To answer in reverse order;
No, it will only encourage people to think anyone can do it.
There are too many 'tricks', and you can't learn all the tunes in an hour.
It's just a wooly description, sack the copywriter.......
I suppose you could get a list of the tune titles by the end of the hour - and if she played through them, you could tick off from the sheet which ones you liked.
As for "tricks" - I imagine she means aspects of what we here frequently refer to as Session Etiquette - ie mostly common sense when engaged in a leisure activity with a group of people you might not know too well. And things like "only lead a tune or a set if you know it back to front 110%". And don't treat a session as a "performance".
If there are other "tricks" I for one would like to know about them!
God knows I need a class like this one but I would never go. I'm not a great player (yet) but I have the hearing of a terrier and I've heard way too many people playing tunes really fast only to slur over triplets, miss notes in rolls etc.
Playing in a session can only be done by starting with a group who will encourage you and play at an apropriate speed for a beginner... there are no tricks or shortcuts.
I can make a pint disappear, that's always a crowd favorite. Ala-kazaam!
I can usually pull a capo out of my sleeve too, if need be. Shazaam!
...and then there's my masterpiece where I actually saw a live tune directly in half, then re-attach it without any harm done to the tune at all. It's amazing, you've really got to see it sometime.
I nearly forgot my "Great Escape" where I am surrounded on all sides by seated players and chained in my seat by porter and fantastic tunes, yet I still manage to escape long enough for a bathroom and smoke break, without upsetting any others or interrupting the flow of music.
Good one KML! That's a famous session trick. We usually call it "Now Your Hear It...Now You Don't!" Poof! "Was that a tune I heard?" "I dunno, it all went so fast!"
...that guy who disappears when it's his turn for a round must get around, I swear I come across him everywhere I go...
I suppose it's taken from those self-help books called "Tips and Tricks that the experts don't want you to know" or similar.
The idea that there's some secret shortcut that an elite group is withholding from the masses so they'll never be able to usurp the elite's position. A banned cargo cult if you like. Just a case of using some contemporary jargon - I'm sure Ms MacColl's tips (and tricks) will be sound advice by another name.
I made twelve billion dollars in six months, and I would like to share my secrets with you. Just send me $19.95 in cash, and I will get you started on the road to wealth and happiness.
#23
Listen very carefully. If your ears don't start to hurt, you're not trying.
#7
Try to sit next to the person(s) you want to play with/listen to.
#7a
Try to sit to the right side of a fiddle or accordion player, or anyone with a Joe Foley bouzouki.
#7b
There is no right side on a bodhran. And maybe there's no wrong side either, depending on the session.
#30
If you're planning on drinking a lot of beer, get a spot right in the corner, so you'll be able to chat with as many people as possible on your way back and forth to the bog.
A non-obtrusive looking mp3 recorder can help. Then you can cut the session into sets with "audacity" (free software), and learn the sets with "the amazing slowdowner" (paid for software). Having said that, I watched and recorded for 2 years before trying to play at the session. Just watching and listening for 2 years was my best "trick".
Tricks to playing in a session....... !
Tricks to playing in a session....... !
This is a fiddle workshop at the forthcoming CC Festival
"Session Fiddle
Location: Celtic Connections - Buchanan Suite
Learn the popular session tunes and the tricks to playing in a session with Lauren MacColl, winner of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award 2004/5.
Sunday 27th January 2008"
The phrase which stuck out was
"Learn the popular session tunes and the tricks to playing in a session"
Pray tell what are "the tricks" and can you learn the popular session tunes in just over an hour ?
Furthermore, should this sort of thing be encouraged?
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by Johnny Jay
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
To answer in reverse order;
No, it will only encourage people to think anyone can do it.
There are too many 'tricks', and you can't learn all the tunes in an hour.
It's just a wooly description, sack the copywriter.......
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
Hmmm.....this should be interesting.......
I suppose you could get a list of the tune titles by the end of the hour - and if she played through them, you could tick off from the sheet which ones you liked.
As for "tricks" - I imagine she means aspects of what we here frequently refer to as Session Etiquette - ie mostly common sense when engaged in a leisure activity with a group of people you might not know too well. And things like "only lead a tune or a set if you know it back to front 110%". And don't treat a session as a "performance".
If there are other "tricks" I for one would like to know about them!
OK, back to drafting my presentation........
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by Rudall the time
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
In answer to Pete, in a three hour session with wall to wall tunes, fakers will get outed before too long anyway!
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by Rudall the time
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
Spend year practising and attending sessions?
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by skin&bow
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
God knows I need a class like this one but I would never go. I'm not a great player (yet) but I have the hearing of a terrier and I've heard way too many people playing tunes really fast only to slur over triplets, miss notes in rolls etc.
Playing in a session can only be done by starting with a group who will encourage you and play at an apropriate speed for a beginner... there are no tricks or shortcuts.
But then again, what would I know.
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by session savage
Re: €100
Oh, sorry, I misread it as "tricks to play in a session ..."
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
so what should it have read?
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by session savage
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
Oh, I got a ton of great session tricks.
I can make a pint disappear, that's always a crowd favorite. Ala-kazaam!
I can usually pull a capo out of my sleeve too, if need be. Shazaam!
...and then there's my masterpiece where I actually saw a live tune directly in half, then re-attach it without any harm done to the tune at all. It's amazing, you've really got to see it sometime.
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
I nearly forgot my "Great Escape" where I am surrounded on all sides by seated players and chained in my seat by porter and fantastic tunes, yet I still manage to escape long enough for a bathroom and smoke break, without upsetting any others or interrupting the flow of music.
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
Ha! good one!
I can speed a tune up so fast that no-one else can hear it:
.
There. Missed that, didn't you?
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by Rudall the time
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
Also, I know someone who becomes invisible when it's his round....
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by Rudall the time
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
Good one KML! That's a famous session trick. We usually call it "Now Your Hear It...Now You Don't!" Poof! "Was that a tune I heard?" "I dunno, it all went so fast!"
...that guy who disappears when it's his turn for a round must get around, I swear I come across him everywhere I go...
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Tricks to play in a session....... !
I regularly acquire invisibility when I come up to the bar, and have the power to inflict deafness on the barman.
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
I suppose it's taken from those self-help books called "Tips and Tricks that the experts don't want you to know" or similar.
The idea that there's some secret shortcut that an elite group is withholding from the masses so they'll never be able to usurp the elite's position. A banned cargo cult if you like. Just a case of using some contemporary jargon - I'm sure Ms MacColl's tips (and tricks) will be sound advice by another name.
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by Bren
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
I made twelve billion dollars in six months, and I would like to share my secrets with you. Just send me $19.95 in cash, and I will get you started on the road to wealth and happiness.
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by oldstrings
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
Yeah, the trick to playing in a session is to spend years practising and playing ITM! Unless your a backer, then just join in eh?
joke!
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by piobagusfidil
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
How about these:
#23
Listen very carefully. If your ears don't start to hurt, you're not trying.
#7
Try to sit next to the person(s) you want to play with/listen to.
#7a
Try to sit to the right side of a fiddle or accordion player, or anyone with a Joe Foley bouzouki.
#7b
There is no right side on a bodhran. And maybe there's no wrong side either, depending on the session.
#30
If you're planning on drinking a lot of beer, get a spot right in the corner, so you'll be able to chat with as many people as possible on your way back and forth to the bog.
#2
Are you sure it's not your round?
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by Gzeg
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
I don't think I'd be bothered unless someone can teach me absolutely ALL the tricks in less than HALF the time.
# Posted on January 16th 2008 by drone
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
Hash 7c
Sit to the left side of a flautist.
# Posted on January 17th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Tricks to playing in a session....... !
A non-obtrusive looking mp3 recorder can help. Then you can cut the session into sets with "audacity" (free software), and learn the sets with "the amazing slowdowner" (paid for software). Having said that, I watched and recorded for 2 years before trying to play at the session. Just watching and listening for 2 years was my best "trick".
# Posted on January 21st 2008 by jonathanamos