja.com
Otherwise I don't see how he has the waltz and and other 3/4 dances at
"one beat to a bar" also. His actual sample music for the galop has
2 beats to the bar.
He has a little table:
Waltz Metronome 72 One beat to a bar
Galop Metronome 76 One beat to a bar
Polka Metronome 104 Two beats to a bar
Polka Redowa (a 3/4 dance) Metronome 60 Two beats to a bar
Schottische Metronome 76 Two beats to a bar
Knickerbocker Metronome 76 Two beats to a bar
Polka Mazurka Metronome 56 One beat to a bar
Five-Step Waltz (a 5/4 dance) Metronome 144 Five beats to a bar
Quadrille Metronome 104 Two beats to a bar
Lancers Quadrille Metronome 104 Two beats to a bar
Varsouvianna Metronome 54 One beat to a bar
Court Quadrille Metronome 76 Two beats to a bar
Dodworth also tells you how to tie a lead bullet on the end of a thread
(he gives lengths for each timing) and swing that, instead of using a
metronome.
Fran
In article <z8VaOZ9Bk+B1gEBgUTx=jUhN...@4ax.com>,
Bill Tomczak
>On looking at it I think Dodworth means one metronome beat to a bar.
Yes, that is exactly what your previous post stated. MM indications
are properly written as a note value equaling some number of beats per
minute. Your original post stated:
>the galop is danced at MM (Maelzel's Metronome)
>76, one beat to a bar.
which is an odd way to phrase it but still precise in its meaning.
Thus, if the galop is written in 2/4, I would expect the MM marking to
read:
(1/2 note) = 76 or
(1/4 note) = 152.
Although I would consider it less helpful, you could write the music
out in cut time (also known as 2/2). Then the MM marking would be
either
(whole note) = 76 or
(1/2 note) = 152