Traditional, always danced to the tune of the same name Triple and proper (1,4, etc., active) older contra dances.

A1  16 Actives allemande right once and a half; go outside, below one couple
 
A2   8 Forward six and back 
     8 Actives allemande right three quarters around, to lines of six across the hall 

B1   8 Forward six and back 
     8 Actives allemande right three quarters to place

B2  16 Top two couples (1s and 2s) right and left through (across and back)

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.

The tune for Money Musk originated in Scotland in 1776 and the first dance instructions appeared in 1785. By 1792, the tune and dance had made it to North America, and both spread rapidly. (Many of today's dancers first encountered the phrase Money Musk when they were children, reading Little House in the Big Woods; it was a tune that Laura's Pa played on his fiddle.)