Seisiun etiquett

Irish Flute
1

I’m a bit of a stickler for this sort of thing and the question about slow/fast playing of the tune The Last Pint piqued me enough to put this one out there.

If you attend a seisiun for the first time, particularly in a strange town where you know no one…

do you grab a chair right in the heart of where the players typically sit (assuming you’re first there) or find a nice spot to the “side” and await the seating pecking order, etc?

We had a fellow and his wife recent attend my regular seisiun here, they both from Texas and here on their honeymoon. He on banjo, she on fiddle.

We arrive to see them sitting in the two “main” seats of the seisiun leaders. His reply to being seated there: “We don’t have any assigned seats at our session.” (emphasis added to illustrate the sarcastic tone).

Then…they begin tunes at a blistering speed that is very much not our seisiun style. Would be different I suppose if he was actually a good player…but he was mediocre at best. Not fun to listen to and certainly not any joy to play with (which I didn’t…once he took off, I’d set my flute down. Not that I can’t do it at that speed…I surely can…but there’s not anything good about it)

Rather than bounce his sorry butt out the door – as I really wanted to do – I finished my pint, plopped a few dollars onto the table as a tip, packed up and went off to a different seisiun 40 miles away, which was a wonderful evening.

Said he after I left (I was told): “Gee, I hope we didn’t have anything to do with him leaving.”

What a yutz. Too bad he doesn’t even see his ignorance.

So a word to the wise: if it’s not your regular seisiun and you know no one (and aren’t getting paid to be there), hang back and wait to be invited into the fold. Otherwise, enjoy a few tunes and your pint. If you start a set, keep it simple. Don’t flashdance your way around as it won’t get you any points.

I did this in Berkley once (hanging back, that is) and had a marvelous evening, was invited to the main seating after a bit and reinvited back the following evening for a terrific after-hours, closed-door seisiun.

2

I got it after the 3rd time… 4th post was bad forum etiquette ; )

sorry you were visited by such louts. Next time tell them it’s proper form for new players to buy the house a round to earn their seat & see how fast they clear out.

Deisman

3

duh
bad computer problems.
anyway…thanks for indulging me

4

Do ya think Ang Lee could pull off another movie called Session and Sensibility?

5

I couldn’t agree more - and even if it is your own regular session it might be nice NOT to:

  • play more than one 4-part slow air repeated three times in one evening

  • play 5 sets in a row just because no one else is fast enough to get a look in before you take off

  • take over someone else’s set, unless they’re a very good friend!

It seems that many sessions have their session “terrorists” - who are usually completely unaware of their impact on everyone else.

6

I agree about the hijacking.

even if you’ve got a standard set, if someone starts a set with a particular tune, it’s bad form to jump into the second tune of your choice when theirs would be different.

Best to lay off at the end of the tune…I do this by taking a sip…to hear what comes next. It might surprise you to be a tune that connects better.

And I completely agree about the slow air. I’ve a few that I’ll pick from , but will play one maybe every couple or three weeks if the mood indulges me. Same with the other players.


Another item: if you start a set with a tune everyone else does not know, don’t stop. We’d like to hear it. BUT…don’t launch into a full set of tunes no one knows. That gets boring very quickly, too.
I’ll play the tune, then intentionally launch into a tune I’m sure everyone knows, to get them participating again. Easiest way to make sure it’s not a performance but a seisiun for all.

7

Ouch.

We had one like that this last weekend.

Came in with a set of pipes and… one might expect a pipes player to be bit more on the advanced side.

Well he was advanced… as in tempo and streaming tunes one right after the other.

Eyes rolled back in his head and it was a runaway sled ride over a cliff.

You know how you can speed up a whale song and it ends up like a bird’s?

Which would all be interesting at least if there was any sense of tempo.

I could hear the notes… they were just in really odd places. No one could find a center.

It was horrible. No enjoyment to found in that. How are you to learn any new tunes from anyone if they are gone before you take a second breath?

Worst thing about it is that the player was a really sweet fellow.

Very nice guy. Shook hands and thanked us. He had a great time. :smiley:

I think that might be part of the problem.

It might be no on has ever had the heart to tell him to slow the F down!


:swear:

8

Thank you guys for bringing this up again; it all seems like simple good manners and common sense, but it’s amazing how many people seem incapable of stopping, listening, and just taking a moment to assess where they’re fitting (or not fitting) in – in other words, basic self-awareness. I can understand nervous speed (for a bit) flub ups, and the occasional musical version of a belch at a formal dinner party, but some people just do it session after session, no matter where they go.

I’m at the point where if things are stupid, I’ll do what David described (barring the alternate session 40 miles away; we’re not that blessed). There’s just no joy in it otherwise and I’d rather go home and work on some tunes alone.

[Edited to delete a ridiculous and astonishingly low-minded bit of speculation.]

9

I’m 100% with you David, and would have done the same thing you did. It’s really hard to accept the fact that some people might be that clueless, and often they’re nice people, which makes it complicated.

10

That’s a really tough one. I’d hate to walk out in the middle of a session though.

We have a pretty dangerous whistle player (incredibly sharp, tongues each and every note, revvs up Fanny Power at any hint of a lull, etc.) who harms the craic every time she shows up. We just let her play all by herself. Have a pint, have a little chat, let her do her thing, and when she winds down, we pick back up.

You could always gear up into Eb. :wink:

11

I don’t think I would ever walk out of my regular session because a new person showed up and wasn’t practicing good etiquette. Why let some yahoo chase you off your own turf?

As far as getting into a foreign session, I wouldn’t so much wait for an invite (you could be waiting all night!), but rather listen for a bit, see if I would fit in, then introduce myself…then hope they would be nice enough to welcome me. Of course I would play very tentatively and in that particular session’s pace.

Our biggest etiquette problem at our session now is a new bodhran player. Nice woman who just isn’t tuned in. I’ve tried coaching her in a kind way, but it’s only a matter of time before some of the less patient musicians tell her off. My advice just isn’t sinking in (play quieter, listen more, open your eyes once in a while).

12

What do you think of these etiquette points?

  1. If you’re from out of town, get in touch with session players in advance and get an idea of the normal flow of things. Find out if there are leaders and if any particular tunes or genres are avoided. Find out if there are already similar instrumentalists. If you’re an accompanist and there are already a more than a few others, don’t expect to play as often as you might like.

  2. Even if you’ve been in touch with session players, introduce yourself before making a noise on your instrument. If you haven’t, do so before even taking out your instrument. If you’re potentially a regular it wouldn’t hurt to just show up without your instrument and listen.

  3. Go with the flow, don’t lead the wave. If you’re the first one there, wait until others arrive before even unsheathing your instrument. Unless asked to do so, don’t start off the first set. If you want to start a set, just ask “Are any of you familiar with this tune? What would you normally play with it? Have you ever played it with these other tunes?” If there’s little to no pause between sets, just roll with it. Play what you know, listen to what you don’t.

  4. Be aware of your surroundings. If you don’t hear anybody joining in or you see everybody just watching, stop at the end of the tune and ask for input. “Have you heard this tune before?” “Was the tempo OK?”

  5. If you’re a regular and you see a new player, the converse holds true to an extent. Don’t change up your routine but make sure they are introduced and keep them up to speed of standard practice. If any of the above scenarios take place, congenially clue them in. Nothing wrong with saying “Wow, that was way faster than we normally play” or “We tend to be a little traditionalistic and avoid such and such instrument, counterpoint harmonies, genre of music etc.”


    Sometimes it’s just so annoying that you can’t cope. I probably would have done the same thing as David and left. Sometimes it’s the doing of the new player, other times I know it’s just my own issues and preferences.

13

Hi there

Aaron Wrote

“We tend to be a little traditionalistic and avoid such and such instrument, counterpoint harmonies, genre of music etc.”

Yer havin a laugh here right!

And to the possible scenario where I have to phone in advance to find out if my instrument of choice say Mandolin is acceptable or not, and if it’s not, don’t even bother turning up!

What scares me more however is the fact that these kinds of perceptions and ideas about the traditional music session might actually be shared by more than a few members here… and more so the US members.

All that’s needed now is for some C&F member here to recognise the commercial potential in publishing a nice wee session etiquette book
I’m sure there would be plenty of buyers here on the C&F forum.

My apologies for taking the rise somewhat from your post Aaron but I reckon sessions should endeavour to be inclusive not exclusive

Cheers
pkev

14

Why “more so”?

15

Unfortunately that never works with clueless folk like this lot described here. If they perhaps do notice that things “sound funny”, they never put two and two together to figure out why. And they never stop playing.

16

Ha! You do have a point sir. I think the “all the good players take a break” strategy is best in the long run. She sits there wondering why no one is playing along with her and gets the damnedest look on her face when we all blast off again after she gets up.

17

I think that it would be appropriate to grab a chair on the side, have a drink, listen and wait for an invite.

18

Pkev


Interesting tone you have decided to take on this one.

19

Ah now, you know, sometimes it’s just plain fun to do some america bashing! :smiley:

20

Yes and no.

Are you having a laugh? You’re reading too much into my comment. Anyways it was directed more at accompanists… unless you only play accompaniment on mandolin. It’s a perfectly fine melody instrument. But too many guitars, bodhrans, spoons and shaky eggs obscure the melody. Without melody it’s not worth the bother. And I’m not saying stay away, I’m just saying no shaky egg solos. There is a band I like that uses a shaky banana to great effect.

I think it may actually be a bigger problem in the US. Call me self-loathing but I think we are generally less well behaved in social settings and our high-value on individualism has created a fair bit of self-centered, navel gazing types who don’t notice how disruptive their actions can be.

And because it’s an adopted tradition for us we either stick closely to what we think the rules are or conversely pay no heed to etiquette at all. So when those two worlds clash, a little annoyance is normal.

Just to illustrate that we’re not too serious I’ll describe what happened at our last session. Some lout at the bar didn’t know his limit and started hooting and hollering and then grabbed some spoons and started banging away loudly and offbeat. We didn’t take him out back and kill him with his bicycle. We played a long. One player grabbed some spoons and started playing too. I took the bottom joint off of my delrin flute and started playing the pieces like claves. Meanwhile the mandolin player was jamming away. I wished I’d had my jaw harp with me. Anyways we had fun with it and the guy settled down for a while. But the mandolin did rev him up later.