Session Etiquette

TXwhistle · Post by **TXwhistle** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 9:24 pm

I live in Amarillo, TX, which to my knowledge has no regular sessions, if any. So the chances of me going to one in the near future are slim to none. Still, you can never tell, so can someone explain the rules of etiquette? Like, do you just say "Hi!" and start playing? Do you hang around holding your whistle (or other instrument) and wait to be invited?

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 10:00 pm

Try this:
http://www.murphyroche.com/Our_Sessions.htm

and also buy the book that's mentioned near the bottom of that page:
Field Guide to the Irish Music Session
By Barry Foy
ISBN 1-57098-241-4

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 10:13 pm

The field guide is good but beginners should take its advice with a grain of salt; it exaggerates some points and makes fun of others. It's a good book to read after you've been to a few sessions and have a rough idea of what's going on, as it will be much funnier then.

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 10:27 pm

It depends upon the session you attend.

A good rule is to 1. listen a lot, if you know the tune well and can play at tempo and it is a big jam, it might be OK to just jump in.

If you get there early and meet the players as they come in and have a whistle in sight, they will probably get the idea you might play Irish music and introduce themselves and give you an idea of what goes on there.

Caj · Post by **Caj** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 11:50 pm

Hi,

Usually, if you just heard about a session somewhere, you could simply go there as a spectator the first time. No hurry after all, just drink beer and listen to free music, then talk to the sessioneers after the show about next week.

After all, it always helps to know how a specific session works before joining in: who runs it, how they run it, if it's open or closed or advanced or intermediate, whether they already have 5 of your instrument, etc.

It also helps to know what tunes are popular there, so you can practice those.

Caj

bjs · Post by **bjs** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 3:21 am

I clicked on the Murphy rosse web site and see "don't ask for Danny Boy"
Why not?

Ignoramous

pixyy · Post by **pixyy** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 3:39 am

bjs wrote:I clicked on the Murphy rosse web site and see "don't ask for Danny Boy"
Why not?

Ignoramous

For one because it is one of the most 'done to death' songs in the Irish repertoire.

It also gives a que to all drunks who thus far have been quietly muttering into their glass to get up, stagger over to some unsuspecting musician, put their hand on their shoulder for balance and in their loudest voice sing half the lyrics. The slower the better of course... :roll:

...at least that's what I have heard.
I'm usually out the door before that

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 4:00 am

pixyy wrote:
bjs wrote: It also gives a que to all drunks who thus far have been quietly muttering into their glass to get up, stagger over to some unsuspecting musician, put their hand on their shoulder for balance and in their loudest voice sing half the lyrics. The slower the better of course... :roll:

Cripes-- ya just brought back a horrid memory. Several years ago I went to the wedding of a VERY Irish couple and it was a gorgeous affair. Beautiful church wedding with a bagpiper leading the procession down the aisle. The reception was held at the Emma Willard School which you may have seen, as it was used as the set for the boy's school in the Pacino movie Scent of a Woman. Again the piper led the newly married couple across the gorgeous campus into the spectacular reception hall ( a sort of mini-Hogwart's looking place). The food was outstanding, catered by a certified master chef, and naturally the liquid refreshments flowed freely. A totally wonderful event..... until the best man decided it was time to haul out Danny Boy.
Every verse.
Slowly.
'WAY off pitch.... that part where the tune jumps up was so off it could shatter glass. Truly awful. Painful. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, but I don't think that was due to the tender sentiments of the song...

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 5:07 am

My perennial favourite is "When Irish Eyes are Smiling"

I can only remember half the words and notes at the best of times. When I'm in my cups, it's every man & woman for him/herself.

Better still, that Gaelic number, the English translation is something like "Please Miss, May I go to the toilet?"

I'd follow Caj's advice - go along & listen, have your instrument with you in case, but don't expect to join in the first week. Buy a round for the players. Buy another round. Edge closer. Show interest in the guy wrestling the octopus.

Rando7 · Post by **Rando7** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 9:55 am

TXwhistle wrote:I live in Amarillo, TX, which to my knowledge has no regular sessions, if any. So the chances of me going to one in the near future are slim to none. Still, you can never tell, so can someone explain the rules of etiquette? Like, do you just say "Hi!" and start playing? Do you hang around holding your whistle (or other instrument) and wait to be invited?

This may not apply to you, but in the session I attend I e-mailed the organizer before I went. This let him know what I played, level of experience, etc plus gave him a chance to let me know of any potential problems and give advice. It also allowed me to have a person to look for the first time I went. I think most of the sessions on sessioneer.org give e-mail addresses of the folks "in charge".

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 10:14 am

Last night we had a few interesting points, including a woman who asked to sing Danny Boy. Normally the leader of our session would politely decline, but the woman was visiting from Australia, and was quite nice about asking (very appreciative of the music, etc). I sort of sighed, took my drink and went to talk with Tyghre. . .she started singing. . .and I immediately whispered to him "Jeez, shé started way too high...this is going to be awful" but "come ye back" was right on the mark. . ."Okay, she hit that. . .but she'll never make the high note." Well it rolled around, she nailed it, and it was pure and sweet and not bellowed and it was wonderful!

The lady who brought the alto recorder last week showed up with a concert flute this week, and when she started warming up, doing octave jumps, three people looked at her with alarm. . .and she never noticed or care. Again she 'played along' with everything, never knowing a note of anything, nor the rhythm, nor the concept of AABB x 3. She talked with me a bit, and told me that she plays classical one night a week, Klezmer another night, is looking for a Latin jam, and now she has the Irish too, and she plans to come every week. (moan) One wonders if she has any knowledge of any of the genre's she's maneuvering herself into. I want to suggest to her that she concentrate on any one of them and try to study it, not just assume that music is music.

But in our session unless you're REALLY obnoxious, no one is going to say anything. And she isn't obnoxious, just clueless. We had a full complement of 'real musicians' to carry the music last night (three fine fiddles, a concertina and piano accordion that all knew what the score was) three of us who have a clue, if not talent or much experience at a solid melody line, and three more backup instruments plus our fair share of percussion.

Please, go to your local session. . .for the first couple of times LISTEN, talk to people, ask questions. . .sure have your instrument available, and if you're asked go ahead and play, or if you absolutely know a tune flat out and have listened enough to know that you won't be hideously intrusive. . .

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 11:11 am

Tyghress, you're going through the same pain I'm going through in my local session. Sometimes, some people are just not *aware* that there's people around them, it's as if they were in their own "bubble".

Usually, in a session, when someone starts a set, that person *leads* the set. That means that if the person who started the set decides that a single reel is not played as single, well, you have to go with the set leader. It also means that you have to listen to the set leader when he goes to another tune. How many times did I have some people trying to hijack a set, but fortunately the guitarist knows his stuff and is following me, which forces the "bubble" people to wake up.

I had the most wonderful experience last summer in Ireland when I was playing with a band of 3 irish musicians who were very good but also who were very conscious of what was happening around them. I started a set of reels, and they happened to know the set (The Kilfenora Set). Well, first tune, they told me after, is usually played a single reel (one time each part). Well, I learned it as two times the first part, and one time the second part. Anyway, the most amazing thing, they were listening to *me* and actually played it the way I played it. After, they told me "hey your first reel is usually played single in Ireland".

Anyway, that's just an example of how great it is to be in a session where all of the participants actually care about their surrounding environment. You know, people who actually realize that they create discomfort with their freakin' concert flute

David the Potter · Post by **David the Potter** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 12:59 pm

"Still, you can never tell, so can someone explain the rules of etiquette?"

I find this question fascinating, as in my experience, there are as many characteristics of sessions, with attendant etiquette, as there are characteristics of the people who attend them.

In my locality in the Pennine Hills of County Durham, there are many sessions which I could go to, each with its own particular character.

One seemed very cold and elitist until I joined a local band. When it became known that I played with a good class of musician, I was made extremely welcome, but this seemed a trifle hypocritical as I was the same player and person before I was allowed to enter the elitist hierachy.

Another one was very welcoming but, it was "de riguere" to pay homage to the self pronounced 'star of the show', an extremely accomplished pipe player. If you were not willing to play the game, you were rebuffed.

The best sessions are warm, friendly, encouraging, supportive, and fun.

If there were rules, I suppose the following would be helpful if not self evident:

Do not play too loud, out of tune , or out of time.

Do not talk whilst others are playing.

Wait to go to the bar/loo until the playing has stopped.

Most sessions play tunes far too fast, where speed is equated with accomplishment. I feel many tunes are murdered, with no time or place for nuances of tone or expression. Even if you are a rank beginner, a sympathetic session will ask you to start a set with a tune that you know, at a tempo that you can cope with. If this does not happen, find a better session where the musicians are supportive and not meglomaniacs on speed.

Good luck,

David

U2 · Post by U2 » Thu Sep 25, 2003 2:19 pm

TXwhistle wrote:I live in Amarillo, TX, which to my knowledge has no regular sessions, if any. So the chances of me going to one in the near future are slim to none. Still, you can never tell, so can someone explain the rules of etiquette? Like, do you just say "Hi!" and start playing? Do you hang around holding your whistle (or other instrument) and wait to be invited?

Tex - Stop! Saw your posts on the session.org site and it's time to get off the net and on the freakin' road!

Lubbock is 2 hours south of you down I-27. The session starts at 6:30 pm, Fridays, Kluzo's bar, 18th St. and Buddy Holly Ave. Take the 114 East exit, go about two blocks, turn right. See you there. If you get out of line, we'll slap you gently at first.

There's a slow session every Saturday from 4 - 6 where you can learn tunes. Dance lessons run from 3 - 4 Saturdays. How immersed you wanna be?

steve

TXwhistle · Post by **TXwhistle** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 5:24 pm

Mmm...I haven't posted on session.org (I only registered there about two days ago), but I'm glad to know about the sessions at Klusoz. I've been there a few times to watch my old friend Susan play with her band. I'm working Friday nights for the next few weeks, but maybe I could make one of the Saturday sessions. Thanks Steve!

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