Curtains Up!

In the last blog, I introduced some common ceremony music standards that you might like to include in your repertoire. For the reception, there are many directions you can take, depending upon whether the music will be used simply for background to dining, or whether it’s up to you and your band to get everyone up on their feet for dancing. The most important thing to keep in mind is to play the style of music that you play the best.

To get you started, this is a short list of some reception music standards that you might wish to consider including in your repertoire:

Timeless Wedding Reception Favorites

Ethnic Favorites:
1. Mexican—“La Bamba”
2. Greek—“Never on Sunday”
3. Italian—“Tarantella”, the Italian Wedding Dance
4. Italian—“Musetta’s Waltz” or “Quando Men Vo”
5. Scottish—“The Highland Fling”
6. Polish—“The Dollar Dance”

Silly Dances to Get Everyone on the Dance Floor:

1. “The Chicken Dance”
2. “The Hokey Pokey”
3. “YMCA”
4. “Old Time Rock n Roll”

This is a brief excerpt from my new book, “The Musician’s Guide to Brides: How to Make Money Playing Weddings” published by Hal Leonard Books. I’m sure you can think of more tunes to add to these lists. Add them in your comments below and help out other musicians to get a good start playing at weddings.

View Anne’s new book–see some individual sample pages

This book is available wherever Hal Leonard Books are sold: music and bookstores, and through online retailers (including barnesandnoble.com, sheetmusicplus.com, and amazon.com).

I may sound like I’m shamelessly promoting my book, but I’d really like to have some constructive feedback about it. I fully intend to write future editions, so your thoughts would be of great help to me. Please feel free to respond with your kind constructive comments, and certainly, respond with wedding favorites that you would like to add to the above lists.

My best to you,
Anne Roos
Celtic Harp Music by Anne Roos
http://www.celticharpmusic.com