🎻 What is an ideal session?

Hi, Reader!

I'm borrowing this question from Tara Connaghan, who has a wonderful podcast out called In Tune with Tradition - Perspectives on Session Etiquette.

Each episode, Tara asks her guest "what is your ideal session?"

It's often met with a bit of a laugh, maybe a gasp or two and few moments of quick but deep reflection before they give their answers.

One thing I love is that they're all slightly different, or focus on different "idealisms" such as number of players, overall mood, tunes played, or the pace of the session. So I'd really love to hear what you think too, Reader. How would you describe your ideal session?

For me personally, I do tend to like a session that's on the smaller side (around 6-10 players depending on the space).

But what takes a session from "good" to "great" for me, is the little moments of laughter that happen mid set.

Things like making eye contact with a musician who just did a fun stand-out ornament, or dropped an octave for a part -- you exchange a quick grin and move on. It's an "I see what you did there" and "you see that I noticed" moment.

Or sometimes you and a friend throw in the same variation of a tune that was either pre-arranged or spontaneous. Both are excellent opportunities for stand-out moments!

And while I do think there's a time and a place for this at certain sessions vs others, I really like the sets that stretch on beyond 3-4 tunes where you trade off with other players to keep the momentum going!

So for me, it's really the camaraderie and level of connection that elevates a session. I've noticed on some of my last few trips to Ireland (or around the States) that even if a musician is top-notch with their playing, if they don't have that warmth or connection, it's just not as fun.

And that's a reminder to me too, to be more of a player I'd want to sit in a session with -- even when I'm worn out at the end of the day, and the social battery is waning!

I'm in Cleveland this weekend as you're reading this (and depending on the snow storms sweeping across the US, I may be extending my stay 😅) -- highly recommend the Plank Road Tavern Thursday session if you're local, or visiting the area!

Part of what I'm up to is teaching a Kerry tune workshop (mostly polkas and slides) through the Northeast Ohio Comhaltas branch. So speaking of Kerry tunes...

We have one more week of this month, which means one new polka + slide tutorial each coming your way in the Tune Library! This past week, I added Toureendarby's and Going to the Well for Water. This week, it'll be the Ceangulla slide + The New Roundabout polka!

In February I'll take a break from adding new tune tutorials (except by your request), and focus instead on a bonus training that you'll be able to apply to pre-existing tutorials. But definitely more slides + polkas to come down the road!

Lastly as a quick reminder, here are the places I'll be playing live (plus weekly sessions in Plymouth and Ann Arbor):

• Feb 6-8 - Returning to Tune Junkie Weekend to teach the Nuts and Bolts fiddle class in Knoxville TN! Registration available here.
• Feb 20th - Shannon Lee playing at Trinity House in Livonia MI. Tickets here! (seats about 70, and we would LOVE to sell this one out to support a wonderful local venue!)
• Mar 1 - Music at Main Shannon Lee (Free Concert!) at Clinton Macomb Library in Clinton Township MI.

That's a wrap for this week, Reader! Until next Sunday, I'd love to know... what would you consider to be your ideal session?

Happy playing!

~Hannah