Money Musk


Traditional, always danced to the tune of the same name

Triple and proper (1,4, etc., active)

Often, the dance is compressed into 24 bars (48 beats), by reducing each forward-and-back to four beats and/or by speeding up the allemandes. Some versions of this compression are given below.

The Money Musk tune has 4 parts, each of 8 bars; and each part is played just once through. For a 24-bar dance, the tune is shortened, usually by eliminating the fourth part.

Tune (abc with embedded MIDI)
MIDI file, as arranged and sequenced by Harold Doolan
About dance sources and tune formats on the Web.


Some common compressions of the dance into 24 bars are the following. Callers and dancers who know Money Musk should be aware that if they're visiting another dance, they may encounter a quite different version.

1. This version manages the compression by reducing the forward-and-backs to four-beats--essentially to balances. Note that the two balances are at different places in the musical phrase. The three-quarter turns in A2 are at different speeds. The first is quite leisurely, but the second is fast and must lead directly into the right-and-left. The balances are sometimes done as forward-and-back balances; sometimes as step-kick balances. Often these balances are quite percussive. Many experienced dancers find this a very enjoyable version of the dance: the differing positions of the balances in the phrase and the differing speeds of the allemandes add interest. (This was once the most common version in southwest New Hampshire.)

2. The second version is like the first except that the first three-quarter turn in A2 is done in only four beats, so that the two balances fall at corresponding places in the musical phrase. The second three-quarter turn (into the right-and-left) is correspondingly quite leisurely. Some dancers like the more standard location of the balances in this version; others find this less interesting than the other versions.

3. In this version, each of the three-quarter turns takes six beats. As a result, in A2 both the turns and the balance are across the phrase.

4. This version manages the compression by speeding up the allemandes. The forward-and-backs take the full eight beats. You must be very quick to manage the moves in A1. The eight-beat forward-and-back in A2 is across the musical phrase.


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