I know this may open a can of worms, but my intent is genuine and well meaning.
At many sessions beginners are tolerated for most part and shunned by a few of the better players for any numbers of reasons - not playing in the correct key, not knowing the tune, noodling during the break etc., etc.
Where is a beginning player to go to learn the tunes, proper session etiquette and all the in-and-outs to become accepted? Where did you learn?
I've been to slow sessions. The only thing slow about them was the speed some of the older players drove thier automobiles to and from the sessions.
As a mandolin player, my approach has been to attend sessions, sit at back outside the inner circle, play softly and practice one tune at a time at home until I get it down pat and follow the local etiquette.
Where did you learn? Did you begin at kitchen sessions, playing with friends or at regular sessions sitting the back?
I did basically what you did. I was first and foremost a singer/guitarist and backed the "players" on guitar. I taught myself mandolin and then bouzouki by putting down the guitar and quietly feeling my way around. Of course, I practised at home morning noon and night until I was able to bring tunes of my own to the show.
i started at home, listening to recordings, and going to concerts. a guitarist since childhood, i was given a fiddle at 30, on which i learned a few tunes, while continuing to listen, becoming progressively hooked on the music. the listening deepened my solo experiments with fiddling, and i took lessons here and there as well. toward the end of the last century there was a boom in itm in my town, and i (among other not-too-skilled musos) was persuaded by another novice to go and sit in at the hot weekly session. we were enthusiastic, every one of us, but we were drowning out the good stuff played by our more experienced players. one experienced player generously stepped in to ease the situation, which was tiresome for the real players, and started a slow session -- a very successful one; nothing egalitarian here - he taught (slowly, phrase by phrase) we learned, coming back with 2 or 3 new tunes a week, and increasingly good ears, not to mention increased skills on our instruments from trying to make those notes stick together. in the process we developed a vibrant little community of player/friends in our own right, and started our own sessions in various venues, including kitchen parties. of course that has waxed and waned over the years, but most of us can hold our own at sessions, and i am immensely grateful to the samaritan who took the time to show us the tunes back then. in sessions, to varying degrees, there is always the chance for friction, and etiquette is a matter of process, not a hard and fast thing -- mostly demanding common sense. feelings can always be hurt, but they help develop a thicker skin.
Just learning now. Mandolin also. Can play guitar but not ITM.
Could be years before I join a session, and it will probably be with people I know and for tunes I know. Maybe that's a bit conservative, but I'm just focusing now on learning how to play things I like, well - should be better for all concerned! The idea of a big session doesn't really appeal to me - as someone noted elsewhere on this site, too many people joining in and not really having the same (or complementary) ideas about the tunes can make them mushy.
Sounds like you're learning by ear, which in the long run has to work to your advantage I would think?
Funnily enough I'm not sure about "Mandolin" music (at least, the kind of tunes which tend to be aimed at beginners and sound like MIDI files), but I do like the pipe music on the mandolin. I feel like I can get a nice bounce/flow to the Willie Clancy & Leo Rowsome stuff (in my own opinion). Obviously it doesn't sound like pipe, but I enjoy it anyway... just my personal taste!
Might try whistle/flute in due course, just starting, don't know what will suit me best.
Practicing at home for hours (still do) and then going out to sessions and falling on my face, or in some cases off a proverbial cliff and rolling a few times before landing in a heap at the bottom.
However, there were some kind and gentle sessions where I used to live, including a tune learning sesh which was invaluable, and even the regular session patiently put up with beginners making arses of themselves and was as encouraging as ever. Then I left and spent a good few years struggling along, feeling miserable about it, not being good enough to play with anyone (and it's not like you can hide a bloody set of pipes), playing in sessions I shouldn't have played in and getting shunned out of them, etc. Only in the last few months have I felt like I might be finding my feet and not sucking too badly. Has taken like five years.
So yeah, it takes time, a lot of mistakes, a lot more patience, and yes, more time. But you get there eventually.
Listening, practice, and through the patience and help of more musical friends. Oh, and more than a little bit of making a total a** of myself. But then a little embarrassment helps grow the soul. Or so I hear...
I was lucky - I met a wonderful and skilled fiddle player who made an extra effort to school up beginners with slow sessions, recordings of how he played tunes, and a great positive attitude about the musical community he was trying to cultivate. This happened after I made a complete fool of myself at my 1st session. I am so glad I conjured up the courage to go back a second time, otherwise I never would have met him and many other great people who helped me on my way. It's a journey. Be patient. Stay with it.
I should add that I have learn to read music, mind you, at a very slow rate. I rarely use tab notations as I want to know the fretboard. I am learning only tunes that are played at the sessions I attend.
I attack each new tune a measure at a time to learn the new fingering slowly. I use You Tube to hear the tune and I ask at each session if they would kindly play the new tune I am trying to learn.
Unfortunately, I began this learning process a year ago at age 71 and I don't think I have 10,000 hours of practicing left in my lifetime to get to be a good player.
But WTF, what else do I have to do with my time besides, rock climbing, cycling, kayaking, playing mandolin and drinking free Jamesons at ITM sessions?
I'm reluctantly learning at home alone - working through the Grey Larsen mammoth tutorial, and listening to YouTube recordings and the few CDs I have to get the hang of the twiddly bits (I'm a whistler). I've been trying to start up a slow session close to home so I can attend regularly but there just aren't folks in these parts interested/available. My other slow session buddies are retired and travelling to warmer climes for the winter so I'm high and dry again. Haven't found another slow session that I can join. If any of you know of a way to set up a virtual session or teach each other via a discussion group, I'd love to participate. Perhaps a seasoned whistler out there could give us a virtual "music lesson" and assign a tune and twiddly bits to master with it etc. I'm pretty self motivated and doing what I can on my own, but doing it with "buddies" makes it so much more fun, and isn't that what music's all about after all?
I starting attending sessions before I could play much of anything on
fiddle. Meanwhile I've been practicing like a maniac at home and listening
a lot. There is a way of playing yourself into a session. It takes a lot
of tact and discipline. Michael Gill ("Llig") described here it in a couple of threads and I have observed others doing it. I've been using this method for three years and now I can cruise through more than half
of the tunes that typically come up.
My version of it - Play what you can play, even if it is only one or two
notes. Play them as unobtrusively and as well as you can. Next
time that tune comes up, see if you can get a few more notes in.
If you're not sure what to play - don't play anything - silently finger
the notes perhaps.
I learned playing with friends and at regular sessions sitting the back.unobtrusively. I learned that I like my own playing better than sessions here. And I found that many tunes can be learned from CDs, utube, Comhaltas, star trek episodes, satellite radio, and streaming internet audio.
Learning guitar for 20 years and banjo for 10 helped with learning fiddle, but still learning fiddle after 18 years.
I started taking OT fiddle at the age of 47 (about 6 years ago). Joining a jam there had the same initial intimidation, but the advantage, in hindsight, is that they play the tune 7 or 8 times, so you could learn a tune about the time the quit playing it.
OT's roots got me into my study of Irish fiddle, and the has been a wonderful and sometimes humbling journey. When I learned a few Irish tunes and went to our local session for anyone, I quickly learned how much more I had to learn.
A beginner is not going to learn many tunes at normal speed, with the tunes only going 2 or 3 times around. So I picked out a few sets that I wanted to learn and kept working at trying to learn more of the sets played at the session. I've played at the local session for a couple years now, and I'm still fine with sitting out a tune or two. You can learn a great deal by listening to others.
More importantly, I've met some great people and have met people from all over the place. JNE said it best.. it's a journey.
I was lucky enough to meet some very nice people doing house sessions in my area. There were pub sessions too but I started at house sessions with small groups of people. They pointed me in the right direction when I was brand new to this music. I knew my limitations and asked for help. I was very aware that by playing like shiit I could ruin the good time they were having so I practiced for hours a day. Still do. I find musicians, in general, to be easy going, friendly and fun to be around.
I just bought a bodhran, went along to a local session, listened for a couple of minutes went "got it!" and have been dazzling people with my brilliance ever since.
Buggered if I know why other people can't do it.
I played at home for years withou any advice, not having the confidence (or indeed at that point, the time) to play with others anyway.
Later I got put in touch with a CCE branch in Pollok, Glasgow which was the first time i'd played regularly with other folks. I had to radically change some of my habits in order to make the jump to ceili speed (I'd had some really bad advice on strating out) but there was opportunities to play at different paces with folks at that time.
At our current session we encourage beginers to come along and give us some tunes. But IMHO a session is not the place to be learning tunes. Or rather that isn't the primary function iof a session.
Sure you might pick up tunes there, by osmosis at least, but it is terribly destructive to try to play along and pick up tunes live. This is true whether the player is a "beginer" or not. It just isn't possible to do this unobtrusively on any traditional instruments with the exeption of fiddle or some plucked strings where the volume can be kept low and perhaps not using a bow or pick. Otherwise all that happens is that the other people playing the tune have a terrible time sticking to it, and the music is undermined by the "offender"
Whilst there is a bit of both going on, IMHO the emphasis should be : "learn tunes elsewhere in order to join in at a session; rather than "I go to the session to learn tunes to play (elsewhere)". To place the emphasis in the other direction may help an individuals own development as a player. But it undermines the actual session as an end in itself.
Yes that method of playing into the session works well with
fiddle but I don't try that on whistle even though it's my
stronger instrument. Whistle is a weapon of mass destruction.
I learnt jazz guitar from Melbourne great Bruce Clarke before hearing flatpicker Norman Blake, and then getting into American fidlle tunes and then Irish tunes. At least that's the condensed story.
Yes, hup, I think whistle is one of the worse instrumental offenders when it comes to picking up tunes on the fly.
I think many whistle players aren't aware of how loud their instrument actually is, or perhaps it isn't actual volume as such but rather how clearly it stands out against the background of the rest of a session. But it is definately one of those instruments that other people can hear clearly even if the player can't
I was lucky enough to learn in our kitchen, from my parents, grandparents and others.
Cape Cod Struggler, my advice, for what it's worth, would be to use the sessions as a social event, and as a way to find a musician who's willing to sit down with you somewhere quiet on another day and teach you a tune. Call it a kitchen session, if you like. If you can't find someone to invest that much time, then ask them to record a tune at an easy pace so that you can learn at your leisure. Most of the musicians I play with have recorded tunes for beginners dozens of times, and generally are happy to do so.
Failing that, as a mandolin player you might want to try Enda Scahill's Irish Banjo Tutor. The accompanying CDs contain a good selection of tunes at a slow pace.
I agree with Rambling Pitchfork, sessions were originally conceived as social gatherings and are probably best treated as such; learning a tune is a bonus. Amongst the local musicians that teach, a common rule of thumb is for a pupil to have fifty tunes that they can play well before they're invited to local pub sessions. With fewer tunes it becomes difficult both for the pupil and the rest of the musicians, who generally want nothing better than for the pupil to join in with them. It's worth noting though that around here, even learners with a handful of tunes are regularly asked to play in informal bands for 10-15 minutes at local concerts, dances and parties.
As for session etiquette, surely it's no more than good manners and something best learnt in the home.
I started music lessons at home when I was seven with my mother who was a music teacher.
I was a music major in college. After I graduated from college, I began participating in a local blues jam and other music sessions until someone started an Irish Session here in 1995. So learning how to accompany and be a backup musician at the local sessions wasn't too difficult for me due to my amount of experience and training.
When the Irish sessions first started, I did more listening than playing but it wasn't very long before I was able to participate fully.
Having played other music on the fiddle, I started off learning irish music the "wrong way" by picking out interesting tune titles and learning ithe unes from O'Neals.
Needless to say, now 15 year down the road after attending my first Willy Clancy I have learned and relearned everything by ear.
I now learn most stuff by listening to recordings and playing along with them. Occationally I'll look up transcribed versions of the tune to work something peculiar out. I also record sessions, and plot down tune names that I at home check up on iTunes and practice in the wee hours. The bottom line of practicing is practice, practice practice
I "grew up" in the same tune learning session that SilverSpear mentioned. That, and I was married to a fiddler, who had me going to sessions long before I felt "ready". But you never learn how to play with other people until you get out and do it, and nobody will ever feel "ready" the first time they do it... (or even the first 20 times, probably).
Practice Pratice Practice- essential. Herself is amazingly tolerant.
But there is something missing. I have tried playing along with the Comhaltas CD's. But without playing in, the tunes don't burn in as well.
My teacher says when you start sessioning, it should be 80 % listening and watching and 20% play....and working up from there.
My schedule and the session schedules here in Chicago have not been in agreement. And i can see that there is something missing in getting over the hump no matter how carefully, regularly and slowly I practice.
ACTUALLY PLAYING AN INSTRUMENT: Luckily I spent some three or four decades playing all sorts of instruments and all sorts of musics prior to attempting Irish Trad et cetera, so it was just a matter of adapting one's style.
THE MUSIC: I've been learning to back Trad Irish for a few years now. I have never listened to recordings of it, I have exclusively learned by regularly attending sessions. As many as possible and one weekly one particularly.
Trying to learn from records on your own is like learning about sex by watching porn.
THE ETIQUETTE: After a few false starts, a quantity of embarrassments and a plethora of faux pas's I have embraced session etiquette quite well now! It takes time to really see what is going on. I've become quite a closet purist disliking bad backing, the site of guitarists arriving at a session which is ticking along nicely and musically, noodlers, people playing too fast, and so forth. I still like to challenge the envelope though by using unexpected instruments but in an appropriately Trad Irish way (if such a thing is possible!)
I spent months just listening to sessions, then playing guitar quietly at the edge of the circle for about a year, then learning whistle tunes at home after hearing them in the session, and slowly over a decade, have moved to the middle of things. Don't get impatient, Struggler, take it easy and enjoy the ride, it will all come in time, and remember to have fun along the way!!!!
Heard the tunes. Practised at home... listened more... practised everywhere. Took some fiddle lessons... listened more... practised everywhere. Read some dots... listened more... practised everywhere. Went to sessions... listened more... practised everywhere... etc. Still practising (what I preach).
Where did you learn?
Where did you learn?
I know this may open a can of worms, but my intent is genuine and well meaning.
At many sessions beginners are tolerated for most part and shunned by a few of the better players for any numbers of reasons - not playing in the correct key, not knowing the tune, noodling during the break etc., etc.
Where is a beginning player to go to learn the tunes, proper session etiquette and all the in-and-outs to become accepted? Where did you learn?
I've been to slow sessions. The only thing slow about them was the speed some of the older players drove thier automobiles to and from the sessions.
As a mandolin player, my approach has been to attend sessions, sit at back outside the inner circle, play softly and practice one tune at a time at home until I get it down pat and follow the local etiquette.
Where did you learn? Did you begin at kitchen sessions, playing with friends or at regular sessions sitting the back?
# Posted on September 8th 2009 by Cape Cod Struggler
Re: Where did you learn?
I did basically what you did. I was first and foremost a singer/guitarist and backed the "players" on guitar. I taught myself mandolin and then bouzouki by putting down the guitar and quietly feeling my way around. Of course, I practised at home morning noon and night until I was able to bring tunes of my own to the show.
# Posted on September 8th 2009 by Dennis Regan
Re: Where did you learn?
''I practised at home morning noon and night''
Simple as that really. Just got to be patient and persistent.
# Posted on September 8th 2009 by the wicked hacker
Re: Where did you learn?
i started at home, listening to recordings, and going to concerts. a guitarist since childhood, i was given a fiddle at 30, on which i learned a few tunes, while continuing to listen, becoming progressively hooked on the music. the listening deepened my solo experiments with fiddling, and i took lessons here and there as well. toward the end of the last century there was a boom in itm in my town, and i (among other not-too-skilled musos) was persuaded by another novice to go and sit in at the hot weekly session. we were enthusiastic, every one of us, but we were drowning out the good stuff played by our more experienced players. one experienced player generously stepped in to ease the situation, which was tiresome for the real players, and started a slow session -- a very successful one; nothing egalitarian here - he taught (slowly, phrase by phrase) we learned, coming back with 2 or 3 new tunes a week, and increasingly good ears, not to mention increased skills on our instruments from trying to make those notes stick together. in the process we developed a vibrant little community of player/friends in our own right, and started our own sessions in various venues, including kitchen parties. of course that has waxed and waned over the years, but most of us can hold our own at sessions, and i am immensely grateful to the samaritan who took the time to show us the tunes back then. in sessions, to varying degrees, there is always the chance for friction, and etiquette is a matter of process, not a hard and fast thing -- mostly demanding common sense. feelings can always be hurt, but they help develop a thicker skin.
# Posted on September 8th 2009 by 'tinamatt
Re: Where did you learn?
Just learning now. Mandolin also. Can play guitar but not ITM.
Could be years before I join a session, and it will probably be with people I know and for tunes I know. Maybe that's a bit conservative, but I'm just focusing now on learning how to play things I like, well - should be better for all concerned! The idea of a big session doesn't really appeal to me - as someone noted elsewhere on this site, too many people joining in and not really having the same (or complementary) ideas about the tunes can make them mushy.
Sounds like you're learning by ear, which in the long run has to work to your advantage I would think?
Funnily enough I'm not sure about "Mandolin" music (at least, the kind of tunes which tend to be aimed at beginners and sound like MIDI files), but I do like the pipe music on the mandolin. I feel like I can get a nice bounce/flow to the Willie Clancy & Leo Rowsome stuff (in my own opinion). Obviously it doesn't sound like pipe, but I enjoy it anyway... just my personal taste!
Might try whistle/flute in due course, just starting, don't know what will suit me best.
# Posted on September 8th 2009 by Plasterboard
Re: Where did you learn?
Practicing at home for hours (still do) and then going out to sessions and falling on my face, or in some cases off a proverbial cliff and rolling a few times before landing in a heap at the bottom.
However, there were some kind and gentle sessions where I used to live, including a tune learning sesh which was invaluable, and even the regular session patiently put up with beginners making arses of themselves and was as encouraging as ever. Then I left and spent a good few years struggling along, feeling miserable about it, not being good enough to play with anyone (and it's not like you can hide a bloody set of pipes), playing in sessions I shouldn't have played in and getting shunned out of them, etc. Only in the last few months have I felt like I might be finding my feet and not sucking too badly. Has taken like five years.
So yeah, it takes time, a lot of mistakes, a lot more patience, and yes, more time. But you get there eventually.
# Posted on September 8th 2009 by TheSilverSpear
Re: Where did you learn?
Listening, practice, and through the patience and help of more musical friends. Oh, and more than a little bit of making a total a** of myself. But then a little embarrassment helps grow the soul. Or so I hear...
# Posted on September 8th 2009 by Batlady
Re: Where did you learn?
I was lucky - I met a wonderful and skilled fiddle player who made an extra effort to school up beginners with slow sessions, recordings of how he played tunes, and a great positive attitude about the musical community he was trying to cultivate. This happened after I made a complete fool of myself at my 1st session. I am so glad I conjured up the courage to go back a second time, otherwise I never would have met him and many other great people who helped me on my way. It's a journey. Be patient. Stay with it.
# Posted on September 8th 2009 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Where did you learn?
I should add that I have learn to read music, mind you, at a very slow rate. I rarely use tab notations as I want to know the fretboard. I am learning only tunes that are played at the sessions I attend.
I attack each new tune a measure at a time to learn the new fingering slowly. I use You Tube to hear the tune and I ask at each session if they would kindly play the new tune I am trying to learn.
Unfortunately, I began this learning process a year ago at age 71 and I don't think I have 10,000 hours of practicing left in my lifetime to get to be a good player.
But WTF, what else do I have to do with my time besides, rock climbing, cycling, kayaking, playing mandolin and drinking free Jamesons at ITM sessions?
# Posted on September 8th 2009 by Cape Cod Struggler
Re: Where did you learn?
I'm reluctantly learning at home alone - working through the Grey Larsen mammoth tutorial, and listening to YouTube recordings and the few CDs I have to get the hang of the twiddly bits (I'm a whistler). I've been trying to start up a slow session close to home so I can attend regularly but there just aren't folks in these parts interested/available. My other slow session buddies are retired and travelling to warmer climes for the winter so I'm high and dry again. Haven't found another slow session that I can join. If any of you know of a way to set up a virtual session or teach each other via a discussion group, I'd love to participate. Perhaps a seasoned whistler out there could give us a virtual "music lesson" and assign a tune and twiddly bits to master with it etc. I'm pretty self motivated and doing what I can on my own, but doing it with "buddies" makes it so much more fun, and isn't that what music's all about after all?
# Posted on September 8th 2009 by CarolWhitaker
Re: Where did you learn?
I starting attending sessions before I could play much of anything on
fiddle. Meanwhile I've been practicing like a maniac at home and listening
a lot. There is a way of playing yourself into a session. It takes a lot
of tact and discipline. Michael Gill ("Llig") described here it in a couple of threads and I have observed others doing it. I've been using this method for three years and now I can cruise through more than half
of the tunes that typically come up.
My version of it - Play what you can play, even if it is only one or two
notes. Play them as unobtrusively and as well as you can. Next
time that tune comes up, see if you can get a few more notes in.
If you're not sure what to play - don't play anything - silently finger
the notes perhaps.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by Hup
Re: Where did you learn?
"started"
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by Hup
Re: Where did you learn?
I learned playing with friends and at regular sessions sitting the back.unobtrusively. I learned that I like my own playing better than sessions here. And I found that many tunes can be learned from CDs, utube, Comhaltas, star trek episodes, satellite radio, and streaming internet audio.
Learning guitar for 20 years and banjo for 10 helped with learning fiddle, but still learning fiddle after 18 years.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by dogmageek
Re: Where did you learn?
I started taking OT fiddle at the age of 47 (about 6 years ago). Joining a jam there had the same initial intimidation, but the advantage, in hindsight, is that they play the tune 7 or 8 times, so you could learn a tune about the time the quit playing it.
OT's roots got me into my study of Irish fiddle, and the has been a wonderful and sometimes humbling journey. When I learned a few Irish tunes and went to our local session for anyone, I quickly learned how much more I had to learn.
A beginner is not going to learn many tunes at normal speed, with the tunes only going 2 or 3 times around. So I picked out a few sets that I wanted to learn and kept working at trying to learn more of the sets played at the session. I've played at the local session for a couple years now, and I'm still fine with sitting out a tune or two. You can learn a great deal by listening to others.
More importantly, I've met some great people and have met people from all over the place. JNE said it best.. it's a journey.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by nofrets
Re: Where did you learn?
I was lucky enough to meet some very nice people doing house sessions in my area. There were pub sessions too but I started at house sessions with small groups of people. They pointed me in the right direction when I was brand new to this music. I knew my limitations and asked for help. I was very aware that by playing like shiit I could ruin the good time they were having so I practiced for hours a day. Still do. I find musicians, in general, to be easy going, friendly and fun to be around.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by shanty
Re: Where did you learn?
At home and in the pub. Still do.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by snorre
Re: Where did you learn?
I just bought a bodhran, went along to a local session, listened for a couple of minutes went "got it!" and have been dazzling people with my brilliance ever since.
Buggered if I know why other people can't do it.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by mcknowall
Re: Where did you learn?
Some people never learn
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by llig leahcim
Re: Where did you learn?
I played at home for years withou any advice, not having the confidence (or indeed at that point, the time) to play with others anyway.
Later I got put in touch with a CCE branch in Pollok, Glasgow which was the first time i'd played regularly with other folks. I had to radically change some of my habits in order to make the jump to ceili speed (I'd had some really bad advice on strating out) but there was opportunities to play at different paces with folks at that time.
At our current session we encourage beginers to come along and give us some tunes. But IMHO a session is not the place to be learning tunes. Or rather that isn't the primary function iof a session.
Sure you might pick up tunes there, by osmosis at least, but it is terribly destructive to try to play along and pick up tunes live. This is true whether the player is a "beginer" or not. It just isn't possible to do this unobtrusively on any traditional instruments with the exeption of fiddle or some plucked strings where the volume can be kept low and perhaps not using a bow or pick. Otherwise all that happens is that the other people playing the tune have a terrible time sticking to it, and the music is undermined by the "offender"
Whilst there is a bit of both going on, IMHO the emphasis should be : "learn tunes elsewhere in order to join in at a session; rather than "I go to the session to learn tunes to play (elsewhere)". To place the emphasis in the other direction may help an individuals own development as a player. But it undermines the actual session as an end in itself.
Ask not what your session can do for you...
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Where did you learn?
Yes that method of playing into the session works well with
fiddle but I don't try that on whistle even though it's my
stronger instrument. Whistle is a weapon of mass destruction.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by Hup
Re: Where did you learn?
I learnt jazz guitar from Melbourne great Bruce Clarke before hearing flatpicker Norman Blake, and then getting into American fidlle tunes and then Irish tunes. At least that's the condensed story.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by Tony O'Rourke
Re: Where did you learn?
Michael, for once I agree with you.
Hahahahahhahahahahahhahah
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by mcknowall
Re: Where did you learn?
Yes, hup, I think whistle is one of the worse instrumental offenders when it comes to picking up tunes on the fly.
I think many whistle players aren't aware of how loud their instrument actually is, or perhaps it isn't actual volume as such but rather how clearly it stands out against the background of the rest of a session. But it is definately one of those instruments that other people can hear clearly even if the player can't
- chris
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by ramblingpitchfork
Re: Where did you learn?
Learn...learn? Oh crap, knew I forgot something.
Ah well, no point in going back and doing that now. I'll just keep playing tunes.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Where did you learn?
...no but seriously folks. Kitchen, pub, car (iPod) etc.
Most important lesson?
You can't play what you don't want to listen to. Additionally, the more you listen to, the better you will be able to play.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Where did you learn?
I was lucky enough to learn in our kitchen, from my parents, grandparents and others.
Cape Cod Struggler, my advice, for what it's worth, would be to use the sessions as a social event, and as a way to find a musician who's willing to sit down with you somewhere quiet on another day and teach you a tune. Call it a kitchen session, if you like. If you can't find someone to invest that much time, then ask them to record a tune at an easy pace so that you can learn at your leisure. Most of the musicians I play with have recorded tunes for beginners dozens of times, and generally are happy to do so.
Failing that, as a mandolin player you might want to try Enda Scahill's Irish Banjo Tutor. The accompanying CDs contain a good selection of tunes at a slow pace.
I agree with Rambling Pitchfork, sessions were originally conceived as social gatherings and are probably best treated as such; learning a tune is a bonus. Amongst the local musicians that teach, a common rule of thumb is for a pupil to have fifty tunes that they can play well before they're invited to local pub sessions. With fewer tunes it becomes difficult both for the pupil and the rest of the musicians, who generally want nothing better than for the pupil to join in with them. It's worth noting though that around here, even learners with a handful of tunes are regularly asked to play in informal bands for 10-15 minutes at local concerts, dances and parties.
As for session etiquette, surely it's no more than good manners and something best learnt in the home.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by PJ Doherty
Re: Where did you learn?
I started music lessons at home when I was seven with my mother who was a music teacher.
I was a music major in college. After I graduated from college, I began participating in a local blues jam and other music sessions until someone started an Irish Session here in 1995. So learning how to accompany and be a backup musician at the local sessions wasn't too difficult for me due to my amount of experience and training.
When the Irish sessions first started, I did more listening than playing but it wasn't very long before I was able to participate fully.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by fauxcelt
Re: Where did you learn?
Having played other music on the fiddle, I started off learning irish music the "wrong way" by picking out interesting tune titles and learning ithe unes from O'Neals.
Needless to say, now 15 year down the road after attending my first Willy Clancy I have learned and relearned everything by ear.
I now learn most stuff by listening to recordings and playing along with them. Occationally I'll look up transcribed versions of the tune to work something peculiar out. I also record sessions, and plot down tune names that I at home check up on iTunes and practice in the wee hours. The bottom line of practicing is practice, practice practice
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by FiddleTramp
Re: Where did you learn?
I "grew up" in the same tune learning session that SilverSpear mentioned. That, and I was married to a fiddler, who had me going to sessions long before I felt "ready". But you never learn how to play with other people until you get out and do it, and nobody will ever feel "ready" the first time they do it... (or even the first 20 times, probably).
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by Reverend
Re: Where did you learn?
Hard one.
Practice Pratice Practice- essential. Herself is amazingly tolerant.
But there is something missing. I have tried playing along with the Comhaltas CD's. But without playing in, the tunes don't burn in as well.
My teacher says when you start sessioning, it should be 80 % listening and watching and 20% play....and working up from there.
My schedule and the session schedules here in Chicago have not been in agreement. And i can see that there is something missing in getting over the hump no matter how carefully, regularly and slowly I practice.
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by zippydw
Re: Where did you learn?
ACTUALLY PLAYING AN INSTRUMENT: Luckily I spent some three or four decades playing all sorts of instruments and all sorts of musics prior to attempting Irish Trad et cetera, so it was just a matter of adapting one's style.
THE MUSIC: I've been learning to back Trad Irish for a few years now. I have never listened to recordings of it, I have exclusively learned by regularly attending sessions. As many as possible and one weekly one particularly.
Trying to learn from records on your own is like learning about sex by watching porn.
THE ETIQUETTE: After a few false starts, a quantity of embarrassments and a plethora of faux pas's I have embraced session etiquette quite well now! It takes time to really see what is going on. I've become quite a closet purist disliking bad backing, the site of guitarists arriving at a session which is ticking along nicely and musically, noodlers, people playing too fast, and so forth. I still like to challenge the envelope though by using unexpected instruments but in an appropriately Trad Irish way (if such a thing is possible!)
Cheers
Dave
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by yhaalhouse
Re: Where did you learn?
I spent months just listening to sessions, then playing guitar quietly at the edge of the circle for about a year, then learning whistle tunes at home after hearing them in the session, and slowly over a decade, have moved to the middle of things. Don't get impatient, Struggler, take it easy and enjoy the ride, it will all come in time, and remember to have fun along the way!!!!
# Posted on September 9th 2009 by AlBrown
Re: Where did you learn?
Heard the tunes. Practised at home... listened more... practised everywhere. Took some fiddle lessons... listened more... practised everywhere. Read some dots... listened more... practised everywhere. Went to sessions... listened more... practised everywhere... etc. Still practising (what I preach).
# Posted on September 10th 2009 by drone
Re: Where did you learn?
it's probably better to learn bodhran from the dots. What do you think mcknowall? llig?
# Posted on September 10th 2009 by Duijera Dubh
Re: Where did you learn?
In prison. Had lots of time on my hands.
Just kidding. Session, home, session, home, session... still learning.
# Posted on September 10th 2009 by tuckered out
Re: Where did you learn?
i dived in the deep end hungry for it and 'am still swimming back to reach the edge
# Posted on September 17th 2009 by lisaniska