What is the sessiun solution?

[bagpipe_bomb]

I am depressed.

So I'm at this little sessiun last night, It was the easy/casual session as opposed to one of the two "pro" sessiuns in town, and this one ok fiddle player sitting next to me is trying to think of a tune to start and they ask me if I know this one and I say yeah and we start playing it. The person on the other side of her is a kid (teen), multi-instrument, good player, and he's trying to figure out the accompanyment on a bazouki or some such. evidently it was too loud for the first player to keep their concentration so they stopped, I finished the tune. Then the fiddle player lays into the kid "damn rythm players hacking up the tunes! etc. etc." gets up in a huff and leaves. This is a teenager at probably the only sessiun they've been to and to make it worse the kid is a good player, not a hack but just was trying to figure out that tune! the boy's confidence was deeply shaken, he had tears in his eyes and didn't play a note the rest of the night.

Now I know that this is an extreme example of super bad sessiun ettiquete and that the fiddle player probably had just been fired/fight with spouse, whatever. but it got me thinking about how to accomodate less experienced sessiun players and still have a good time.

My questions to all of you who play out regularly are these:

Are sessiuns any fun? Are they only fun if you are a great player and everyone else is too? All the same skill level? who decides? More beer? less beer?

Portland has a rep for having super unfriendly, unfun sessiuns that are really only for experts. How can the casual (but good) players enjoy an evening of tunes?

Any suggestions?

-Don

[djm]

There is no happy solution if everyone is unsure of themselves to the point of fear. That is usually the underlying force that pushes someone over the edge as you have described. What usually works best is if there is only one or two acknowledged great players who are there specifically to run a slow session for the inexperienced players. That way you have a voice of authority who will call the tunes and make allowances for new players, and control the prima donnas.

djm

[Joseph E. Smith]

... and control the prima donnas.

djm

My favorite method of 'pd' control is a sufficient amount of tactfully placed C4... failing that, a 9 mm Baretta.

I don't really know if there is a solution to this issue... it would seem to me (albeit in my limited experience) that it doesn't matter the skill level of any particular session, there inevitably are one or two hot head snobs who wait for any/all occasion(s) to snap at somebody that they feel ruined the tune for them.

Perhaps session callers can take a firmer hand in keeping these malcontents in line.

I feel terrible that it happened to a kid... there's no call for behavior like that, and I am glad I wasn't there to 'go off' on the assailant myself.



..... I am no fan of sessions.

[Uilliam]

Ye should all get up in a huff when the foiddle player returns and let him /her know how it feels.Don't forget to let the "kid" in on the act so he doesnae think it is aimed at him again.
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam

[Big Time]

session etequite can be frankly shocking at times - it happens everywhere.

in a so-called informal session about a month ago in galway pub, myself and a friend were having a couple of tunes between 9 and 10 before the 10 session was to begin.

i get on very well with the bar staff, locals and everyone in the pub, play there a lot, and i'm in there most days. however, at 10.10, one of the bar staff was asked by the 10 o clock "session" player to tell me and my friend to stop playing because it was his session, etc, etc.

that kind of stuff has no place in irish music in my opinion and has really destoyed my opinion not of myself, but of the idiot who hadn't the courage to ask me to stop.

solution??? none i suppose

arseholes will be arseholes (excuse the language JES)

[Spanishwhistler]

Well said uilliam. We had a sessiun where the very same thing happened once. The guy that did the attacking on this 14 year old (who by the way really was much better than him, though not as old/experienced) was a GHB and uilleann piper.

To be honest, when the guy plays the GHB he fingers the chanter properly and just fine, but his Bronx cheers are louder than the pipes and he more than quite often flails in keeping the bag under pressure. This makes it all sound like his music died on a cow tail.

He had been playing mouth-blown smallpipes all night and with Bronx cheers. This kid had sports practice for school so was about 1/2 and hour late, but he joined in a couple of tunes just fine at the start. Then we got to playing a GHB tune set of "Itchy Fingers and The Clumsy Lover". This kid was as well only trying to find out how to accompany this with his concertina. Of course some of his guesses were a little bit wrong, discordant, but this was his first time playing the set. Well of course the horrible piper (and in this set, he was off the time quite a bit, off beat as it were) layed it on him and this kid just broke down. Piper leaves for a beer and comes back, the whole group got up and moved to another room. Never saw that piper again. Kid comes every week.

So yes, as uilliam said, giving them a taste of their own medicine works very well. Either that or what I had said to a player once (a grown adult man, mind you) that kept on whining about every little thing: "Oh grow up and act like a man, or do you not do impressions?" That will either shut them up or make them leave. And Joe is also correct, there is no call for that kind of behaviour in any groups. It is supposed to be fun, informative and educational in its own special way.

[Steampacket]

Sessions can be complicated gatherings - they don't need to be but...
The "kid" was wrong/inexperienced to try and figure out a tune he didn't know whilst people were playing. Bad manners to do that. If you don't know a tune then keep quiet and listen, which is also a form of learning, & ask for the name afterwards then learn the tune at home for next time. It can be very irritating if someone is doodling about audibly whilst one is playing a tune. The fiddle player didn't have to freak out though in front of everyone and make the "kid" lose face and feel bad, also bad manners and unkind. He could have had a quiet word with "kid" instead. Prima donnas, session leaders & beginners can all be irritating at times, but it's not a matter of life or death. If you're going to play in an open session then just play the tunes you know and just listen to the tunes you don't know and learn them at your own pace at home.

[Spanishwhistler]

Indeed, that is well said. I also forgot to mention in my post that said particular sessiun was held to allow all players to find improvisation/accompaniment whilst everybody was playing, whether they knew the song/set or not. This is not the norm, however, and as steampacket said, you normally sit out for the tunes you do not know.

[Steampacket]

"I also forgot to mention in my post that said particular sessiun was held to allow all players to find improvisation/accompaniment whilst everybody was playing, whether they knew the song/set or not." Spanishwhistler

Fair enough then. The fiddler probably had other stuff he was upset about and just needed an excuse to blow a gasket.

Brilliant speech last night by Harold Pinter by the way. Good man

[KAD]

How can the casual (but good) players enjoy an evening of tunes?

Any suggestions?

-Don

Start your own session somewhere else? Invite people into your kitchen?

I agree with steampacket: both were at fault. The kid shouldn't have been noodling, and the fiddle player shouldn't have overreacted. If the kid comes back next week, you might take him aside and sympathize, just so he knows not everyone agreed with the fiddle player.

my $0.02 (why did they take the cent symbol off the computer keyboard?)

KAD

[tommykleen]

Don,

Check your PMs...

t

[Joseph E. Smith]

How can the casual (but good) players enjoy an evening of tunes?

Any suggestions?

-Don

Invite people into your kitchen?

This would be my choice.

[sean an piobaire]

At the JAZZ JAM SESSIONS EVERYBODY gets to go through the tune and improvise over the changes ONCE THROUGH and then the next player, and so on "round -robin" style. At the CEILI nights I went to in Ireland and the USA, back in the 1970s, I found the same "round the circle" consideration, all inclusive "togetherness" which is what the word "Ceili" means! Scots spelling is different it's CEILIDH and it's still the same meaning. People can tell a joke, a song, a story, and play a tune! It is relaxing to be in that sort of mental space.
The slow session is a good start in reclaiming the good friendly feeling, and I think there's too much time given to reels at two speeds: FAST and FASTER. COMPETITION::: I just say, "YOU WIN", but some day, I'll finish before you do....old orchestra joke and cartoon.
I try to reign in my piping speed, as the Drones don't care how fast I, or you, go. I also play jigs HORNPIPES polkas Marches and SLOW AIRS. I vary the speed of the reels, not every medly has to go at the same tempo. The audience loves it, those non-musicians, that think all Irish music is the same, BECAUSE they hear alot of fast REELS REELS REELS!
Plug for PIPES insert here:
The drones are the ultimate accompaniment, as the changes of the harmonic interference patterns go by faster than any chord change. Yeah, PIPES!
An experienced Guitar and/or Bouzouki player can, PLEASE take the new players out and show them the simple changes: "Double Tonic" A major to G major for A mixolydian tunes / A minor to G major/ E minor to D major / D major to C major for D mixolydian tunes. The tunes that use the "3 chord trick" One/ Four/ Five progression... in G it's G/C/D. In D it's D/G/A.
in A it's A/D/E. And for those of you who don't want to hear a "STRING BODHRAN" ALL night:( jugga jug-jugga-jug) there's that idea of finger-picking the chords, doing bass runs, counterpoint, as a light touch of variety. Even the "Boomp/ Sink" of the classic piano accompiment, can be a distant 3rd choice......on Chorded strings, man- oh- man, what a neat idea! There's always more to this, but I'll stop. I'm getting sarcastic, which shows how all this negative stuff has affected me over the years! I'm still up for a session that will be a good one, you never know....sometimes it all.... just happens!
Sean Folsom

[Spanishwhistler]

I agree with sean completely. As for people thinking all Irish music is the same, there is a great example in GHB music. All people hear are marches, marches, marches and because the tempo and/or feel is usually the same, they will tend to sound all the same to non-musicians.

And also, there are a lot of shows that solo performers put on for the public for whatever the event may be, and I know quite a few around here that do this, but their sets include nothing, and I mean nothing but 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, welcoming and retreat marches. Again marches. Please, play one slow air! At least!

So again as Sean said, vary the speeds on your pieces and/or sets and let everybody know ahead of time what to expect in your particular session or group.

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

Ah, Don, you should have been there the day the harpist dropped in! It was like trying to play with this cranked Patrick Bell record on the stereo.
The session I believe Don's talking about is run by a fellow from Clare, nice dude and he'll forgive most any sort of wayward music that comes along - indeed his own playing's a bit on the odd track at times. But many of the pros around town really give you the evil eye for slipping up. One batch of them led by Johnnie "Box" Connolly (he of the Bridgetown CD) simply went invite-only, I used to think how snobbish but maybe it's the best way to go.
Best for all involved.
I'd much rather have a tune in someone's house. More trad anyway!