The question could be answered in different ways. I usually won’t play pipes in session if another piper starts the tune, i will sit it out or play concertina. the exception for me is when it is a tune or set we have worked up together.
Also, at one session I have been requested to play an air to stop the onslaught of way to fast jigs and reels. (this from the session host) Another session I was asked to start a tune, “but not some obscure piping piece” Gee, I thought everyone loved to listed to pipes.
About the future if this music. At a recent pipers gathering I noticed if the piper had hair, it was gray. I don’t notice much difference at the few session I go to.
I came to the opinion several years ago that sessions and bands were bad for my piping.
The last time I was in the UK, the couple of sessions I did go to we’re focused on bashing out fast popular tunes. The winner was the person who knew the most reels.
I used to think it was a problem being an isolated piper in Japan, now I see it as an advantage.
I learn the tunes that interest me and that work best with the pipes.
I did play in a band for a while, but the music was boring.
The pipes are at their best solo or with a few other pipers.
Don’t bow to the pressure of session playing at the expense of good piping.
Back when I was just learning my teacher - Debbie Quigley - was insistent that I play in sessions as part of the learning curve.
There are skills you should acquire that will come only by playing in front of people. And with the pipes being a relatively demanding instrument you don’t want to be fighting butterflies in your gut whenever you bring the set out. Also there are skills you acquire only from playing with other people - timing, phrasing, communication etc…etc… Indeed many skills worth having.
If after that you choose to do mostly solo piping - and I know very good pipers who don’t play sessions - then it is a personal choice on your part and not one thrust upon you for lack of skills.
First of all, don’t believe anything anyone ever tells you on the internet.
Second of all, you will learn a TON about timing, rhythm, and phrasing by playing with people who are better than you are. This won’t happen sitting alone in your house, or even playing along to recordings, as playing with real people is a wildly different experience than playing with recordings.
Third of all, I really would not worry if it’s a “fiddle tune.” Most tunes can be played on the pipes so long as they are more or less in range or can be folded in some reasonable way to be in the range. And aren’t in some kind of wacky key. Or are Scott Skinner strathspeys. Very few tunes you hear at sessions are in silly keys or wildly out of the pipes’ range. I mostly play the pipes at a session but switch to the whistle for a few tunes when I want to save energy and have a short rest, as the pipes require more physical effort. Newly composed tunes not right for the pipes??? That’s a new one.
Lastly, you will only know what your local sessions are like if you go to them. The experiences of a bunch of random people on the internet are in the sense entirely irrelevant. Every session is different.
Mukade, you make some excellent points about the competitiveness of some sessions, but that is not true of some others. Ye, he who has the most reels wins makes for a boring session.
I also find no reason to learn tunes that don’t appeal to me, but I am bold enough to toss out tunes I like but never hear at sessions. At my favorite session when I play Old Bush/Dublin Reel/Flogging reel I don’t play any of the tunes solo, but I am not sure any one person plays all three with me. Last night, at a session with only four others, only one person knew Old Bush, no one knew Dublin and that same person faked along with Flogging. A new attendee asked what those ‘mighty’ reels were, she had to have them. I expand session repertoire and have often been surprised at how many know old piping standards that don’t get much play time.
No one knew Maid in the Cherry Tree at either session, but some knew the tune I pair it with, Heather Breeze. Soon the flutes and whistles will be playing Cherry Tree with me. I’ve no idea yet what fiddles think of that tune, but both are boring on concertina.
Certainly sessions cannot and should not replace the benefits of focussed solo playing and practising, but IMO nor can solo practice alone replace some of the benefits of group playing (I’m thinking specifically of rhythm,timing, listening skills, repertoire building, confidence in playing in public). I would suggest a healthy balance of the two, assuming of course that you have the option of attending a decent session locally.
I wouldn’t necessarily write off all sessions as simply exercises in mindless speed. While that is certainly a common shortfall, we had a lovely moderate tempo session at my local last night when just 4-5 of us showed up. Now when there are 10-12 players, speed takes over to be sure. But it is not necessarily a constant fetaure, and can often reflect the musicians who show up on any given evening. Also don’t think it’s only ‘a session’ if it’s in a pub. Back home in Toronto, we used to arrange lots of sessions of 3-4 players in people’s homes, inviting the musicians with whom we had a common approach to playing. We sometimes do that here in London as well, which can allow you to avoid the pitfalls of crazy tempos and only playing the bog standard tunes.
I would also agree with Silver Spear that you should not underestimate the benefits of getting to play alongside more experienced musicians. Here in London we are lucky to have amazing musicians passing through for short or longer periods of time that I would never get a chance to hear or play with if I didn’t get out to a few sessions. If you are lucky enough to have a more senior piper at your local session, even more so the benefit.
Finally, never underestimate the social value of the music. My teachers have always emphasised the social aspects of the music as being central to the fabric of the tradition. I have made some great friends through music, some I’ve known for 20 years now, who I never would have met if I only played in my kitchen. How does one weigh the value of that?
I shouldn’t even be in here. I don’t play the pipes but I enjoy listening to them immensely. I attend sessions (only to listen/socialize) and there are all types of sessions within commuting distance. Also house concerts, kitchen playing and such close at hand. Recently I attended a house concert with Emmett Gill (uilleann pipes) and Jesse Smith (fiddle) just prior to their attending the Northeast Tionól. After the house concert ended and most people had departed Mattie Connolly and Damien Connolly went out to their cars for their instruments. Mattie with pipes and Damien with fiddle joined Emmett for another thirty minutes of tunes… with no audience… myself and maybe three or four others. Spontaneous moment and chance encounter. That was special. Call it what you want to.
Emmett Gill and Jesse Smith
Left to right, Mattie Connolly, Damien Connolly, and Emmett Gill
