After lots of waiting and searching I’ve finally managed to find a handful of people to get together for a session! We’ve only jammed once and there is alot of hope that it will become regular. I brought together a fiddle/mando player, a guitar player, and a second fiddle…now all I need is to find a bodhran player! I play whistles and sing.
I think the coolest part was finding common ground to start from. The mandolin and guitar players have a bluegrass background and the second fiddle plays classical. Once we found tunes we all knew it was like playing in the sessions I’ve seen videos of. We would all play the melody once or twice through and then take turns with melody and harmony and start throwing in improvisation. It was really cool and the pub owner wants us to come back!
The other players asked me to comprise a list of tunes for them to learn and I spent all day comprising a basic list of sets and a few ballads. So here’s my ametuer session leader’s set list:
Waltzes:
Zoes/King Oscar II’s
Reels:
Devils Dream/Redhaired Boy
Jigs:
Road To Lisdoonvarna/Swallowtail Jig/Irish Washerwoman
Jigs:
Tar Road To Sligo/Banish Misfortune/Frieze Britches
Hornpipes:
St Anne’s Reel/Fisher’s Hornpipe/Cincinnati Hornpipe
Waltzes:
Flatworld/Out On The Roof
Ballads:
Green Fields Of France
Farewell To Nova Scotia
Star Of The County Down
Sound good to you guys? I’m sure we’ll expand the repitoire if we keep it going.