Random thought how many tunes do people know by heart?
Note i have edited thist to reflect the poll as the original question was a little off subject to the poll. it was
how many songs does the ( AVERAGE PERFORMER) know
how many does the (Casual player) know
when brought to my attention that is sketchy
…Just started playing the tin whistle a month ago, so far, I’ve committed about 7 tunes to memory(?). Havn’t played out in public yet, there’s really not too much Irish Trad going on here in Flagstaff. Besides, I’d probably wait until I have at least 15-20 tunes memorized before heading out to a session. That way, I’d have many tunes ranging from airs to reels memorized, variety is what I like best…
thats not to bad for such a short time. I have only about 15 or so that you could wake me out of a deep sleep and i could just play. my problem was when i first started the whistle i came from a traditional music background(sheet music and sight reading). so i never stressed to learn music by heart untill just a while ago.
Being ADD, it often depends on just how the day is going, and then there is the consideration of whether it is my fingers that remember or my concious mind… (that can’t spell 
)… frequently I’m backpedalling with one while the other tries desparately to catch up. When things are good, I can flow them out pretty well, and recognize them when I hear them… when not… well… let’s say I play the bass a lot.
Please define “casual player” and “average player” as well. What’s the standard here?
Most average players probably can’t remember everything they know.
Yes, I wondered about that, too. I agree with your point about average players.
sorry about that being sketchy could not really put in words what i wanted. 
( AVERAGE PERFORMERS) i was going for those that play a few pub gigs or the likes of that a month
(Casual players) a person who plays for his/her self less regard towards performing for others
still kind of sketchy sorry, but if you have a better way to define it i’ll edit my post 
For me, going to a session was what got me started memorizing a lot of tunes. Each time I went, I would try to remember the names of three or four tunes that were played that night, then I would go home and learn them for the next session. Now, after less than a year, I probably know about 2/3 of the tunes that are played regularly. (Now whether I can play them as FAST as everyone else does is a different story!)
Remember, though, that having a tune committed to memory does not necessarily mean you can play it flawlessly or at speed. It may just mean that you’re more acutely aware of your flubs.
I’d submit that if you only know about 20 tunes, you’re probably still a “beginner” and not an “average player” and thus the poll is probably not going to be very helpful once all the votes are in.
I consider myself an average player and know in the neighborhood of 170 irish tunes, and 200 total tunes.
And I still don’t know half the tunes they play regularly in the Houston session at the Mucky Duck.
Wanderer I beg to differ I feel that is not the case all the time just because you do not know 120 tunes by heart reflects nothing on the quality of music you produce. I feel their are other things than the amount of songs a player knows that dictates whether you are a “beginner and not an average player”. The reason i feel strongly about this is i have played for a few years and untill recently never began to fully memorize songs. the reason being untill recently i played for myself just out of enjoyment know I am moving into more social aspects of playing. I understand what you mean by it affecting the poll in your terms. The poll was not really even created to be acurate just a rough estimate of the users who read it.
I’m a casual player (although sometimes I do put on a jacket) and have 40 tunes by heart; right now I’m working on bringing those to new levels.
Happy Fourth all.
PhilO
And i’m not telling how many.
Actually, i don’t know. More than lonewhistler and fewer than wanderer, is my guess.
g
Hmmm… I think I have somewhere between 200 and 300 tunes right now… though I’ve totally lost count and quite often someone will ask me if I know a tune, to which I’ll answer “I don’t think so… play it”, and then it turns out I do know it. Alternately, many of the tunes I played decently in the past have been in storage a little too long and need some repair to function properly. Another nice thing is that after a while, when you’ve heard thousands of tunes hundreds of times over, you’re not sure whether you’ve ever learned a tune, but you can lilt it effortlessly and somehow it finds its way into your fingers without you knowing how it ever got there.
The thing is, I really consider myself a beginner. I feel like I’m just beginning to be what Grey Larsen refers to as a “citizen player” - someone who can go to a session and play a decent portion of the tunes and add to the music, or play for dances, or… whatever, it’s tough to explain. After 7 years coming to this point I feel like I’ve reached the real beginning. This is where the joy and discovery truely begins for me. I’m sure seven years later I’ll be saying the same thing all over again, looking back at now and laughing at myself and marvelling at how much I’ve learned and how much further there is to go on this endless joyful journey. As for anyone who thinks they’re getting to be pretty hot stuff, go over to Ireland and hang around at the Fleadh or the Willy Clancy School and you will be truly, truly humbled by 8 years olds. I certainly was several years ago and I have no doubt that I would be just as humbled today.
Chris
Your question really got me thinking… I have never counted. I know I have more tunes on hammer dulcimer than whistle in my memory bank…For our band’s performances, many tunes are used in conjuction with other tunes or songs, and many of these shift between 2 or 3 keys…When all is said and done, I would estimate 2 hours memorized standard concert repertoire, plus about 45 minutes additional Christmas concert material.
Hmmm. Really interesting question. Three members of the band find memorizing material to be uncomfortable for them, and they will use music for some parts of the performances. The two of us who play hammer dulcimers and whistles use no music. Curious.
It is stormy in Central PA, this evening. Mixes well with the fireworks. Happy 4th of July to all.
Byll
I believe that the “average” session player probably knows 100+ tunes at the drop of a hat. That said, the average session player and the average poster on this board are two different animals. One definition of average is that half the players present at the session are better, and half are worse than the so-called average player. I remember my session poll, and about half of the responses indicated regular or semi-regular session participation. Non-session players probably know fewer tunes because they have little motivation to memorize tunes.
Kind in mind that Irish Tradition Music is an aural tradition. Sheet music and notation can only attempt to express the subtle rhythms, accents and ornaments of ITM.
To give another perspective, I attend a monthly music group, best described as a folk music group dominated by guitars. I estimate that the regulars there can rattle off about 100 tunes at the drop of a hat, some many more, some fewer. I believe that for people that get together regularly and play along when another person selects a song, learning tunes is part and parcel of active participation. Contrast this with people that mostly practice alone and perform solo if at all and it is no surprise that there is a wide, wide disparity.
I did find the poll options to be odd, because 20 is a relatively small number of tunes for a session player to know by heart. And like I said, perhaps as many as half the active posters on board participate in sessions.
well, i probly learn about one a month and forget about one a month now. of course i never know which one i’ve forgotten so i don’t worry about. in all, probably know 25 tunes. if i can play one or two tunes really well at any given moment, i’m pretty happy actually. the rest is icing.
Duffy: I’ll agree that the quality of your playing cannot be determined by how many tunes you know. If you know 300 tunes badly, you’re still a beginner. However, your poll (though it is now deleted) made that distinction, not I. It had something along the lines of 10 or less was a beginner, and 20 or less was average.
I still contend that while you can’t really know how good someone is by how many tunes they know, that number of tunes you know can be an indicator of how far along you are with irish music in particular.
I’ll concede that there are cases in irish music where someone could concievably be a wonder at playing while sight-reading sheet music. I don’t really know any such people, but I’ll concede it’s possible. But I’ll also submit that if such people exist, they’re in the vast minority. And because of that, you usually can judge how long someone’s been immersed in irish music by how few tunes they know.
So, while someone who knows 300 tunes isn’t necessarily an advanced player, it’s almost certain to me that someone who knows only 10 or 20 is probably (except in the rare instances noted above) just starting to get their feet wet with irish music.
Oh, I do love this post. By your definition I know LOTS more tunes!
Believe me, I am fortunately/unfortunately very aware of my mistakes. 
I’ts maddening.
If you are generous in the counting – take all those I can play along with competently even if I cannot start them, include Newfoundland and French-Canadian tunes – I probably know 500+. Given a minute or two to remember a tune once someone reminded I knew it, there are probably 300 I can start. And maybe 100 tunes that I feel I know well.
It’s impossible to keep track of, really. You forget about tunes you don’t play all the time, or forget how they go, or get them crossed up with another tune, or don’t realize that you know the tune in the first plane, or figure it out by ear on the fly without realizing it’s not a tune you’ve ever played before…