Is your goal to play in sessions?

Whistle
1

Since I purchased my first whistle some months ago and started playing (sometimes for hours at a time), I’ve played only for my own enjoyment. I’m a shy person and the thought of playing with anyone else is terrifying to me. The few times I’ve been talked into playing with my musician (bluegrass) brothers in practices, I’m so frightened I can hardly play a note. I enjoy playing along with music on the internet and on the few CDs I have, but for the most part I play by myself, for myself. Is this blasphemous? What are your goals? Can you be a “true whistler” without having the desire to play in sessions?

Susan

2

Playing in sessions is fun it it not always fun.

If you follow the rule don’t play something you can’t then you will never play that tune.

Yes you can but you will find that you have to defend how, why, you play the whistle, to those who ‘know better’. If you are thinking oing into a session figure out some tunes you like, the tunes they like (but you also like).

Busking may be a better option.

3

duhhhh…what is “busking?”

4

If you are perfectly happy to play by yourself, you are better off than someone who isn’t happy unless playing with other people.
Lisa

5

There’s absolutely nothing wrong, in my opinion, with playing for your own pleasure. I think that above all that is what music should be about–having fun. If you have the most fun by just whistling away on your own, go for it.

Personally, I find playing with others to be very rewarding. And it does get much easier over time. When I first started playing I never really played for anyone else, but now I find that there’s nothing more fun.

Whatever works for you is what you should do.

6

Busking is playing in a public place (not a pub, though) for donations. A favorite place for buskers here is on the subway platforms. It’s warmer than the streets, which are probably the most traditional busking place. I sometimes pull out a fife and drop a hat in a place that’s frequented by lots of Japanese tourists. I think of it as practicing for profit. My picture is in a lot of photo albums back in Tokyo!

In answer to the original question, I play in a band, but don’t play in sessions. Whatever brings you joy is the right thing to do.

7

I don’t have a goal of playing in sessions. I’m not crazy enough about Irish trad to really learn it well enough. I do enjoy playing with others (other instruments), but don’t do much whistling in my jam group, though I’d like to incorporate it. I am learning about Irish trad so I can use some of the ornamentation in other styles perhaps. But I’m content to play for my own pleasure without the goal of too much performance (other than occasional church stuff or for family). Later in life when the child is grown and I’m retired from my job, maybe I can get more serious (and better).

8

yes

9

no

10

Mcchastain - Am I to read that “yes” it is blasphemous; “no” you cannot be a true whistler if there’s no playing in sessions???
Susan

11

I think it would be fun to play in a session but it certainly isn’t a goal of mine. I play largely for my own enjoyment. If others enjoy it too then thats a bonus I guess. I hope that doesn’t sound selfish …

12

no, just being a bit antagonizing / silly… Ummm… Play for joy… until the joy runs out…and it will if you go to whistling for ultimate joy…

I do and it never does… But I love it anyway…

Ummm.. my mood is slightly affected by the fact that I’ve been lifting 150lb railroad ties all day… doing a landscaping/demolition project in my yard… Uh… yeah… Very tired and silly…

:slight_smile:

13

If playing on your own makes you happy, that is, of course, exactly what you should do.

However, one of the great joys of music is the way it can function as a social bond and a form of very profound communication. I am also somewhat shy, and was more so when younger, but when I found that I could sing with a group of people, I felt so much joy and acceptance that it became something greater than the joy of music alone. If that makes any sense. I personally would like to feel that bond with other instrumentalists as well, and so session playing is a goal for me. And even the slow session that I now attend provides that social bond, so if I never get to be good enough for a real session, that will be okay.

14

Playing by oneself is fun, but there are things you can get out of playing with others (whether sessions or jams or whatever) that solo playing can’t give you.

Things like - learning how to play with others, being considerate and adjusting one’s style to give others space to express themselves (ie, you don’t have to play all the time) and so that the dynamics of a piece changes and musical interest is sustained.

You will improve if you play with players better than you and are pushed beyond yr comfort zone (some caveats below).

Trying out new stuff or approaches to a piece with the group may not be possible if you play along to a CD.

You might learn to be more flexible and able to improvise (if the group is not a play-strictly-by-score group).

Caveats:

  1. the group must not be so beyond your capability that it’s no point attending.
  2. some people/groups/contexts might not be so welcoming of/appropriate for people wanting to learn and improve.

Conclusion: no harm trying to find such a group of friends you can play with from time to time.

15

I never really had a goal of playing in sessions. For the first 4 years or so of my whistle practice, I played solo, and was OK with that. I learned a lot of slow airs, and a lot of pub songs on the whistle.

My personal goal was always to sound ‘irishy’. That’s not a real adjective, but I now realize that what I wanted back then was to be able to play the faster paced dance tunes, and sound authentic. I wanted to be able to whip out a frenzy of tunes, kinda like the Steerage Party dance set on the Titanic movie (though this is only an example. I’d already been playing a while when the Titanic came out). I just never felt quite satisfied playing only pub songs and slow airs on the whistle. I couldn’t really play jigs and reels very well at all, even though I’d been playing for what seemed like a long time.

Then a rennaisance festival friend suggested I go to the local sessions. I started going to sessions a bit, and started hearing the ‘sound’ that I’d always been looking to learn. It was quite an exciting development…hearing it live, week after week, and playing along, did a lot more for my playing ‘in the style’ than the years of pining away while listening to CD’s I never felt I could mimic.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to say you have to go to sessions to play well. It’s just that in my case, I’d reached a 'comfort zone in my playing ability and I really stopped striving to aggressively improve. I played “good enough”, and the folks around me who didn’t really know irish music thought I sounded just fine. Going to sessions reminded me of that original lust I’d had, and since I was around a group of talented musicians, I had enough pressure put on me to get me to start really listening again, and improving my sound again. The fear of sucking in public, in front of musicians who’d know, really drove me to start learning the advanced ornmanents and other things that I’d been putting off.

It was around this time my son was born, so I took about 6 months off of sessions, but have been going back religiously ever since he was around 6 months old. During the time that I’ve been going to the sessions, I’d have to admit that my playing sytle has improved faster than all the time I spent solo playing.

Anyway, I think what I’m saying is that while sessions were never really a goal of mine, I’m certainly glad I eventually started going. In my case, it was just the kick in the pants I needed to get me out of a playing rut.

Greg

16

My ultimate aim is to play in a session, but I’m like that kid on the high diving board who is afraid to jump. I know once I do it won’t be so bad & I’ll enjoy it, but it’s still a big jump, and maybe I’ll look a bit geeky on the way down.

In the meantime I keep practising, as I would hate for my playing to lower the quality of the session, and spoil other’s fun.

There’s a guy in my local sesson who plays Mandolin, but mostly he just plays chords, which add nothing IMO. He has one piece he can play the melody of, and every week, so far without fail, he drags out this “Party Piece” and it gets played. The rest of the players grimace indulgently, grit their teeth, and join it. I don’t want to be like this guy. In over a year he has progressed not one iota, but he thinks he’s adding to the experience.

17

On 2002-04-08 04:58, Martin Milner wrote:
There’s a guy in my local sesson who plays Mandolin, but mostly he just plays chords, which add nothing IMO. He has one piece he can play the melody of, and every week, so far without fail, he drags out this “Party Piece” and it gets played. The rest of the players grimace indulgently, grit their teeth, and join it. I don’t want to be like this guy. In over a year he has progressed not one iota, but he thinks he’s adding to the experience.

You get a lot of those, we had ‘the bad guitar player’ last night and the fecker sat right next to me. The accordeonplayer kept shouting the keys and chords to him but to no avail. And his rhythm stank too. Another night down the tubes.

There’s a guy living near Feakle who can’t play a tune but who turns up at all the sessions in that area. He sits next to players whom he considers ‘famous’ and mimes or mimics he is playing the fiddle, moving the fingers and the bow. Quite convincingly too but everybody knows there’s no sound, no music. A great source of fun for those in the know.

[ This Message was edited by: Peter Laban on 2002-04-08 06:28 ]

18

Playing in a session was never a goal but its helped me to realise my goal of being a better musician.It is important to attend not just to play,but to listen.I know many good players who do just that,silently absorbing the tradition and learning in a way you can never learn from books or recordings.And remember,those who are not prepared to make fools of themselves occasionly are the ones who play it safe and never take chances.I,ve seen good players make total dickheads of themselves and ordinary players blossom into extaordinary musicians.Embarrassing moments are soon forgotten and at the end of the night no one really cares.This has been my experience anyway.:slight_smile: Peace,Mike

19

I think mike is right: You should go to sessions to listen. Since you are so new to it, go and listen every week (I did that over a year before I ever played. You’ll also meet great regulars who come for the music. They’ll tell you about concerts, CDs, events.) At the sessions, talk to the musicians, they’ll be interested and encouraging, if you are open and friendly. If you even just know a few tunes and it is a beginner-friendly session, you can sit in and play along on three tunes, or however many. You listen in a different way sitting right there. As long as you’re in learning-mode, and don’t assume that you know better, you’ll have a great time. You only always hear people complaining about insensitivity: players who are insensitive to the music, to session ettiquette, to the dynamics of the group, to the mood of the evening.

One warning, though: If you’ve just started out even a amateur session will play stuff to fast for you. The problem is that in playing along, you can fake it and think that you are keeping up. But it is so important that you learn by playing the tunes slooooowly (you cannot believe how sloooooooooooowly) and in time, and that you don’t speed up your playing too soon. I fell into that trap to some degree and am backpedaling now… :roll:

20

Just a request for all of you to keep adding to this thread. I find it fascinating to hear what has happened in your collective experience.

I got together with a supposed experienced session player and another player. When I wanted to play 'Lord Inchiquin" the guitarist frowned and said in “well, O’Carolan’s not really Irish music is it, now.” i think he was just covering for the fact that it was a tune he didn;t know. Ironic, as it would be about 3 chords max to fake it on that one. But tell me session players, is OCarolan’s musica non grata and I don;t know about it??

So despite going through music school and having played a coupla hundred music gigs in my life (classical guitar and non-Irish folk), I was being put down as the newbie. I took it with humour but have not forgotten it. Been a little shy about going to “sessions” since…