I’m hoping some of the more experienced players here might be able to suggest a short list of widely played session tunes for new flute players to learn.
There is a wealth of resources available nowadays for learning tunes, but the problem a new player faces is that there are thousands of tunes and it is difficult to know where to start or how to prioritize learning them.
For a new flute player aspiring to play with others, both in local sessions and when travelling to other areas, is there such a thing as a core set of session tunes that (a) fit well on the flute and (b) are very widely played? If so, what are they?
If you think this would be a useful exercise, please list a few tunes that you feel most flute players should have in their repertoire. No doubt the combined list will quickly become quite long, but even so I would find it useful to see what concensus exists.
Take a look at the first couple hundred tunes in this list: https://thesession.org/tunes/popular
They’re ranked by how many people have added them to their online tunebooks, so its a good indication of how well known they are. And many (even most) of them sit nicely on the flute.
However, each session has its own quirks, so if you become a regular at one session, you may find that only a portion of the repertoire overlaps with another. (But that’s part of the fun, too.) The other caveat is, ironically, because those first hundred or so tunes are so common, they’re not necessarily frequently played (depending on the session). But if you start one on that list, most everyone will be able to join in.
An approach I’d suggest is simply to learn tunes you like (and tunes that fit your abilities at the moment), whether they’re common or obscure. (But certainly, do spend time building a core ‘session-friendly’ repertoire. Sitting out all night gets a bit old.) After some years, you’ll have a nice mix, and your repertoire will reflect your taste and interests.