In my case, I'm usually lucky to get a chair but I've noticed that players of certain instruments tend to sit together e.g flutes, fiddles, mandolin etc.
Is this how you prefer your seating arrangements too? In some sessions, it's like sections of a mini orchestra.
Obviously, most melody players will probably want to avoid sitting beside "the bodhrans" and "strummers" but, apart from that, does it really matter too much where you sit? Perhaps, you might also wish to sit a few feet away from the Highland pipes but melody is melody. So, if you're a fiddler and want to sit with other fiddles etc is it just a case of solidarity or alternatively lack of confidence?
Sorry if all this sounds a bit clumsy. It's a bit late in the night!
Hmm, I actually prefer to sit with other instruments. I typically feel stifled when I sit with other fiddlers. Can't hear the soul of the song for all the ornamentation.
But seriously, it makes perfect sense for the melody instruments to sit together in noisy pubs & preferably to the right of Accordion players, so that you hear more of the melody notes than the bass notes.
Personally, if I can't hear the Guitar or Harp, & their lovely harmony notes/chords then I feel cheated & if there is a good Bodhran player, then I like to be able to hear them.
As far as the Guitar & Bodhran players go, the good ones never play too loud anyway, so they are a joy to listen too.
However, the Rock & Roll style Guitar thrashers & Keith Moon style Bodhran players are a different story & should be F£%$&*G excomunicated!!
I prefer to stand; sitting is too much like being at work. If I have to sit, I like someone between me and the other fiddles, as it's too hard to tell what's really going on if I sit amongst them.
If there's anybody really attractive, I like to be where I can stare & droll , etc ;->
I like to sit wherever I can hear the best player(s) in the session. Don't care wherever else -- oh, also somewhere where I don't have to worry about my bow getting bumped into things or people walking into the scroll of the fiddle.
On the cosmetic side, I prefer to sit as far away from SMOKERS as possible, in preference the next bar, or at least the next room, hopefully soon, the next country!
I also avoid draughts - prefering bottles! Boom Boom
( Ah Bazil - no not Fawlty - Brush!)
To be honest, up-wind of Bodhran players is usually best too.
Oh yes, & up-wind of Flute players too, to avoid being 'slavered' & dribbled over!
Of course I almost always seek out a seat next to the Cajon or Session WMD, when I can.
Since I'm new, I politely sit against a wall, next to a table, so I can place my pint and my music on the table. I switch from my fiddle to my high whistles and my low whistle, so I need to have my arsenal close at hand.
I usually try to get a spot next to my role model, because I can learn a lot just by sitting next to her and tend to have more fun. If she's not there, I'll usually sit by a rhythm player. I love listening to the chords, and it helps keep me on beat
I try to avoid sitting on the bass side of box players who use a lot of bass otherwise I can't hear the melody. I also don't like being trapped in corners and need enough room to bow without causing injury to other players!
Since I'm a perennial latecomer, I sit where I'm told.
But ideally, near other flutes or whistles. To be honest, though, in the Blythe, because we're banished to a smallish back-room (yay!) [paradoxically at the front of the pub], we have good accoustics so it doesn't really matter where you end up.
Preferably beside the strongest player(s), but if I end up beside a bodhrán player, I prefer the beater side - seems to be quieter. If beside a box player - beside the note side. If I've my fiddle with me as well as the guitar, I need a safe bit of table to lay the fiddle down on too - and my pint!
I like to sit on the bench near the dartboard, because it has a cushion on the seat, and the back is angled to suit my crumbling spine. If I sit on one of the hard benches I get sciatica. Also you can see the door, so you can stop playing if a stranger comes in.
When you are at the bar or bog, where does your precious instrument SIT?
I know a few folks who actually put their Fiddle back in it's case when they head for the Bar or the Bog!
Not a bad idea when you consider who is sitting around you - not mentioning any names!
One guy made his own Fiddle & another's Fiddle was made specially for him by his uncle so for them, at least , it makes good sense!
I once saw a Flute 'snapped in half' when a drunken eedjit sat on it, while it's owner was at the bog - SCAREY!!!!!
I'm sure you have all seen accidents with instruments so, as you are usually surrounded by drunken ITM yobs, it might be prudent for you to spend at least as much time considering where your instrument should sit!
I don't get why some melody players don't sit next to accompaniers, like I prefer sitting next to another backer and a melody player, i get lost if there are 2 fiddles in my ear and i cant hear anyone else apart from them!
I like to sit across from the tenor banjo players so I can watch their fingerings on tunes I don't know (or know well). I like to think I've picked up a few technique tips just from watching them and transfering to the mandolin. I'm not a big fan of sitting next to accordians and pipes as they tend to throw me off too easily and I'm not skilled enough yet for that.
Our sessions tend not to have any real set seating. Fiddlers tend to congregate on one side, and flutes on the other with pluckers and strummers in between, but it's a general first-come, first available seat that determines placement and folks aren't usually too concerned with who sits where so long as we aren't banging into each other.
Over the years a session is running, it becomes kind of routine for the core musicians, who turn up week in week out, year in year out, to sit in seats they have come to realise suit the music best for them & their fellow musicians.
So doesn't it get right up your nose when strangers waltz in, or even folk who only turn up now & then - when they feel like it, and these guys get there early & sit in the prime seats.
Best of all is when they only know a few tunes, so end up sitting looking like spare pr*cks at a wedding for most of the night, while the regulars are all out of form, can't hear each other properly & just generally have a cra*p night!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarse!!
I wish these 'TOOLS' would catch themselves on!
When I go to a strange session, I just wait till the regulars turn up, & I let them get settled in & only then do I approach & ask if I may join in!
Am I weird or is that just common sense & mannerly?
I've seen some of Ireland's finest IT musicians behave with common courtisy like that, so surely want-to-be, also-rans like meself & other lesser mortals should take a leaf out of their book!
There's a grand view from up here on this SOAP BOX!!
The session leader sits in the corner, and I sit facing him so I can watch him closely and pick up visual cues better. I sit next to the fire place and its raised hearth, so I have a spot to put my whistle and harmonicas, and more importantly, my pint.
Good point there, Dick. And you have to judge the blow-in's body language to determine whether to say something or not, cos (s)he might grab you by the throat and rip your windpipe and lungs out or have a serious psychotic nervous breakdown right before your eyes, faster than you can say Gartnavel. But it IS sometimes possible to politely ask someone to swap seats.
Well, I'd say if you were a "2 fit high black an white pescatarian fae antarctica who talked in a funny langwidge" you might just get away with asking folk to shift oot o' yer seat!
I like to sit where I can see other musicians I need to see, and where the acoustic sounds reasonable. Sometimes these requirements are mutually exclusive, depending on the venue, in which case line of sight takes precedence.
Odd things can happen, though. Last week I was playing in an ad hoc band at a memorial set dancing ceili for a greatly loved musician who passed away four years ago. There were about a dozen of us in a semicircle facing the dancers, and everyone was miked up. I was allocated a seat at one end of the semicircle,and the only other fiddle player I could see clearly was my opposite number at the other end. I'll call him "Paul" (because that's his name), a highly respected fiddle player in the area.
As is not uncommon with an ad hoc gig some 25 miles from my home town a number of the tunes weren't necessarily familiar the first time round, so I kept an eye on Paul to ensure my bowing and fingering were at least in approximate synch with his. During the break I had a chat with Paul and mentioned that I was following him in the tunes I didn't know well, whereupon he laughed and said his playing was a bit rusty (not that I'd noticed) and he was doing exactly the same thing, following my playing for the same reason.
That's easy - in the corner wth my back agin the wall with John Boy on Bouzouki on one side and Peter on bodhrán on the other.
Being in the corner means better acoustics - I can actually hear myself playing and the two guys just give such a great lift to the music that I feel I play 10 times better with them flanking me.
If I go to a church or congregation where I have to worry about if I'm offending someone because of where I sit, or that I'm breaking some rule that I may not know about or I feel that people are making rude remarks I don't go to that church!!! The same with a session. I'm not saying do away with standards but for goodness sake - it's a session - not an operating room!
On the bench, to the right of the leaders. Usually right next to one of the leaders, she even saves me a seat there sometimes when I'm late. I like to be on the to the right of them because of the angle of the flute and wanting to be facing the best players so I hear them the most.
Must admit all this talk of the 'BEST PLAYERS' is giving me a doze of the dry boke!! My God but there are some REAL SNOBS on this site. Would yiz ever just f&$£$*g sit down & play da bleedin' music, would ja!!
Since I'm fairly new to anything resembling a session, I generally sit in the back of the group. I try to sit near someone who knows the names of the tunes and if they're another fiddler; see their fingers. Sometimes, that's not possible so I end up following the songs I don't know as best I can. Just trying to "follow" the songs I don't know well can get annoying, thus, another reason I try and sit behind everyone.
Hey, Breandan 'Baby', how could I be anything other than 'Chilled Out', living, as I do, in this frozen north coast landscape, what with all the Penguins & Polar Bears an' all!
Where do you sit in a session?
Where do you sit in a session?
In my case, I'm usually lucky to get a chair
but I've noticed that players of certain instruments tend to sit together e.g flutes, fiddles, mandolin etc.
Is this how you prefer your seating arrangements too? In some sessions, it's like sections of a mini orchestra.
Obviously, most melody players will probably want to avoid sitting beside "the bodhrans" and "strummers" but, apart from that, does it really matter too much where you sit? Perhaps, you might also wish to sit a few feet away from the Highland pipes but melody is melody. So, if you're a fiddler and want to sit with other fiddles etc is it just a case of solidarity or alternatively lack of confidence?
Sorry if all this sounds a bit clumsy. It's a bit late in the night!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Johnny Jay
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Hmm, I actually prefer to sit with other instruments. I typically feel stifled when I sit with other fiddlers. Can't hear the soul of the song for all the ornamentation.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by musicfan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I'm not choosy, as long as I've got elbow room. It's hard to play the fiddle if you have to worry that you're going to poke somebody's eye out.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by John Galt
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
On me erse!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
But seriously, it makes perfect sense for the melody instruments to sit together in noisy pubs & preferably to the right of Accordion players, so that you hear more of the melody notes than the bass notes.
Personally, if I can't hear the Guitar or Harp, & their lovely harmony notes/chords then I feel cheated & if there is a good Bodhran player, then I like to be able to hear them.
As far as the Guitar & Bodhran players go, the good ones never play too loud anyway, so they are a joy to listen too.
However, the Rock & Roll style Guitar thrashers & Keith Moon style Bodhran players are a different story & should be F£%$&*G excomunicated!!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I prefer to stand; sitting is too much like being at work. If I have to sit, I like someone between me and the other fiddles, as it's too hard to tell what's really going on if I sit amongst them.
If there's anybody really attractive, I like to be where I can stare & droll , etc ;->
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Owell Mabee
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I like to sit wherever I can hear the best player(s) in the session. Don't care wherever else -- oh, also somewhere where I don't have to worry about my bow getting bumped into things or people walking into the scroll of the fiddle.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
...or tripping over your 'Zimmer Frame' eh?
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
On the cosmetic side, I prefer to sit as far away from SMOKERS as possible, in preference the next bar, or at least the next room, hopefully soon, the next country!
I also avoid draughts - prefering bottles! Boom Boom
( Ah Bazil - no not Fawlty - Brush!)
To be honest, up-wind of Bodhran players is usually best too.
Oh yes, & up-wind of Flute players too, to avoid being 'slavered' & dribbled over!
Of course I almost always seek out a seat next to the Cajon or Session WMD, when I can.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I actually prefer to sit near the rhythm folks...I find it easier to keep the rhythm with a guitar or bodhrán in my ear.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by MacTireRua
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Since I'm new, I politely sit against a wall, next to a table, so I can place my pint and my music on the table. I switch from my fiddle to my high whistles and my low whistle, so I need to have my arsenal close at hand.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
wherever the drool from my flute will be most strategically placed. That means
1) Far away from my beer. Backwash :(
2) Next to someone who likes a humid climate.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by wormdiet
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I usually try to get a spot next to my role model, because I can learn a lot just by sitting next to her and tend to have more fun. If she's not there, I'll usually sit by a rhythm player. I love listening to the chords, and it helps keep me on beat
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Fiddlekit
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I try to avoid sitting on the bass side of box players who use a lot of bass otherwise I can't hear the melody. I also don't like being trapped in corners and need enough room to bow without causing injury to other players!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Tarrantella
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Since I'm a perennial latecomer, I sit where I'm told.
But ideally, near other flutes or whistles. To be honest, though, in the Blythe, because we're banished to a smallish back-room (yay!) [paradoxically at the front of the pub], we have good accoustics so it doesn't really matter where you end up.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Rudall the time
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I sit next to someone who might be able to tell me the names of the tunes ...
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/7668
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ottery
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Try to sit next to the best musician(if you get on with them!) as you will buzz of them and play your best.
On the other hand if you accompany try to sit just on the outside so as you hear the overall sound and adjust your volume and tone to match.
But if yu can sit next to someone who's playing you really like as you will pick up all there good habits!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Kess
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Preferably beside the strongest player(s), but if I end up beside a bodhrán player, I prefer the beater side - seems to be quieter. If beside a box player - beside the note side. If I've my fiddle with me as well as the guitar, I need a safe bit of table to lay the fiddle down on too - and my pint!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by On Sabbatical
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I like to sit on the bench near the dartboard, because it has a cushion on the seat, and the back is angled to suit my crumbling spine. If I sit on one of the hard benches I get sciatica. Also you can see the door, so you can stop playing if a stranger comes in.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
When you are at the bar or bog, where does your precious instrument SIT?
I know a few folks who actually put their Fiddle back in it's case when they head for the Bar or the Bog!
Not a bad idea when you consider who is sitting around you - not mentioning any names!
One guy made his own Fiddle & another's Fiddle was made specially for him by his uncle so for them, at least , it makes good sense!
I once saw a Flute 'snapped in half' when a drunken eedjit sat on it, while it's owner was at the bog - SCAREY!!!!!
I'm sure you have all seen accidents with instruments so, as you are usually surrounded by drunken ITM yobs, it might be prudent for you to spend at least as much time considering where your instrument should sit!
Here endeth the lesson!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I don't get why some melody players don't sit next to accompaniers, like I prefer sitting next to another backer and a melody player, i get lost if there are 2 fiddles in my ear and i cant hear anyone else apart from them!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by ecidralla
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I like to sit across from the tenor banjo players so I can watch their fingerings on tunes I don't know (or know well). I like to think I've picked up a few technique tips just from watching them and transfering to the mandolin. I'm not a big fan of sitting next to accordians and pipes as they tend to throw me off too easily and I'm not skilled enough yet for that.
Our sessions tend not to have any real set seating. Fiddlers tend to congregate on one side, and flutes on the other with pluckers and strummers in between, but it's a general first-come, first available seat that determines placement and folks aren't usually too concerned with who sits where so long as we aren't banging into each other.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by jdteehan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Where NOT to sit!!!
Over the years a session is running, it becomes kind of routine for the core musicians, who turn up week in week out, year in year out, to sit in seats they have come to realise suit the music best for them & their fellow musicians.
So doesn't it get right up your nose when strangers waltz in, or even folk who only turn up now & then - when they feel like it, and these guys get there early & sit in the prime seats.
Best of all is when they only know a few tunes, so end up sitting looking like spare pr*cks at a wedding for most of the night, while the regulars are all out of form, can't hear each other properly & just generally have a cra*p night!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarse!!
I wish these 'TOOLS' would catch themselves on!
When I go to a strange session, I just wait till the regulars turn up, & I let them get settled in & only then do I approach & ask if I may join in!
Am I weird or is that just common sense & mannerly?
I've seen some of Ireland's finest IT musicians behave with common courtisy like that, so surely want-to-be, also-rans like meself & other lesser mortals should take a leaf out of their book!
There's a grand view from up here on this SOAP BOX!!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
The session leader sits in the corner, and I sit facing him so I can watch him closely and pick up visual cues better. I sit next to the fire place and its raised hearth, so I have a spot to put my whistle and harmonicas, and more importantly, my pint.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by AlBrown
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Good point there, Dick. And you have to judge the blow-in's body language to determine whether to say something or not, cos (s)he might grab you by the throat and rip your windpipe and lungs out or have a serious psychotic nervous breakdown right before your eyes, faster than you can say Gartnavel. But it IS sometimes possible to politely ask someone to swap seats.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Rudall the time
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Well, I'd say if you were a "2 fit high black an white pescatarian fae antarctica who talked in a funny langwidge" you might just get away with asking folk to shift oot o' yer seat!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Too many rules - just leave the leader his/her usual seat.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by JPcares
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
In reality I like to sit across from the best flute or whistle player so I can watch their hands and fake it.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by wormdiet
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I like to sit where I can see other musicians I need to see, and where the acoustic sounds reasonable. Sometimes these requirements are mutually exclusive, depending on the venue, in which case line of sight takes precedence.
Odd things can happen, though. Last week I was playing in an ad hoc band at a memorial set dancing ceili for a greatly loved musician who passed away four years ago. There were about a dozen of us in a semicircle facing the dancers, and everyone was miked up. I was allocated a seat at one end of the semicircle,and the only other fiddle player I could see clearly was my opposite number at the other end. I'll call him "Paul" (because that's his name), a highly respected fiddle player in the area.
As is not uncommon with an ad hoc gig some 25 miles from my home town a number of the tunes weren't necessarily familiar the first time round, so I kept an eye on Paul to ensure my bowing and fingering were at least in approximate synch with his. During the break I had a chat with Paul and mentioned that I was following him in the tunes I didn't know well, whereupon he laughed and said his playing was a bit rusty (not that I'd noticed) and he was doing exactly the same thing, following my playing for the same reason.
Trevor
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
That's easy - in the corner wth my back agin the wall with John Boy on Bouzouki on one side and Peter on bodhrán on the other.
Being in the corner means better acoustics - I can actually hear myself playing and the two guys just give such a great lift to the music that I feel I play 10 times better with them flanking me.
mmmmmmm flanking
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by breandan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Away from specific "rhythm" players.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Jode
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
What about nudey rhythm players ?
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by BegF
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
If I go to a church or congregation where I have to worry about if I'm offending someone because of where I sit, or that I'm breaking some rule that I may not know about or I feel that people are making rude remarks I don't go to that church!!! The same with a session. I'm not saying do away with standards but for goodness sake - it's a session - not an operating room!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by JPcares
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
On the bench, to the right of the leaders. Usually right next to one of the leaders, she even saves me a seat there sometimes when I'm late. I like to be on the to the right of them because of the angle of the flute and wanting to be facing the best players so I hear them the most.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by seisflutes
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Must admit all this talk of the 'BEST PLAYERS' is giving me a doze of the dry boke!! My God but there are some REAL SNOBS on this site. Would yiz ever just f&$£$*g sit down & play da bleedin' music, would ja!!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Being a flute-tooter and facing left I like to sit in a position I can see the others playing.
Also as far away from SMOKERS as possible. This often means I have to move (which is particularly annoying).
Also relatively close to the good players, but not too close.
Also prepferably across from the loud players (accordion) cause it makes it harder to play with one finger in my ear.
Also far, far away from the bodhran players who "thwap" their sticks on the wood.
Also not directly in front of a loud guitar player (although to the side is good).
All this (plus more I haven't mentioned) makes it a "challenge" finding just the right position.
Usually I just have to take any seat available and hope for the best.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by keyedup
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Since I'm fairly new to anything resembling a session, I generally sit in the back of the group. I try to sit near someone who knows the names of the tunes and if they're another fiddler; see their fingers. Sometimes, that's not possible so I end up following the songs I don't know as best I can. Just trying to "follow" the songs I don't know well can get annoying, thus, another reason I try and sit behind everyone.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by TJ
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
I have to say, it really throws me off when somebody starts staring at my fingers while I'm playing!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Zina Lee
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
>Sniff<
Well, Mr Ptarmigan, I'm not sitting next to you, swearing at me like that. Me being a wee sensitive 2 fit high pescatarian and aw'
Boo hoo.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Rudall the time
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Where I have elbow room, and not next to the one guy who always guesses wrong which key the tune's in.
Other than that it's a crap shoot.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by sara g
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Where I f#####in like.
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by bodhran bliss
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
While your playing with 'what' Zina?
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
keyedup, sounds like you probably have to sit next door!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Hey you guys, there's a spare seat next to me, now that Pingu has gone!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
"Where I f#####in like" - well, wouldn't you just expect an answer like that from 'Bodhran' Bliss - says it all really!!
# Posted on September 7th 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Hard life, innit, David?
# Posted on September 8th 2005 by Rudall the time
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Chilllllllllllll out Dick for GAWDS sake!
# Posted on September 8th 2005 by breandan
Re: Where do you sit in a session?
Hey, Breandan 'Baby', how could I be anything other than 'Chilled Out', living, as I do, in this frozen north coast landscape, what with all the Penguins & Polar Bears an' all!
# Posted on September 8th 2005 by Ptarmigan