I'm an amateur, pedestrian musician. More of a participant than a leader. Not an authority in any way. Just someone who likes plucking melodies. I often play in Irish sessions, but I think my favorite types of tunes happen to be New Englandy contra tunes more than straight Irish trad session tunes.
There is some overlap of course, but I feel like contra tunes are less notey than Irish ones, with more emphasis on melody, beat, rhythm, and groove, and less about ornamentation and a constant stream of notes. This works for me because I like simple, basic versions of tunes. Even though I play tenor banjo - an instrument known for trying to fill as much space as possible with triplets and embellishments - I prefer to play a more sparse version of a tune, if possible.
My experience with contra tunes is somewhat limited. I've never played for a contra dance, however, I have attended some contra tune jams where the pace is more jam speed than dance speed. I've been taking note of my favorite tunes as they come up and these include All The Way to Galway, Doon the Brae, Road to Boston, Jamie Allen, Scotty O'Neil, McLenon's Reel, Hut on Staffin Island, Riding on a Load of Hay, Walls of St. Malo, Horace Hanesworth, Robertson's Reel, Rose Tree, Shoes and Stockings, and William Blake's Dead, as well as Fair Jenny's Jig, Camp Pleasant Jig, Early in the Year, Flowers of Autumn, Moon and Seven Stars, and Maison de Glace. The 3/4 time tunes Crested Hens and Far Away also fall into this category. I think if you had to classify these tunes, the non-jig ones would be like polkas or marches. Very distinctive melodies that are easy to sing/hum/mutter and hear in your head.
Here are some other things I like about contra music:
-The piano accompaniment. It stays right on the beat, providing a steady rhythm.
-How the tunes can come from a wide variety of traditions, including Ireland, Scotland, England, Appalachian, Québécois, Cape Breton, New England, and more. Agnostic in this regard.
-Lots of "modern day" tunes (written within the last 50 years) are part of the active repertoire by composers such as Bob McQuillen, Randy Miller, Larry Unger, Keith Murphy, Brenda Stubbert, and Judi Morningstar.
-The music slightly less beholden to the diatonic keys of the Irish flute and D-whistle, so you see more sharps and more flats in the key signature, and tunes will include notes on the low G string of a fiddle.
-There's a wider variety of acceptable instruments. Like I said, there's the piano element. But I've also played in contra jams with saxophone, trombone, and silver concert flutes. You might also hear clarinet, marimba, or bass guitar. Instruments that would be controversial in a more strict Irish trad idea of appropriate instrumentation.
-Recordings by bands such as Wild Asparagus, Hillbillies from Mars, and Supertrad are really fun to listen to!
Anyway, that's it.
***
