Session observations

[Cubitt]

I play both trad and modern music. When I go to a jam (as opposed to a session), I can join in on many tunes, play backup (I play flute), improvised instrumental breaks, harmonies, etc. If the jam features music I like, whether original or popular, I almost always have a good time, and spend much more time playing than not playing.

At sessions, you must know the tunes, subscribe to the etiquette of the specific session, contend with attitudes about bodhrans, guitars, etc., and contend with the level of musicianship. Sessions, IMO, are very hit-or-miss, and when they miss, they can be very depressing.

As I continue to read posts on THE SESSION and this site, I find myself wondering how others feel about the two paragraphs above. I would like to hear from musicians who consider themselves fairly proficient, and have attended enough sessions to feel like they have a solid opinion on this subject.

Cheers.

[colomon]

Seems like a fair assessment to me, though my memory of the local jazz club's open mic night was that our friend who was a fine jazz singer (has since released two albums) was scared silly of violating the etiquette there, too.

The thing about an Irish session is that it is composed of human beings. Some people are there because they want to have fun making music with other people. Some are there to show how amazingly cool they are. Some are only there because they're getting paid. Some people are pretty lousy musicians, some are brilliant, and a decent percentage of both groups have no idea how good they really are. You mix that all together and add a few layers of politics, and you have a session.

Guitars and bodhrans are a special case, because they both give the impression that you can play along with any tune easily. As a result, it is very common to see clueless beginners walk into an advanced session and try to play along with everything -- and usually when they do that, they don't actually know enough about the music to play along with any of the tunes! The damage a clueless beginner can do on a melody instrument is very limited, simply because he will not know the vast majority of the tunes. The damage a clueless beginner can do on guitar or bodhran is nearly infinite.

[pancelticpiper]

Your two paragraphs are obviously true to your experience, but the first has no relevance to people like myself who play Irish traditional music but do not play jazz/pop styles. The first paragraph could just as well have been about Chinese music, or Bluegrass, or Arabic music, or any other form of music that I do not play.
Sessions are what they are, and people that want to play Irish traditional music in its traditional setting attend the best session they can find in their area.

[Nanohedron]

At sessions, you must know the tunes, subscribe to the etiquette of the specific session, contend with attitudes about bodhrans, guitars, etc., and contend with the level of musicianship. Sessions, IMO, are very hit-or-miss, and when they miss, they can be very depressing.

That's why it's probably best to approach the session as a social event first and leave musical hopes in your pocket. Which isn't to say that one still won't have frustrating times, but they ought to be more bearable, and the best times will be made even better with socialising being given its proper due.

Of course, some people are just shy; it's taken me years to open up, and even then sometimes I'm still at a loss for tunes AND wit. But on the days when the music isn't at its best, I might as well try to have a good time anyway, as there I am, after all. No use brooding.

I've heard tell of sessions - in the U.S., I presume - where the social thing is almost nonexistent, but I've never been to one.

[Ro3b]

Part of the difference lies with the nature of the music. Irish music isn't generally improvisational, except in maybe a small-scale, honor-the-melody way. So if you're going to sit down and play Irish music with a bunch of people, yeah, you'd damn well better know the tunes, because there's nothing else for you to play. And if you're trying play accompaniment and you don't know the piece of music you're accompanying, you're doomed. I believe this holds true in just about all kinds of music, not just Irish.

What kind of "modern music" do you play? Rock, jazz, blues, or what? I can't think of any kind of music that doesn't require a bit of prior knowledge before you wade in and start playing. If I were to try to play at a jam session of accomplished jazz musicians without knowing how to improvise over changes, or (much worse!) if I were to play accompaniment at such a session without taking the trouble to know the piece of music, I'd deserve to be thrown out. Why should Irish music be any different? Why is this so hard to understand?

[johnkerr]

I play both trad and modern music. When I go to a jam (as opposed to a session), I can join in on many tunes, play backup (I play flute), improvised instrumental breaks, harmonies, etc. If the jam features music I like, whether original or popular, I almost always have a good time, and spend much more time playing than not playing.

At sessions, you must know the tunes, subscribe to the etiquette of the specific session, contend with attitudes about bodhrans, guitars, etc., and contend with the level of musicianship. Sessions, IMO, are very hit-or-miss, and when they miss, they can be very depressing.

As I continue to read posts on THE SESSION and this site, I find myself wondering how others feel about the two paragraphs above. I would like to hear from musicians who consider themselves fairly proficient, and have attended enough sessions to feel like they have a solid opinion on this subject.

Cheers.

I play Irish traditional music. Before I started playing the music over 15 years ago, I listened to the music and danced to it. Indeed, the years of listening and dancing were what made me decide that I wanted to learn to play the music myself. I went to sessions as a listener long before I ever picked up a flute. I came to sessions as a relatively new player and sat there listening more than playing, but I was also learning - about the music, how to play it, and the whole culture and etiquette of the music, both in my local area and elsewhere. I learned the universal rules of the session and the local variations thereof. I made a few mistakes along the way, wrong notes on the flute and wrong moves in the context of the session. But I learned from those mistakes too. I made a lot of friends, and surprisingly very few enemies along the way.

So now, when I want to play ITM with my friends or friends-to-be who also play ITM, I go to a session. When I feel the need for a good jam, I head to Whole Foods (or better yet, a farmer's market) and pick one up. I don't always have a great time at the session, but the odds are much better that I will if no one shows up that night with an instrument in hand, looking to "jam" with us. (Although sometimes it can be quite fun, in a snarky sort of way, to talk about people like that at future sessions, weeks, months and even years later - provided of course that they don't keep coming back and destroying the session, no matter how much they are ignored, shunned or even shouted at when they do.)

Look at it this way; If you were a recreational or even a professional card player, would you expect to be able to walk into a high-stakes poker game and play bridge, just because they're using the same 52 cards you do? I doubt it. So why, if you are a recreational or even a professional musician would you expect to be able to walk into an Irish music session and play any old way you feel like playing, just because you have an instrument and they're playing in the same twelve-tone Western tonality that you do? If you expect to waltz into a situation like that, be welcomed with open arms and have a great time, I really have to wonder where you get that expectation from. On the other hand, I've rarely seen a session that will shun a newcomer who has the right attitude toward the music and is willing to learn, whether they eventually end up becoming a player or not. Of course there are some rude and cliquish people in the session scene, just as there are in life in general. But most of whatever reputation Irish music and the session in particular may have for being that way comes from people who really don't have a clue about the music and are trying to enforce their own expectations onto it. In the session as well as in any other aspect of life, that can never turn out well.

[Cubitt]

Just to be clear - I am making observations, as opposed to complaining or suggesting that anything change. Some aspects could, of course, improve, but sessions are what they are. I am just looking to see if what I see is shared by others.

The modern stuff I play includes 60s rock and roll, folk, and blues. I love to do head arrangements to a singer-songwriter's work. I've made some great friendships by expanding the sound from simple guitar accompaniment on the fly. Songwriters love to hear the potential of their tunes, so it is a mutually satisfying experience.

BTW, I have played around southern Ireland and in York, and my experience is that the English and Irish take themselves far less seriously than session players in California. Make of that what you will.

[Craig Stuntz]

One of my goals going into a session is to not play too much. I like to listen, and that's part of the reason I go. I don't know how this relates to the jams you go to; listening without playing may or may not be a goal there.

Anyhow, it's my theory that the difference between a good session and a bad session is that in the bad ones everyone tries to play every tune, whether or not they know it. I even wrote a handbook on how to ruin a session.

-Craig

[colomon]

Anyhow, it's my theory that the difference between a good session and a bad session is that in the bad ones everyone tries to play every tune, whether or not they know it.

There are other ways to have a bad session, too -- people who abuse the chance to start tunes can drag things downhill quickly as well. I'm thinking of the fiddler starting his fourth super-complex Scott Skinner hornpipe in a bizarre key, or the border piper going for 20 minutes in a row without pausing long enough for anyone else to start a tune....

[Denny]

Richie Blackmore

[alurker]

I am an Irish musician so your first paragraph is not applicable to what I do.

At sessions, you must know the tunes, subscribe to the etiquette of the specific session, contend with attitudes about bodhrans, guitars, etc.

Knowing the tunes and understanding the etiquette are session 'musts' but any musician with common sense should get that OK. Having played in sessions on four continents and extensively all around Ireland, I can honestly say that I have never heard anyone complain about a good session bodhran player or guitarist. The 'attitudes' that exist about bodhrans and guitars relate to those instruments as they are played by bad session musicians (although not necessarily by bad musicians). More often than not, it is good guitarists and bodhran players who have the strongest opinions about bad bodhran and guitar playing.

...and contend with the level of musicianship. Sessions, IMO, are very hit-or-miss, and when they miss, they can be very depressing.

I have similarly never seen anyone in a session complain about someone of a low level of musicianship joining in if they do so using common sense (asking before joining in; listening more than playing; not bringing the instrument along until proficient enough to not detract from the music; playing only the tunes they know; playing quietly if unsure; not trying to start tunes they know every time there is a break; etc.). Every ITM musician needs to take their first step into a session and they are generally welcomed and encouraged if they approach in the correct manner.

In my experience most of the 'miss' sessions I have been to have been 'misses' due to the actions of one or two of those joining in. If a session is so bad that it gets depressing there is always the option to sit out and as Nano says, use it as an opportunity for social interaction. There is always a lot of opportunity for good music talk at bad music sessions.

[Jayhawk]

I'm jealous of everyone who has had the opportunity to play in sessions on multiple continents...I've not left the county, let alone the continent, in far too long.

That said, I've played in several different cities east of KC (St. Louis, Baltimore, Atlanta, and some I'm sure I'm forgetting) and have always found a friendly welcome, nice folks, and a good time. Granted, I've not played anywhere west of Lawrence, Kansas, so who knows if the sessions go down hill the further west from Ireland you get.

I think a huge amount of your session experience is what you bring into it yourself. Session etiquette and rules have always been simple in my experience when visiting your non-home base session:
1) Always ask if you can sit in and don't just plop down and play.
2) Only play tunes you know.
3) Be polite.
4) Hold off starting a tune until asked.
5) Be humble.

Using those 5 rules, along with making an advanced contact (using the Session, Folkjam or C&F as a source) to let someone know you'll probably drop in, have led to a lot of fun evenings when I travel.

Are some sessions better than others? Absolutely, even the same session varies week by week, but if I'm not having fun it's usually me that's the problem.

I like listening to a tune I don't know, so not playing all the time isn't bad...I usually am trying to pick up the tune in my head so I can doodle on it later at home. I also like chatting with folks. I've met nice folks when I'm out of town, and had a good time meeting visitors to KC. A session without some chat time seems like a lesser thing in my opinion.

Eric

[Nanohedron]

Good set of guidelines, Eric. I'll expand on them with my own personal take, if I may:

1) Always ask if you can sit in and don't just plop down and play.

Absolutely. And tell them something of yourself, too.

2) Only play tunes you know.

God, yes. But also check if others know them, too. At one session I started into some tunes that I assumed were pretty basic, and it turned out that they weren't local fare.

3) Be polite.

But be willing to show a bit of wit, too, if you have the knack and know enough not to go overboard with it. At least be pleasant. Showing interest in others helps, too.

4) Hold off starting a tune until asked.

Yep. Once that formality is over, it's probably okay to start occasional sets unasked.

5) Be humble.

But not grindingly so. Please.

[Jayhawk]

Good additions Nano.

My point number five was not meant to encourage groveling (playing the grovel walks is OK though ), but I've known a few players with egos that definitely did not help them fit into a new situation (both in ITM and other musical venues over the years).

I do find it interesting what tunes "everyone knows"...I've found it to vary quite a bit myself. I think that's part of the fun of going to other sessions - there are always more tunes that "everyone knows" that I need to learn.

Eric

[alurker]

Eric's 5 points as qualified by Nano make up about as good a set of guidelines for joining an unfamiliar session as I have seen. Level of musicianship has no effect on the relevance of these guidelines. All points apart from No. 2 become less important over time as the resident musicians get to know you and your playing. Once again, common sense should prevail.

IMHO, ego is the main pitfall for a good ITM muso joining a session. What is interesting is that most of the better musicians don't tend to exibit much ego in a 'new' session environment.

This discussion brings to mind an odd scene at a festival I attended many moons ago. At a big gig/ceili in the main festival hotel I met up with two friends I hadn't seen in a couple of years and we decided to slip away to a quiet corner for a few tunes. We played by ourselves for about half an hour and then over the next hour or so we were gradually joined by about 20 musicians including several really well-known pro. ITM musicians. What was interesting was that there was a recognition from everyone that they were joining 'our session' and each person joining followed the same set of rules outlined above, to the point of (our) embarrassment. It was down to the three of us to pick most tunes/sets and nobody else would start a tune until they were invited to do so by one of us. It is one thing encouraging a session newbie to play a tune, it is quite another when that person has been your musical hero for 10 years.