So it’s Christmas and a fine time of year. It’s a nice thing, during the session, to throw in a Christmas tune every now and again, such as Silent Night, Away in a Manger. The crowd likes it. However, it has gone completely out of control at my local session. The leader gets us playing over an hour’s worth of Christmas songs. He’ll play them through 4 or 5 times and often plays them in sets with other Christmas songs!!! I like Christmas as much as the next guy, but I’m about ready to spear a cheap whistle into the leader’s accordian. I suppose I’ll have suffer through one more week of it.
That’s a shame. I’ve never been to a session that played Christmas music and I don’t feel I’m missing out on anything. Seems like it would be quite annoying since you hear enough of it in every store and restaurant this time of year… and most of the tunes are all so simple and redundant. I love Christmas as much as the next guy but by the time the day actually comes around I’m glad to have an end to the music for a year!
And loved by millions. If it’s just one session or two sessions out of the year, surely it’s bearable? If it’s been three or four weeks running…
Every year I promise myself I’ll learn a few Christmas tunes on fiddle or melodeon so I can bang them out at family gatherings and other suitable occasions for the next 40 or so years, but I haven’t kept to my promise very well yet.
There are lots of complicated Christmas tunes, if that’s your critera for makign a tune worth playing, straycat82.
One tune that you’ll hear hereabouts around Christmas is the set dance, The Piper thro’ the Meadow Straying. It sounds almost identical to Deck the Halls, but with a little hook attached to it. Some of us sort of make a point of playing it this time of year.
Makes me wonder if a Welshman heard the set dance and made a carol of it, or if an Irishman heard the carol and made a set dance of it.
Instead of playing Christmas music at an Irish session, I did a bit of the opposite I was asked to play some music for my church’s Christmas music program and I chose some festive sounding stuff (mostly from O’Carolan) and played a few of those during the program to give the people something new. It fit well with the program and some of the mellow tunes I picked and played under the speakers and readers. It went over very well and several folks even asked me “I didn’t know there were Irish Christmas Tunes?” so I guess the ones I picked did sound Christmas-y.
-Joy to the World
-Jingle Bells
-Frosty the Snowman
-Ding Dong! Merrily on High
-Deck the Halls
-God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
-Jolly Old St. Nicholas
-Here Comes Santa Claus
-It’s a Holly Jolly Christmas
…all polkas!
AND: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and O little Town of Bethlehem could be played as polkas. Just in case you’d like to. I would.
I will say, that whatever there other virtues or failings, Christmas carols are so deeply embedded in the average person’s psyche that they make great tunes to noodle around with when learning to play by ear. Sort of the ur-Suzuki method.
The session we frequent is ended when some Middle Eastern musicians start up on the other side of the pizza parlor. Last night they started there set off with a few Christmas Carols. It was pretty sweet. Carols with Middle Eastern instruments and some keyboard-synth-type stuff.
A very good point, I often recommend to new students (who are usually very eager to play a “song”) that once they can properly blow an octave, to attempt nursery rhymes or Christmas carols that they know so that they can get a feel for playing. Amazing how quickly you can hash out a tune when it’s embedded in your memory. Listen listen listen!
I was asked to play some music for my church’s Christmas music program and I chose some festive sounding stuff (mostly from O’Carolan) and played a few of those during the program to give the people something new. It fit well with the program and some of the mellow tunes I picked and played under the speakers and readers. It went over very well and several folks even asked me “I didn’t know there were Irish Christmas Tunes?” so I guess the ones I picked did sound Christmas-y.