see also
http://www.irishmusicottawa.ca/theten.htm for a different (more humorous) list!
Traditional Irish Music Session "Rules"
-
ALWAYS
-
1a)
NEVER DOMINATE THE SESSION. No matter how good you are, a session is
about playing together. Let others start up sets. If someone never
starts up a tune, it is nice/polite to ask them "play a few of your
own tunes", but if they decline, do not put any pressure on them
(in a session there are always new people who will be fairly shy at
first playing in public). I have a rough formula for this! If there
are n people playing at the session, do not start up _more_ than
2/n of the tunes. This gives some flexibility. So e.g. if there were
4 at the session, in an ideal world each person starts up 1/4
of the tunes, but in my formula, I'm saying is no individual musician
should start up more than
2/n, i.e. 2/4=1/2, i.e. 50% of the tunes. Obviously the more at the
session, the fewer proportion of tunes any individual musician should
start up.
-
1b)
IF YOU KNOW THE TUNE, JOIN IN, IF YOU DON'T, DON'T
-
1c)
ALWAYS PLAY IN TUNE
-
1d)
DON'T SPEED UP a tune, whether you started it or not.
-
1e)
ALWAYS LISTEN CAREFULLY. The key in the
transition between tunes is to LISTEN very carefully
to whoever is leading the tune set. If you don't recognise the tune
immediately/quickly, it is better stop playing, wait for one time
round, then join in, rather than "half joining in" in the middle, or
(worse) playing along with wrong notes or with a different but
similar tune.
-
MOST OF THE TIME....
-
2a)
If a person starts up a (dance) tune, they should follow it by one
or two others, of the same type. The ideal no. of tunes in such a
set (in my opinion) is 3. Too many tunes in a row is equally as bad
as too few!
-
2b)
If person A starts up a tune, and others play along, when the tune is
finishing, the other musicians should allow that person continue in
to another tune. The person starting the tune has "right of way" for
want of a better phrase.
-
2c)
DO NOT PLAY LOADS OF OBSCURE TUNES. If you're lucky enough
to know lots of tunes ("lots" could be 20, 50, 100,...) then
you probably know which ones are more common ("standards") and
which are more obscure. If you play lots of obscure tunes in
a row, expect to play on your own.
-
2d)
PLAY SOME OBSCURE TUNES (if you know them). By some here I
mean one or two. If a session is composed completely of
common tunes, it can become a bit boring (unless it is a
"beginners session"). In general other musicians in the session will
appreciate hearing the odd new or unusual tune.
-
2e)
When putting 2 or 3 tunes (e.g. reels) together to start a set,
consider the key changes (if you know them). If you play three reels
in a row in G, nomatter how nice/lively the reels, it can sound a
bit "blah". Change keys at least some of the time! Since there's not
a lot of keys used, going back and forth works fine, e.g. D to G to D
for 3 reels. Each key change adds a lift to the set: but melody players,
do nudge/wink at the accompanists (guitar, bouzouki, piano,...)
when changing! As a "stunt" in some sessions, people will play the same
tune, first e.g. in D, then G, then A,.....
-
2f)
When putting 2 or 3 tunes (e.g. reels) together to start a set,
consider whether each one is obscure or common. In general, it is
better/nicer/more polite to go from obscure tune(s) (that you may
start/play by yourself) to finish with common ones, rather than
vice versa. The other musicians will join in on the common ones,
and everyone finishes together (modulo possible continuation of lead
by someone else, see rule 3a): This certainly sounds good to the
audience.
-
SOME OF THE TIME
-
3a)
It is OK (and can be very nice) if say person A starts up a set,
everyone plays along, and after a few tunes (led by person A),
when the end is coming, another person B spontaneously continues
the set. But person B should be careful that A is finished with
leading the tunes before continuing. This only comes with practice,
can involve split-second timing. I've seen sometimes the lead go
from A to B to C in this manner, with each leading a few tunes, and
this sounds good.
-
3b)
Some session musicians will name the set they will play: "Lets
do sally gardens, then drowsie maggie, then cooleys reel". That has
the advantage, that everyone knows from the beginning whats coming
up. But it has the disadvantage, if you do that for every set, session
becomes a bit laborious and slow. Spontaneously starting up a set,
without saying anything, is also in my view welcome, and just as much
part of a session as the "pre-announced" set.
-
3c)
In my view, the best number of times to play a tune is 3 times. This
varies from area to area. Slower dance tunes (e.g. hornipes) are
probably better played twice.
-
3d)
As well as listening, look! Often musicians (in particular the one
leading the set), will give a cue (nod of head, or even just a look)
when they are about to change tune, so others can be ready to react.
If you are leading a tune set yourself, it is good to develop some
small visual cue to indicate to others. (As an example, I tend to
look at the other musicians with
slightly raise eyebrows, when getting ready to change tune, and I tend
to slightly shrug shoulders when nearing (my) end (as if to say "no
other ideas for now"), but leaving it open for someone else to jump
in and continue the set.
Hopefully this list will get bigger: send any corrections,
objections, additions etc. to opentrad@yahoo.com