Irish Traditional Session News

Social Aspects of Sessions: Stewart Hendrickson’s Session Etiquette page is recommended reading for those wishing to avoid embarrassment. He’s also written about the history of session playing, which is more recent than we might have thought.

Wikipedia describes the social, cultural and musical aspects of the Irish traditional music session, including this charming quote from Barry Foy’s Field Guide to the Irish Music Session: “… a gathering of Irish traditional musicians for the purpose of celebrating their common interest in the music by playing it together in a relaxed, informal setting, while in the process generally beefing up the mystical cultural mantra that hums along uninterruptedly beneath all manifestations of Irishness worldwide.”

Tunes: The Session has links to sessions, tunes in ABC and traditional staff notation, as well as discussions and info about the music and recordings. “The exchange of tunes is what keeps traditional Irish music alive. This website is one way of passing on jigs, reels and other dance tunes. Some of the tunes are well known, and some are more obscure. It’s this mixture of the familiar and the new that makes for a good session.”
     To search for a session, click the “Search” tab at the top of the Sessions page. Important: Click the “Comments” tab above a session listing to see the latest info about the listed session – the info on the Details tab is likely out-of-date.

Andrew Kuntz’s The Fiddler’s Companion is a valuable index of tunes and tales for performers looking for something to say to introduce the next tune. Many of the entries give the history of the tune, a list of printed and recorded sources, and one or more versions in ABC notation. See The Earl’s Chair, for example.

Need titles of a set of tunes on an album? Use Irishtune.info’s Album Search and Finder. Album details give titles as listed in the album, along with verified titles (which are sometimes different) with links for info on the tunes.

The Virtual Session

The BBC’s Virtual Session is a collection of sets of tunes played by Ian Carr (guitar), John McCusker (fiddle), Michael McGoldrick (flute and whistle), Tomai Taylor (bohdrán) and Karen Tweed (accordion), with the sheet music and chords displayed so you can play along. The subtle background images are a delightful accompaniment.

Michael Eskin’s TradLessons.com offers “a collection of short videos demonstrating tunes commonly played in San Diego and Los Angeles Irish sessions.”

ABC music notation is a simple way to type out a tune using the letter names of the notes. John Chambers’ ABC Primer is an easy-to-understand introduction, and Chris Walshaw’s ABC Music Notation site has a more complete tutorial and links to tune collections and ABC music software.

Language: Michael Robinson’s Beginner’s Guide to Irish Gaelic Pronunciation is a simplified guide for “traditional musicians, radio announcers and anyone else who is interested in traditional Irish music.”

Google has a language translator that does a nice job going from Irish to English. You can even enter mixed Irish and English, though the results are sometimes amusing!

A better translator for single words and some phrases is Irishionary.com, a collaborative dictionary with hundreds of members continually adding words and translations.

Irish Gaelic Translator.com offers free help on its Irish Gaelic translations forum. Here’s a discussion of the chorus of Siúil a Rúin, one of our faorite songs, for example.

Irish Culture and Customs has, among many other interesting things, a Basic Irish Language reference, handy for a quick word or phrase (with pronunciations) such as “ceoil na hÉireann” (Irish music), “Slán go foill” (“Bye for now”), or “As Béarla led thoil?” (“Could you say that in English, please?”)

Et cetera: TradConnect is a new social network for people who play, listen to and enjoy traditional Irish music. Launched in April 2011, the aim of the site is to connect people who are learning and playing traditional Irish music with other players in their own area. In addition to discussions and news pages, members have their own profile pages and blogs where they post photos and videos. More info on Why Join TradConnect?

Michael Eskin’s Traditional Irish Music page has lots of interesting links for session players.

FolkWorks has calendars of ongoing sessions and suchlike, and all of the Folk news you need (including dance, music and art) for the greater Los Angeles area. Formerly a bi-monthly newspaper, FolkWorks updates its calendar and other resources frequently.