Working With Other Callers

by Al Stevens, Callerlab Accredited Caller Coach

By definition a duet is a piece of music for two performers. As we relate duets to Square Dancing, a duet is two callers calling the same number at the same time in the same hall, to the same dancers. Duets are a great tool to be used by callers, if two callers are compatible with each other, however a danger exists when two callers are non - compatible. Nothing sounds worse than to listen to two callers trying to work with each other - and can't.

The most obvious thought that comes to mind when I work together with another caller is that the DANCERS are first and foremost in my mind. I feel fortunate in that I have a musical background and can work very comfortably with music and feel that I can work together with many, many callers. In fact, I can't think of any callers that I can not work with comfortably. The degree to which I work with callers depends a lot on how they handle music - can they distinguish between melody and harmony, and can they call both?

Through this article, I have used my own terminology and when I refer to singing, I am referring to the portions of singing calls where there are no commands being given - just the "normal" text of the song - or the "tag - line". Before I get into the different types of duets, I would like to list a few of the advantages and disadvantages for using duets as an entertaining tool.

ADVANTAGES:

1. Two personalities on stage always creates excitement for dancers.

2. Two different calling styles doubles the dancers enjoyment.

3. Two different singing styles can add to the dancers enjoyment as well.

4. Two different choreography styles can add to the choreographic puzzle.

5. Most original songs use a lot of harmony, if you use harmony as well you can make a singing call sound more like the original song.

DISADVANTAGES:

1. Personality clashes - inevitable if two callers allow it to happen.

2. Two callers trying to outdo each other - neglecting the dancers.

Duets are not going to be everybody's cup of tea, but there is a lot of room for scope when you have two callers on stage. I have categorized duets into four groups.

1. ALTERNATE

2. UNISON

3. HARMONY

4. COUNTER MELODY

ALTERNATE - involves both callers taking turns at calling choreography and singing the tag lines. They don't call or sing together at any time and can normally perform a singing call unrehearsed. This gives the dancers the opportunity to hear two styles of the same singing call.

UNISON - This is probably the most common of those that I listed and involves taking turns at choreography and singing in unison (the same notes at the same time) during the tag lines. Because there are many ways to phrase the tag lines in all records, at least some practice or discussion is needed before performing - this reduces the risk of having neither caller being understood. There are some records which have been produced with duets in mind. Some even have the two callers on the flip side calling choreography together. Without a lot of practice, this practice can be disastrous. If you mix up phrasing while you are singing tag lines, dancers still keep going, but if you mix up the phrasing of choreography and the words clash together, no one can understand you and the dancers fail - it only stands to reason that to call choreography in unison, or in harmony, the two callers MUST be letter perfect. The song "Honky Tonk Queen" fits this category.

HARMONY - This is probably the most effective from a musical point of view. The definition of harmony is "the structure, function, and relationship of chords." To me, this implies that to call harmony you would need some sort of musical knowledge, or an ear for music, with the latter being the most important. In order to call harmony, the "harmonizing" caller calls a third or fifth note above or below the lead, i.e., if the lead note was a "C" the harmony notes would be "E" and "G". The notes C, E, and G make up the C chord, and hence the definition. This is slightly arbitrary as it depends on the music supplied on the record, i.e., if the chord on the record is C minor, the harmony notes would be E flat and G. This is why a lot of practice needs to be done to make sure the harmony fits in with the record. My last point on harmony is that it has other uses for solo callers. How many records do you have in your "Don't Bother" box because you can't reach the high or the low notes? By finding the harmony notes to replace the notes you can't reach, you may find that quite a few of those "Don't Bother" records could now go into use. This is particularly useful for callers who don't have a huge note range or for female callers who find that most of the records are produced for male voices. The best way to work this out is to ask a caller with some singing/musical knowledge or sit down at a piano or guitar and play around with the notes until you find one that sounds pleasing. The song "On And On" fits this category.

COUNTER MELODY - This style of duet is limited to the records that are produced. This style of duet requires two callers singing two different songs together at the same time. This style is the one that brings the "OOHS and AAHS" out of the dancers. "Play Me Some Rag", "Bill Bailey", "Oh Lonesome Me" (the vocal of "Small World" fits in quite nicely with the music to "Oh Lonesome Me") are some of the songs that fit this category.

One final note on duets - there are a few things which can make a duet more enjoyable to the dancers and to you as well.

As you are all aware, the majority of dancers don't listen when the callers aren't calling, so therefore try to avoid using too much banter or hash.
If you are using jokes or introductions to songs, keep them short.
Avoid using caller "in" jokes, such as "We finally found a Rhythm Record with a different figure on it."
Remember to turn the microphones down if both of you are singing at the same time. It will usually be a bit louder with both callers calling. Better still is to pull the microphones away from your mouths a little - this saves moving the controls.
Use eye contact with each other. It is incredible the number of messages that can be transferred by just a look. A roll of the eyes could mean "They haven't learned RECYCLE yet", or a nod of the head could mean "It's your turn". Even callers who practice together regularly need to watch each other to make sure the dance flows smoothly. Quite often, I watch the lips of the caller I am working with for clues as to how the words are going to be phrased.
Normally, when two callers who both understand the difference between "melody" and "harmony" get together, usually it is an un - written rule that the caller who sings the opener, or the figure, will do the melody and the other caller will fill in with the harmony. This is usually true unless one admits before they start that they don't know the harmony - BETTER BEFORE THAN DURING.
Use the two personalities to "Ham It Up" and give the dancers the entertainment that they deserve and they want to see - enjoy yourselves, but please NOT at the expense of the dancers.