I came across this whilst looking for details of various sessions in N of England. The session DO's and DON'T's and session etiquette bits did make me chuckle.
Speaking as someone who has been a backup musician for more years than is good for me or anyone else, the one thing listed in "Session Do's" that I could really identify with was, "If you are a backup musician, be tasteful, and remember that you are not there to overwhelm anybody." This is so true and accurate.
However, speaking of being tasteful.....I have heard of having to eat your words but I don't think I have ever heard of having to eat your music.
This is listed under 'Don'ts' which is nice, but is actually my first feeling when confronted by this situation.
"If somebody asks you to sing "Danny Boy", throw up on his shoes. If he persists, open the bidding at fifty bucks. Stand up on tippy-toes when you hit the high note. Sing the second verse in Pig Latin."
I can see a foreigner conscientiously working his/her way through ceolupnorth's etiquette list and concluding that they have a very elaborate, peculiar and bewildering code of behaviour Oop North. It certainly bewildered me.
What a load of crap ,the only people who try to enforce session etiquette are the people who don't have the balls to put a sign on the table saying"Only good Musicians can join us" because thats the way they are thinking ! Its a pub you have good sessions some nights bad sessions other nights in the long run the good ones win . Who has the right to tell people how to behave in a public house (within reason) ? outside of good music the most important thing to bring to a session is a bit of personaility .lose the rules
I think Bill is a banjo player. At least I went by the string gauges off his web site, so I hope he is - I'd better get home and make sure my neck's not bent.
TomB-R, I was half-serious, half-joking about the session etiquette rules.
Before I began participating in the local Irish Session, I had been playing music at a local Blues Jam for five years and I had learned a few things about jam session etiquette.
Good list!
We always play Danny Boy when asked.
But what we really need in the pub is a sign like I have seen in New Orleans:
Requests - $5
Requests for the Saints Go Marching In - $20
Just substitute Danny Boy for the Saints!
That happened to us at a gig, except it was "Me and Bobby Magee." which my husband refused to do. So they wrote the request on a $10 bill. Same thing happened with "Ashokan Farewell."
Of course, we obliged.
Some drunk people once gave us $50 to play "The Lonesome Boatman" or something similar. The only reason we didn't play it for free was that nobody knew the darn tune - I guess they thought we were negotiating. They seemed satisfied with whatever we did end up playing though...
Piano tuner greg, your sessions sound sorowfully dull. I suspect etiquette bubbles up to adults acting more like kids, more so than any other time inn their adult lives.
The epicentre of the scene whence this etiquette list comes is Manchester, city of dreadful night, where admittedly my hand has not yet set foot. But I have read bits about it in the papers.
Warming the screen with my cigarette lighter, I saw the real local etiquette list, written in invisible ink, gradually appear:
"If a stranger makes eye contact, shoot him.
If a bodhran or other instrument makes itself
obnoxious, shoot it with an automatic so it
stays down.
If hoods from a rival session muscle in, shoot
them.
If you shoot a respected muso, don't brag about
it at the wake.
If someone tries to deal you horse
tranquilliser, shoot him and go through his
pockets. That might provide you with enough to
buy some drinks for the company, who might shoot
you if you do not.
But if you come in looking flush, someone might
shoot you for it anyway.
When I was younger, I used to play ragtime piano music for money. I got so sick and tired of people either asking me to play "The Sting" or "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin that I started charging extra for these requests. If they asked for "The Sting" I charged more than if they asked for "The Entertainer" because "The Sting" was actually the name of the movie instead of the title of the ragtime piece by Joplin. If someone asked for this piece with the correct title, I figured that meant they knew something about ragtime music and actually knew what they were talking about. That's why I charged people less who asked for "The Entertainer".
Session etiquette
Session etiquette
I came across this whilst looking for details of various sessions in N of England. The session DO's and DON'T's and session etiquette bits did make me chuckle.
http://www.ceolupnorth.co.uk/sessions.html
http://www.ceolupnorth.co.uk/etiquette.html
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by domnull
Re: Session etiquette
Haven't they mixed up some of the DO's and DON'T's ?
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by TomB-R
Re: Session etiquette
Speaking as someone who has been a backup musician for more years than is good for me or anyone else, the one thing listed in "Session Do's" that I could really identify with was, "If you are a backup musician, be tasteful, and remember that you are not there to overwhelm anybody." This is so true and accurate.
However, speaking of being tasteful.....I have heard of having to eat your words but I don't think I have ever heard of having to eat your music.
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: Session etiquette
No, TomB-R, they didn't mix up the DO's and the DON'TS as well as putting them in the correct order.
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: Session etiquette
This is listed under 'Don'ts' which is nice, but is actually my first feeling when confronted by this situation.
"If somebody asks you to sing "Danny Boy", throw up on his shoes. If he persists, open the bidding at fifty bucks. Stand up on tippy-toes when you hit the high note. Sing the second verse in Pig Latin."
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session etiquette
I can see a foreigner conscientiously working his/her way through ceolupnorth's etiquette list and concluding that they have a very elaborate, peculiar and bewildering code of behaviour Oop North. It certainly bewildered me.
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by nicholas
Re: Session etiquette
What a load of crap ,the only people who try to enforce session etiquette are the people who don't have the balls to put a sign on the table saying"Only good Musicians can join us" because thats the way they are thinking ! Its a pub you have good sessions some nights bad sessions other nights in the long run the good ones win . Who has the right to tell people how to behave in a public house (within reason) ? outside of good music the most important thing to bring to a session is a bit of personaility .lose the rules
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by Saint
Re: Session etiquette
Actually, the person who wrote all the 'do's and don't's' is Bill Black, a bouzouki player from New York who currently lives in Massachusetts.
There's some valid information there, but I've never shared Bill's 'sense of humour'.
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: Session etiquette
You mean I've been getting it wrong all these years, fauxcelt?
Damn!
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by TomB-R
Re: Session etiquette
I think Bill is a banjo player. At least I went by the string gauges off his web site, so I hope he is - I'd better get home and make sure my neck's not bent.
Perhaps he plays bouzouki too.
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by grego
Re: Session etiquette
TomB-R, I was half-serious, half-joking about the session etiquette rules.
Before I began participating in the local Irish Session, I had been playing music at a local Blues Jam for five years and I had learned a few things about jam session etiquette.
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: Session etiquette
Curtsy? They've got to be kidding, right? If anybody curtsied me I think I'd blow beer out my nose.
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by sbhikes
Re: Session etiquette
Good list!
We always play Danny Boy when asked.
But what we really need in the pub is a sign like I have seen in New Orleans:
Requests - $5
Requests for the Saints Go Marching In - $20
Just substitute Danny Boy for the Saints!
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by AlBrown
Re: Session etiquette
That happened to us at a gig, except it was "Me and Bobby Magee." which my husband refused to do. So they wrote the request on a $10 bill. Same thing happened with "Ashokan Farewell."
Of course, we obliged.
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by wyogal
Re: Session etiquette
Some drunk people once gave us $50 to play "The Lonesome Boatman" or something similar. The only reason we didn't play it for free was that nobody knew the darn tune - I guess they thought we were negotiating. They seemed satisfied with whatever we did end up playing though...
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by Gzeg
Re: Session etiquette
I usually agree to play "Duelling Banjos" for punters if they'll drop their daks, bend over and squeal like a pig
# Posted on August 12th 2008 by Bren
Re: Session etiquette
Great stuff!
In France we get requested Michel Sardou's "Les Lacs du Connemara"
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2pu7l_michel-sardoules-lacs-du-connemara_music
It's one idea of what Irish music might be supposed to sound like.... sigh...
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by Fanning
Re: Session etiquette
session etiquette boils down to grownups behaving like grownups.
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: Session etiquette
i think its great
very funny!!
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by marian clare
Re: Session etiquette
Piano tuner greg, your sessions sound sorowfully dull. I suspect etiquette bubbles up to adults acting more like kids, more so than any other time inn their adult lives.
Whiskey, flirting, musical improvisation included.
It's all about *playing,* regardless of your age.
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by Will CPT
Re: Session etiquette
Nah, we have a blast and I look forward to Mondays. Here we are:
http://www.slowplayers.org/BOSS/index.html
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: Session etiquette
...and whoopee cushions. How the heck can you have a decent session without a whoopee cushion? Uncivilized, bog-trotting barbarians. Harrumph.
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session etiquette
Who needs a whoopee cushion when you're drinking beer?
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by GaryAMartin
Re: Session etiquette
Ah, it's for those polite types who are too busy being adults to let one rip.
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Session etiquette
My favourite bit of etiquette (not ITM-related, alas): "On entering a London underground train, it is customary to shake hands with all present".
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: Session etiquette
LOL. did you see the the 'spoons murder' on the bottom of the second link.
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by keelin
Re: Session etiquette
The epicentre of the scene whence this etiquette list comes is Manchester, city of dreadful night, where admittedly my hand has not yet set foot. But I have read bits about it in the papers.
Warming the screen with my cigarette lighter, I saw the real local etiquette list, written in invisible ink, gradually appear:
"If a stranger makes eye contact, shoot him.
If a bodhran or other instrument makes itself
obnoxious, shoot it with an automatic so it
stays down.
If hoods from a rival session muscle in, shoot
them.
If you shoot a respected muso, don't brag about
it at the wake.
If someone tries to deal you horse
tranquilliser, shoot him and go through his
pockets. That might provide you with enough to
buy some drinks for the company, who might shoot
you if you do not.
But if you come in looking flush, someone might
shoot you for it anyway.
Life's a bitch, isn't it?"
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by nicholas
Re: Session etiquette
When I was younger, I used to play ragtime piano music for money. I got so sick and tired of people either asking me to play "The Sting" or "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin that I started charging extra for these requests. If they asked for "The Sting" I charged more than if they asked for "The Entertainer" because "The Sting" was actually the name of the movie instead of the title of the ragtime piece by Joplin. If someone asked for this piece with the correct title, I figured that meant they knew something about ragtime music and actually knew what they were talking about. That's why I charged people less who asked for "The Entertainer".
# Posted on August 13th 2008 by fauxcelt