By-Ear Open Band
Welcome to the By-Ear Open Band (BEOB)! We play for Second Tuesday Contra Dances, 7:30-9:30 at the Park Avenue Community Center in Swarthmore PA. Musicians get in for half price ($5), and it's fine to switch off playing and dancing.
We ask only that you play from memory / by ear rather than using written music.
So many of us are used to the world of written music and aren’t confident playing from memory or by ear. But it’s the norm with traditional music and playing for dances, and many unconfident people have done great getting off the page with a little practice. The benefits are a much better connection with the dancers and the other musicians! And it opens up the world of playing tunes socially with other people.
You don't have to know all the tunes—if you’re strong on just a few we’ll make sure to play them. And picking up tunes on the fly is a time-honored tradition!
Feel free to contact Rick Mohr ([email protected]) for more info.
Set List — updated October 14, 2026
Here's the current set list. Learn them:
- by ear — click a tune below to hear it, slow it down, and loop it, or
- by eye — see the written music (ABC) or just the new tunes (ABC)
Jigs
Cliffs of Moher (Am) / Handsome Young Maidens (A)
Jefferson and Liberty (Am) / Miller's Maggot (G)
Wild One (Dm) / Blue Jig (A)
Glen Echo Jig (G)
/
Da Brig (D)
Jig to Reel
Idlewild (D/Bm) / Road to California (D)
Coleraine (Am) / Elzic's Farewell (Am)
Reels
Lamplighter's (A) / Rainy Night in Montague (Dmix)
Shenandoah Falls (A) / Pow Wow (Am/C)
Hommage à Edmond Parizeau (A) / Dedicado à Jos (Bm/D)
William Blake's Dead (D) / Sandy Boys (Amix)
Sarah Armstrong's Tune (D)
/
Hollow Poplar (G)
Marchy
Quarry Cross (Em) / Prince William (A)
Swing Your Partner (G/C) / Obama's March to the White House (G)
Du Pop à Ars (G) / Walls of Saint Malo (Bm)
The Halting March (Am)
/
Riding On a Load of Hay (D)
Waltzes
Upper Valley Waltz (Dm)
Hewlett (D)
Sadie's Waltz (C)
Josefin's Dopvals (G)