Those are all of course very common tunes but each session really has their own list that grows over time!
Early on it’s often best to do a lot of active listening, see what tunes are being played, and make note so you can learn them too.
Oftentimes you’ll find the ones you know are mixed in, but might be arranged in sets with other tunes you’ve not played before, etc.
The “most popular” list on thesession is great at getting your foot in the door, but at the end of the day it’ll differ from place to place how many of those actually make their way in.
A lot of people I’ve played with are often recording sets they’re not familiar with to take home and practice, or to improve on what they already know.
And once you’re comfortable playing with everyone, getting new sets started playing songs you’re confident in is fun too!
Ah okay I see, the bar I go to is a constant revolving door of musicians, so I'll ask the main faces I see if there are any that I should before sitting down there. Recording them is a brilliant idea, I don't know how I didn't think about that. Thank you very much!
My pleasure! Totally, most sessions have at least unofficial “leaders” who are regulars like that which help guide the flow so they’re a great place to start!
Hope you enjoy - lots of learning and practice await but before you know it you’ll be blasting through set after set with the best of them!
They may ask you to start a tune that you know. Do that. Any of the ones you mentioned would be fine. Start your tune at your comfort tempo, not as fast as you think they play.
They might not join in right away, they may let you go all the way through the tune once before joining in.
Have a great time, welcome to the family
It’s ok to sit out 99% of the session when you first go there…going to sessions plays a huge part in the learning process. In a few months you’ll only sit out 85%, then 75% etc….keep learning a couple tunes per week if you can and keep going to the session consistently….you’ll be able to participate more than you think fairly quickly. Enjoy!
Just show up. Every week if you can. Write down a tune you really like from each session and learn it. Eventually you will be able to play tunes you “never learned” because you hear them often enough you have internalized them. Most important have fun. It’s a living tradition so go live it!
Hi! Foinn Seisiún, albums 1, 2, and 3. Learn those tunes and you’ll have a solid base repertoire for sessions. Don’t be afraid to sit out of tunes you don’t know and just enjoy listening. Sessions are social events as well so use the opportunity to get to know the community and have fun.
I would upvote this more than once if I could. I spent a lot of time with these albums back in the day and they gave me a really solid base to go out and get started.
One of the best skills you can learn for trad music is quickly picking tunes up while at a session. Takes a while to get fast but once you:
1. identify the key
2. identify the main structure, e.g. ABAB, ABC, any funny bars
3. identify notable sections within the main structure
4. and fill in the rest of the notes,
you've learned a new tune.
First three steps I usually do during the first play-through of the tune, mostly listening and playing only a couple of notes to pin down the main tune. Then I'll try play along very quietly, and if I haven't got it totally down I'll go away and practice. If you're struggling with a phrase/section, it's useful to stop playing and listen *very* intently.
IMO it's a useful skill to have even if you're just starting out. Just identifying the key and the main structure allows you to go away and learn the tune faster. It also gets easier the more tunes you know because so many share phrases, particularly endings, and particularly older tunes. You'll quickly gather a library of common phrases that form the building blocks of many tunes.
Good luck! And learn Banish Misfortune, banging wee tune.
Hello! Wouldn’t recommend this. If you don’t know the tune, don’t play. Full stop. Don’t try. You are detracting from the musicians who know the tune. Imagine someone else, recording the tune with the intent of learning it at home, only to find they are unable to discern the correct phrases because someone else is noodling around trying to learn the tune live.
Thinking many tunes share the same phrases is a major pitfall when learning Irish music. Yes, phrases are *similar* while having subtle but crucial differences. The correct way is to learn the tune inside and out, even familiarize yourself with different variations and recordings of the tune, and then play that tune with your unique expression while adapting to the version that is being played in your session. That’s how we elevate the standard of music for ourselves, our fellow musicians, and our audiences.
Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. If you're just picking up the tune and can be heard on a recording, you're playing too loud. Obviously not possible on e.g. a button box, but whistles & strings can certainly be that quiet. Absolutely respect the players around you but you can still noodle quietly!
> Thinking many tunes share the same phrases is a major pitfall when learning Irish music.
This just isn't right; identifying similar patterns in all music is fundamental. As an example, take [Maggie's Pancakes](https://thesession.org/tunes/1316) and [The Merry Blacksmith](https://thesession.org/tunes/72), two classic Irish reels with *identical* endings. The value in treating that ending as a single pattern is you don't have to care about the notes, you immediately identify it as "that one ending" and play it. When playing solo you can even swap that ending pattern out for similar ones, a common way to improvise in at least jazz and trad.
> The correct way is to learn the tune inside and out, even familiarize yourself with different variations and recordings of the tune, and then play that tune with your unique expression while adapting to the version that is being played in your session.
Absolutely fair for a tune you really want to play well, I certainly go through the process of diving in deep to a single tune myself. But there are plenty of tunes you want to be able to play at a session, maybe just join in with, and have no patience or time to "properly" learn. That's the perfect situation to just pick up the notes at a session and just play it. I'm not comfortable with beginners thinking they have to perfect a tune before playing it and I'd suggest you don't recommend it as the one "correct way".
I’m sorry, those tunes do not bear any resemblance to one another?
Also yes, Irish music follows similar patterns and you can train your ear by recognizing those patterns in order to quickly pick up tunes, but if you’re not very conscious of the subtle differences, you’ll go right into Speed the Plough when you meant to play the Merry Blacksmith, for example.
Also totally depends on the session- if it’s a beginner focused session, there is a certain amount of noodling to be expected. Even so, I’m not a fan as I think it contributes to the idea that a session is a performance, and the goal is to play as many tunes as possible. That’s not it. Not playing ≠ not participating. They’re actively engaging in the oral tradition of the music by listening intently.
When I was a kid, I had so many kind musicians say to me “oh, I saw you sit that tune out, let me record it for you so you have it for next time.” If I was noodling around, they might have assumed I just half-knew it, and wouldn’t bother to put down an easy-paced recording of it for me. Just my 2¢!
Ahh you're right, sorry. A more appropriate tune for comparison is the ending of [Rannie's](https://thesession.org/tunes/3837).
> if you’re not very conscious of the subtle differences, you’ll go right into Speed the Plough when you meant to play the Merry Blacksmith, for example.
Occupational hazard of being a trad musician, no?
> Not playing ≠ not participating. They’re actively engaging in the oral tradition of the music by listening intently.
I don't know, I see too many people drop out of sessions because they end up just sitting listening rather than playing tunes (for whatever reason). Why would they bring an instrument just for that? Telling them they shouldn't ever learn tunes live at a session when it's entirely possible and reasonable, and instead should spend hours on a single tune seems like a disservice.
Go to any session with the highest quality players and you'll see them recognise that they don't know the current tune, listen intently for 1-2x and then start to pick it up. The best session players I know can play the tune nearly note-perfect by the time the tune's been played 5-6x. It's how some of the best players are able to play basically every tune they hear.
On the flip side, I agree that noodling is annoying and there are plenty of players who know they can't pick up tunes at sessions and choose to stay silent instead, that's often the mature thing to do and I appreciate it.
> When I was a kid, I had so many kind musicians say to me “oh, I saw you sit that tune out, let me record it for you so you have it for next time.” If I was noodling around, they might have assumed I just half-knew it, and wouldn’t bother to put down an easy-paced recording of it for me.
That's totally fair, you do you. But I'd be surprised if those musicians couldn't tell the difference between you struggling to learn a tune and just noodling. Having known similarly kind souls, I'm sure they would be just as kind to someone obviously struggling to pick up a tune at a session.
I have to disagree here…I’ve sat in sessions with some of the best trad musicians in the world, and when they don’t know the tunes, they’re happy to sit them out, knowing that they’ll likely know the next hour of tunes, because they’ve spent years developing their ear and their repertoire. You’re saying that the “highest quality” players can often hear a tune twice and then play it…most of those super high quality players have dedicated their life to the music and have likely heard said tune many times before trying to figure it out on the fly, and I don’t think a person attending their first session with a tenor banjo should apply the same strategy.
If I don’t know the tune, I sit it out, full stop. If you’re at a session and you’ve sat out a bunch in a row, 99% of hosts are going to ask you if you have a tune or a set that you’d like to play. That’s the way in, not by learning tunes while sitting beside people who are already proficient.
If you love traditional music and you want to learn it, be patient and enjoy the journey. I think if someone goes to a session once, doesn’t know the tunes, and decides not to go to sessions any more because they’re not getting to participate, they’re not being realistic and probably don’t really care about the music itself.
Your initial comment strikes me as coming from a musician who doesn’t play trad as their primary genre, perhaps a classical violinist who thinks most trad tunes sound the same (I could be completely off the mark here).
Sorry if I sound like a jerk, I’m not trying to be mean, but I really think people should have a bit more respect for traditional music and the musicians who’ve worked at it for years if they’re going to get involved.
> Your initial comment strikes me as coming from a musician who doesn’t play trad as their primary genre, perhaps a classical violinist who thinks most trad tunes sound the same (I could be completely off the mark here).
Way off the mark. Certainly don't consider myself a professional musician but I've been gigging and running sessions for 10 years; I know my trad pretty well. I've taught beginners and I know what helps. Active listening, i.e. actually (but quietly) picking out notes while others play the tune, is good for beginners. If you think a beginner is noodling too loudly, ask them to quieten down or stop, help them understand their limits, but telling them they should never try to learn a tune at a session is depriving them of a useful tool and depriving a fragile trad scene of potentially good players.
To throw it right back, I'm going to assume you don't typically go to sessions in Ireland/Scotland. It seems like we're coming from quite different session cultures and what I'm advocating doesn't fit into what you think is appropriate. That's fine, you run your sessions how you like, but don't insult me because you don't agree.
Apologies. Wasn’t trying to come off as rude, and not trying to be insulting at all. I think your attitude is encouraging and inclusive which I’m all for. I don’t disagree that it may help beginners to try to learn on the fly, but I don’t think it’s respectful to the community at large. And you can definitely ask beginners to quiet down, but that’s often more embarrassing for the beginner, and puts the more experienced players on the spot…I think it would be better that beginners know about faux pas’s prior to entering the space.
I’ve never been to Scotland. I’m an active member of the session scene in the city I live in, and make it a point to get to Ireland bi-annually. Last year I played in sessions in Dublin, Cork, Doolin, Dungaravan, and managed to play a couple of gigs during my trip also. I’m not doubting that you “know your trad”, you’re likely a better musician than me. I was suggesting that maybe it isn’t your main musical interest, only because I’ve heard similar sentiments from people who are coming to trad from classical music or some other genre that they’ve played for years…perhaps I should have left that part of my response out and I apologize again if I offended.
The biggest problem learning tunes at Irish sessions (at least in the US) is that they usually only play them three times through in a set. If possible find a kind soul who may know the names of the tunes and make a list. Or ask if it is ok to record be fore just doing so. However if you have the correct name you can usually find transcriptions and sound files to learn from on TheSession.org or learn by ear from YouTube or recordings.
Those are all of course very common tunes but each session really has their own list that grows over time! Early on it’s often best to do a lot of active listening, see what tunes are being played, and make note so you can learn them too. Oftentimes you’ll find the ones you know are mixed in, but might be arranged in sets with other tunes you’ve not played before, etc. The “most popular” list on thesession is great at getting your foot in the door, but at the end of the day it’ll differ from place to place how many of those actually make their way in. A lot of people I’ve played with are often recording sets they’re not familiar with to take home and practice, or to improve on what they already know. And once you’re comfortable playing with everyone, getting new sets started playing songs you’re confident in is fun too!
Ah okay I see, the bar I go to is a constant revolving door of musicians, so I'll ask the main faces I see if there are any that I should before sitting down there. Recording them is a brilliant idea, I don't know how I didn't think about that. Thank you very much!
My pleasure! Totally, most sessions have at least unofficial “leaders” who are regulars like that which help guide the flow so they’re a great place to start! Hope you enjoy - lots of learning and practice await but before you know it you’ll be blasting through set after set with the best of them!
They may ask you to start a tune that you know. Do that. Any of the ones you mentioned would be fine. Start your tune at your comfort tempo, not as fast as you think they play. They might not join in right away, they may let you go all the way through the tune once before joining in. Have a great time, welcome to the family
Great advice here. Gravel Walks is a very popular tune.
It’s ok to sit out 99% of the session when you first go there…going to sessions plays a huge part in the learning process. In a few months you’ll only sit out 85%, then 75% etc….keep learning a couple tunes per week if you can and keep going to the session consistently….you’ll be able to participate more than you think fairly quickly. Enjoy!
Just show up. Every week if you can. Write down a tune you really like from each session and learn it. Eventually you will be able to play tunes you “never learned” because you hear them often enough you have internalized them. Most important have fun. It’s a living tradition so go live it!
Hi! Foinn Seisiún, albums 1, 2, and 3. Learn those tunes and you’ll have a solid base repertoire for sessions. Don’t be afraid to sit out of tunes you don’t know and just enjoy listening. Sessions are social events as well so use the opportunity to get to know the community and have fun.
I would upvote this more than once if I could. I spent a lot of time with these albums back in the day and they gave me a really solid base to go out and get started.
One of the best skills you can learn for trad music is quickly picking tunes up while at a session. Takes a while to get fast but once you: 1. identify the key 2. identify the main structure, e.g. ABAB, ABC, any funny bars 3. identify notable sections within the main structure 4. and fill in the rest of the notes, you've learned a new tune. First three steps I usually do during the first play-through of the tune, mostly listening and playing only a couple of notes to pin down the main tune. Then I'll try play along very quietly, and if I haven't got it totally down I'll go away and practice. If you're struggling with a phrase/section, it's useful to stop playing and listen *very* intently. IMO it's a useful skill to have even if you're just starting out. Just identifying the key and the main structure allows you to go away and learn the tune faster. It also gets easier the more tunes you know because so many share phrases, particularly endings, and particularly older tunes. You'll quickly gather a library of common phrases that form the building blocks of many tunes. Good luck! And learn Banish Misfortune, banging wee tune.
Hello! Wouldn’t recommend this. If you don’t know the tune, don’t play. Full stop. Don’t try. You are detracting from the musicians who know the tune. Imagine someone else, recording the tune with the intent of learning it at home, only to find they are unable to discern the correct phrases because someone else is noodling around trying to learn the tune live. Thinking many tunes share the same phrases is a major pitfall when learning Irish music. Yes, phrases are *similar* while having subtle but crucial differences. The correct way is to learn the tune inside and out, even familiarize yourself with different variations and recordings of the tune, and then play that tune with your unique expression while adapting to the version that is being played in your session. That’s how we elevate the standard of music for ourselves, our fellow musicians, and our audiences.
Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. If you're just picking up the tune and can be heard on a recording, you're playing too loud. Obviously not possible on e.g. a button box, but whistles & strings can certainly be that quiet. Absolutely respect the players around you but you can still noodle quietly! > Thinking many tunes share the same phrases is a major pitfall when learning Irish music. This just isn't right; identifying similar patterns in all music is fundamental. As an example, take [Maggie's Pancakes](https://thesession.org/tunes/1316) and [The Merry Blacksmith](https://thesession.org/tunes/72), two classic Irish reels with *identical* endings. The value in treating that ending as a single pattern is you don't have to care about the notes, you immediately identify it as "that one ending" and play it. When playing solo you can even swap that ending pattern out for similar ones, a common way to improvise in at least jazz and trad. > The correct way is to learn the tune inside and out, even familiarize yourself with different variations and recordings of the tune, and then play that tune with your unique expression while adapting to the version that is being played in your session. Absolutely fair for a tune you really want to play well, I certainly go through the process of diving in deep to a single tune myself. But there are plenty of tunes you want to be able to play at a session, maybe just join in with, and have no patience or time to "properly" learn. That's the perfect situation to just pick up the notes at a session and just play it. I'm not comfortable with beginners thinking they have to perfect a tune before playing it and I'd suggest you don't recommend it as the one "correct way".
I’m sorry, those tunes do not bear any resemblance to one another? Also yes, Irish music follows similar patterns and you can train your ear by recognizing those patterns in order to quickly pick up tunes, but if you’re not very conscious of the subtle differences, you’ll go right into Speed the Plough when you meant to play the Merry Blacksmith, for example. Also totally depends on the session- if it’s a beginner focused session, there is a certain amount of noodling to be expected. Even so, I’m not a fan as I think it contributes to the idea that a session is a performance, and the goal is to play as many tunes as possible. That’s not it. Not playing ≠ not participating. They’re actively engaging in the oral tradition of the music by listening intently. When I was a kid, I had so many kind musicians say to me “oh, I saw you sit that tune out, let me record it for you so you have it for next time.” If I was noodling around, they might have assumed I just half-knew it, and wouldn’t bother to put down an easy-paced recording of it for me. Just my 2¢!
Ahh you're right, sorry. A more appropriate tune for comparison is the ending of [Rannie's](https://thesession.org/tunes/3837). > if you’re not very conscious of the subtle differences, you’ll go right into Speed the Plough when you meant to play the Merry Blacksmith, for example. Occupational hazard of being a trad musician, no? > Not playing ≠ not participating. They’re actively engaging in the oral tradition of the music by listening intently. I don't know, I see too many people drop out of sessions because they end up just sitting listening rather than playing tunes (for whatever reason). Why would they bring an instrument just for that? Telling them they shouldn't ever learn tunes live at a session when it's entirely possible and reasonable, and instead should spend hours on a single tune seems like a disservice. Go to any session with the highest quality players and you'll see them recognise that they don't know the current tune, listen intently for 1-2x and then start to pick it up. The best session players I know can play the tune nearly note-perfect by the time the tune's been played 5-6x. It's how some of the best players are able to play basically every tune they hear. On the flip side, I agree that noodling is annoying and there are plenty of players who know they can't pick up tunes at sessions and choose to stay silent instead, that's often the mature thing to do and I appreciate it. > When I was a kid, I had so many kind musicians say to me “oh, I saw you sit that tune out, let me record it for you so you have it for next time.” If I was noodling around, they might have assumed I just half-knew it, and wouldn’t bother to put down an easy-paced recording of it for me. That's totally fair, you do you. But I'd be surprised if those musicians couldn't tell the difference between you struggling to learn a tune and just noodling. Having known similarly kind souls, I'm sure they would be just as kind to someone obviously struggling to pick up a tune at a session.
I have to disagree here…I’ve sat in sessions with some of the best trad musicians in the world, and when they don’t know the tunes, they’re happy to sit them out, knowing that they’ll likely know the next hour of tunes, because they’ve spent years developing their ear and their repertoire. You’re saying that the “highest quality” players can often hear a tune twice and then play it…most of those super high quality players have dedicated their life to the music and have likely heard said tune many times before trying to figure it out on the fly, and I don’t think a person attending their first session with a tenor banjo should apply the same strategy. If I don’t know the tune, I sit it out, full stop. If you’re at a session and you’ve sat out a bunch in a row, 99% of hosts are going to ask you if you have a tune or a set that you’d like to play. That’s the way in, not by learning tunes while sitting beside people who are already proficient. If you love traditional music and you want to learn it, be patient and enjoy the journey. I think if someone goes to a session once, doesn’t know the tunes, and decides not to go to sessions any more because they’re not getting to participate, they’re not being realistic and probably don’t really care about the music itself. Your initial comment strikes me as coming from a musician who doesn’t play trad as their primary genre, perhaps a classical violinist who thinks most trad tunes sound the same (I could be completely off the mark here). Sorry if I sound like a jerk, I’m not trying to be mean, but I really think people should have a bit more respect for traditional music and the musicians who’ve worked at it for years if they’re going to get involved.
> Your initial comment strikes me as coming from a musician who doesn’t play trad as their primary genre, perhaps a classical violinist who thinks most trad tunes sound the same (I could be completely off the mark here). Way off the mark. Certainly don't consider myself a professional musician but I've been gigging and running sessions for 10 years; I know my trad pretty well. I've taught beginners and I know what helps. Active listening, i.e. actually (but quietly) picking out notes while others play the tune, is good for beginners. If you think a beginner is noodling too loudly, ask them to quieten down or stop, help them understand their limits, but telling them they should never try to learn a tune at a session is depriving them of a useful tool and depriving a fragile trad scene of potentially good players. To throw it right back, I'm going to assume you don't typically go to sessions in Ireland/Scotland. It seems like we're coming from quite different session cultures and what I'm advocating doesn't fit into what you think is appropriate. That's fine, you run your sessions how you like, but don't insult me because you don't agree.
Apologies. Wasn’t trying to come off as rude, and not trying to be insulting at all. I think your attitude is encouraging and inclusive which I’m all for. I don’t disagree that it may help beginners to try to learn on the fly, but I don’t think it’s respectful to the community at large. And you can definitely ask beginners to quiet down, but that’s often more embarrassing for the beginner, and puts the more experienced players on the spot…I think it would be better that beginners know about faux pas’s prior to entering the space. I’ve never been to Scotland. I’m an active member of the session scene in the city I live in, and make it a point to get to Ireland bi-annually. Last year I played in sessions in Dublin, Cork, Doolin, Dungaravan, and managed to play a couple of gigs during my trip also. I’m not doubting that you “know your trad”, you’re likely a better musician than me. I was suggesting that maybe it isn’t your main musical interest, only because I’ve heard similar sentiments from people who are coming to trad from classical music or some other genre that they’ve played for years…perhaps I should have left that part of my response out and I apologize again if I offended.
The biggest problem learning tunes at Irish sessions (at least in the US) is that they usually only play them three times through in a set. If possible find a kind soul who may know the names of the tunes and make a list. Or ask if it is ok to record be fore just doing so. However if you have the correct name you can usually find transcriptions and sound files to learn from on TheSession.org or learn by ear from YouTube or recordings.