Where the Irish of the Delaware Valley meet
Session Etiquette
Stop me if I've asked this before.
Should you ever just start playing? Should you sit at the bar, fiddle case obviously in hand, but wait to be asked? Does it depend on the session? Any special tips for bodhran players? What goes through your head when they seem to insist on playing everything you play, needed or not?
Special tips for singers? (Like, if all I know is rebel tunes or drinking songs, might they not be welcome in certain sessions?)
Have you ever had to ask anyone to not play? And who should make that call? Is there ever a situation where, if you don't know the tune as well as everyone else does, you should try anyway? (Or, again, does that depend on the session?) Should you ever try to pick your way through by ear?
I'm curious about solos, too. Every once in a while a fiddler or a flutist (or maybe two good musical pals together) will launch into a tune or a set. I'm always amazed when people know not to join in. It's kind of like a weird mental telepathy that tells everyone else not to play. (Or maybe this is the performer's signature tune, and everyone knows it but me. Not mental telepathy.) Maybe someone can explain that to me.
Do you, in your own minds, think of different sessions in terms of skill levels? Not to name names, but it's clear to me that some sessions seem more geared to, and tolerant of, learners. Some sessions, on the other hand, seem like no place for musical virgins.
Should you ever just start playing? Should you sit at the bar, fiddle case obviously in hand, but wait to be asked? Does it depend on the session? Any special tips for bodhran players? What goes through your head when they seem to insist on playing everything you play, needed or not?
Special tips for singers? (Like, if all I know is rebel tunes or drinking songs, might they not be welcome in certain sessions?)
Have you ever had to ask anyone to not play? And who should make that call? Is there ever a situation where, if you don't know the tune as well as everyone else does, you should try anyway? (Or, again, does that depend on the session?) Should you ever try to pick your way through by ear?
I'm curious about solos, too. Every once in a while a fiddler or a flutist (or maybe two good musical pals together) will launch into a tune or a set. I'm always amazed when people know not to join in. It's kind of like a weird mental telepathy that tells everyone else not to play. (Or maybe this is the performer's signature tune, and everyone knows it but me. Not mental telepathy.) Maybe someone can explain that to me.
Do you, in your own minds, think of different sessions in terms of skill levels? Not to name names, but it's clear to me that some sessions seem more geared to, and tolerant of, learners. Some sessions, on the other hand, seem like no place for musical virgins.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Meade on -
Yup, I wasn't disagreeing with any of what Mary had to say. I was making a cheeky reference to "Clueless." But fiddle woman speak truth.
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Permalink Reply by Mary Malone on -
Frank, I love playing the sessions - and my favorite one in the Philly area is the one at "The Shanachie" that is "in the suburbs and hosted by two excellent players that are paid." Excellent players SHOULD be paid (see an earlier post I made about the issue of musicians being paid.) The session is hosted by Kevin McGillian and Fintan Malone, strong "Irish" trad musicians, steeped in the tradition.
But it IS very much a delicate balance on the part of the session leaders to maintain control of the sessions so that the strong players want to continue to come out and play with each other - and the learners still get an opportunity to play a tune or two while they are in the process of learning.
But sessions are NOT for practicing and everything circles back to the fundamental rule of session etiquette: "If you don't know a tune, don't play it."
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Meade on
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I'm the relative newcomer to Irish music among you. Even Tim Hill, who is years younger than I am, is several steps ahead of me, musically. Most of you guys have forgotten more about Irish music than I know. But I'll presume to have an opinion on this ... I really love session play, too. Any time I get to sit and play a few tunes with the likes of Kevin and Fintan, it's really a privilege. I also think there's a huge amount of socializing and socialization that goes on in a session, and that's just as important as the music Some of my most memorable times at a session were when I elected to sit things out for a night and spend time on the sidelines, sharing laughs with some pals. Even the bit of fooling around that goes on during the session -- like Tom pressing the button on Judy's piano to trigger the annoying sample tune -- it's all good.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff Meade on
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I'd probably have been one of the ones who would have thought that it "is" the music. But, as I say, I have heaps to learn.
I will say that, on those occasions when I've found time to take lessons -- when I haven't been swamped with competition pipe band stuff and helping run a Web site -- that I've learned tons about origins of tunes and style of play from a guy like Dennis Gormley. Lessons should be a part of the picture (Maybe someday I'll actually have time.) But your earlier point, Frank, about kitchen sessions seems really important, too. (I'd love to record a bunch, like the Clare FM sessions this past year.)
And, of yeah, I learn heaps from Clare FM. I hear stuff on Clare FM that I never hear in the U.S., musicians who probably will never tour in the States, but they're nonetheles wondrous and as close to the source as you can get.
But I do think you'd be missing a critical part of the picture without sessions in your life.
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