Flutes and Fiddles and Tunes, Oh My!

Dear Friends,

I have a spear through my head today...nothing serious, and I promise by tomorrow, I'll be gangbusters! It's just one of those days...so forgive me if I don't wax philosophical. I'd just like to let you know that we'll be having slow session tomorrow night for sure! Old Songs Community Arts Center, 37 South Main, Voorheesville: December 10, 2008 at 7:30 PM. Bring your $4 for photocopies, heat & lights! Bring munchies to share!

Sligo Night was postponed until this month because I was sick last month with whatever creeping crud was going around. Not so tomorrow! We'll be talking about/listening to music from County Sligo and surrounding areas, talking about repertoire, musicians, styles, etc.

I've got Elaine's pile of copies of "The Kilavil Jig" sheet music, and we'll try and learn "Have a Drink with Me" by ear as well. They're both fun little tunes! Also, I may try and give you transcriptions of The Tarboltin Set from the playing of Michael Coleman, but I was listening to it yesterday and today, and I hear lots of interesting fiddle ornaments that won't necessarily translate to other instruments. Maybe I'll just bring a popular transcription and we'll have a good listen to Coleman's playing of it.

Caroline and other flute players will be interested to know that there is a thriving flute tradition up in Sligo and environs, and we'll listen to some players, talk about that, and maybe look over a few lists of tunes to see what we might know from the tradition.

Trusty's Listening Corner is a continuing feature of Slow Session -- He wants to know what you've been listening to, Irish or otherwise, that's informing your playing, your thinking, and your life! Come prepared to share artists, titles, and opinions!

See you tomorrow!

Hard to Listen when your ears hurt!

Dear Friends,

I'm home feeling kind of miserable with a couple of ear aches -- and my plan for the trip to and from work was to listen to Mary MacNamara and Yvonne Casey. That's scrapped for today, but probably tomorrow. Mary is an outstanding concertina player from Tulla, East Clare, and Yvonne is from West Clare. They both grew up surrounded by the music, steeped in it, taught by the best of family and friends from their home areas. Unbelievable. So when you get to feeling like you really have to work at it to get new tunes or find the right teacher, don't be too discouraged. None of us had the advantages they had. Keep up the good work!

Mary MacNamara ends her eponymous album with a set of tunes called The Humours of Castlefin/The Glen of Aherlow/The Killarney Boys of Pleasure. I've been working on resurrecting those lately. Also, I've been listening to Trusty have a lash at Tommy Coen's Reel. Ever since Ged Foley said that Vincent Griffin plays at the Catholic Church for Mass on Sundays in Feakle, I've been poking around The Session looking at the tunes he has on his recording. He's a wonderful player and an awfully nice man. I'm going to buy one of his CDs when I meet him again in Feakle in January. If anyone else is interested, let me know and I'll grab you one.

Guys, help me out here! What are you listening to? Please share so I can get an idea of tunes you might be hearing! Here's to Jeff and those other friends of ours who've been feeling under the weather as well. Get well soon...

Oh, and don't forget. November is Sligo night! I've got some great music to play for you, and I'm building up our tune list! If you want to practice a set ahead, go ahead and work on The Killavil Jig and Have a Drink with Me. I believe they're both in O'Neill's 1001 Tunes.

More later...

The Trad

Kerry Night was Fun!

Dear Friends,

I've already got some e-mails from you saying you had a good time last night listening to the tunes and playing the polkas and slides! I'm so pleased. I'm really enjoying getting a chance to sit and listen to some of the music that we wouldn't normally put on the CD player. If you're like me, you're probably so focused on learning that kickin' new tune that you don't want to be bothered with putting someone else's CD in to give it a listen. I have tunes going in my head all day so, as I tell Trusty all the time, the last thing I want to do is hear more tunes!

Really, though, this stuff is all about listening. That's why we're doing this new little piece. I can't take credit for it. It wasn't my idea. I learned it a long, long time ago when I took my very first arts week fiddle class from Willie Kelly, a mad brilliant fiddle player from the Jersey 'burbs (he learned from one esteemed Martin Mulvihill, and has this grand old sweetly ornamented style of playing). I think it must have been a beginner/intermediate class. It was a small group, anyway. Toward the end of the week, Willie took each one of us outside the class to have us play for him. I played my little tune for him, we talked about where it came from, who else liked to play that tune, etc., and then he said something I'll never forget. He just kind of cocked his head at me and said, "You just have to listen to the music. That's what it's all about."

So, I know you come to session to play. That's why we have those lists of sets to practice! But you also come to learn, so we have the music and the group experience. And now, I'd like you to come to the session to listen. I have some ideas about how that will grow, but for right now, I think we'll keep the structure as it is: a bit of listening and learning about a county or a style, a bit of learning tunes from that area or those people, a bit of our regular session tunes, and maybe finish up with some spontaneous sets of tunes.

Remember, next month is Sligo month! Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 7:30 PM! Some folks have approached me about moving the time earlier (maybe even as early as 6 or 6:30 PM). I'd have to have some discussions with Old Songs about the time, but I'd like more feedback on whether earlier is better for you guys so we can see what direction to go in with it!

Enjoy the sunshine!

The Trad

p.s. which polka and/or slide from last night are we going to pick to play next month?

It's Kerry Night...and the feelin's right...oh what a night!

Dear Friends,

We're going to have our Kerry night tomorrow night, featuring a little bit of palavar about popular music from the area, a few tunes on the boom box, as well as playing some polkas and slides. If you've picked some out to share, please bring them and we'll give them a lash. We'll also play some of our standard session tunes, so get bonin' up!

I've been corresponding with Kyle Carey and Maura MacNamara, both of whom are out-country, and loving it! They send their regards and shared with me their experiences with "styles", Kerry, and Irish music in general. I've condensed some of their comments to share with you tomorrow, and if anyone has been to Kerry and wants to share their own perspective, we'd love it! I don't intend to spend very long on this part, as we all desperately want to get to the tunes -- so no rambling, I promise...

See tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 8 from 7:30-9 PM! Don't worry if you don't know the music -- I don't really know many polkas or slides either, so we're going to wing it together and have some fun!

Remember, $4 covers photocopies and heat! Bring treats to share...

Stay Warm!

The Trad

Clare Night was just a start...

Thanks to those who came to slow session in September! My presentation about Clare was a resounding failure! But that's only because I wasn't sure how to prepare. I knew I should have started with a county less familiar to me than Clare. I had way to much to say and didn't want to bore people with it, so it pretty much ended up being a kind of pathetic little thing.

In any case, I want to say thank you to those who came for giving some thought to the differences in style and repertoire of two ceili bands whose recordings we listened to. I'm still formulating my thoughts on that, and will continue to research and prepare a little presentation for later in the year. I do promise that Kerry night will be much more fun and better organized! I also know that a few people are planning to bring some sheet music for some slides and polkas we've worked on in the past or that they've been working on over the last few months. It should be fun to look at that, as well as learn about some of the other well-known musicians, singers and storytellers from that beautiful county.

If you went to Irish 2000, I hope you had a more relaxed and less fragmented time than we did! I will say that we had a blast collaborating with Bairbre McCarthy in the couple of sets we did, and we hope to do of that in the future. With Bairbre's permission, I'll be posting one or two of the pieces we did together on our myspace page soon. We also met a friend who plays accordion and had a nice little session, even with the rock stage blasting in our ears. A few real trad tunes always make the day, in my opinion.

In the meantime, have a grand remainder of the weekend. I'm going to take a nap now!

The Trad

How can I possibly have summed up Clare music for you? I am a total nut job!

Dear Friends,

I started writing a blog about six times -- I have the drafts in my blogger to prove it.

I went from writing sort of a serious essay giving all this history about the county and the instruments and blah blah blah to giving you my little history of where I started and where I am now to basically name dropping and calling it good. I'll give you the name dropping in a minute, but I wanted to share a bit of a response from one of our sessioneers.

John and I have been corresponding a bit about various things (we both took Randal's class at Arts Week), and we've both studied with Patrick Ourceau and Laurel Martin, so I asked him what his thoughts were on Clare music. Here's what he said (apologies, John, for not asking in advance if this is ok, but I like what you had to say):

"Hilary,
My first real exposure (knowingly) to Clare music was also through Martin Hayes - I think it was The Lonesome Touch CD. I grew up in NYC and was fairly familiar with the sound of the NYC/Sligo style. I was really taken with that Martin Hayes CD - the pace, the dynamics, the sparse but tasteful ornamentation, all made it much more interesting than just dance music. I then went on a hunt for other examples of Clare music. I quickly hit upon Patrick Ourceau's CD with Gearoid. That sealed it for me. That was the sound I was hearing in my head and trying to emulate (largely unsucessfully). An added bonus is my brother plays concertina.
I was thrilled when I learned that Patrick was coming up to Troy and holding workshops and lessons. He pointed me in the direction of a lot of the older players - Paddy Canny, An Historic Music of Irish Music with Paddy Canny and PJ Hayes (one of my favorites), Bobby Casey, the Paddy in the Smoke CD, Willie Clancy, etc...

The pace, the phrasing, the intonation (neutral notes), ambiguous modes (think Paddy Fahey) all make it sound more ancient to me. I still really like the Sligo style - from Michael Coleman and James Morrison to Tony DeMarco and John Carty, but the typical Clare style really intrigues me.

Have fun tomorrow night. Hopefully I can catch up with you and Eric in October.
John McD"

He's right, there's great spirit and joy in the Sligo/New York music, too, no doubt! I have my favorites, too.

As to Clare music, there's a certain lift and rolling pulse to it. As I've read in discussions about local and regional styles all over, I'll say, "I can't describe it, but you'll know it when you hear it."

Fintan Vallely says of Clare music, in his book "The Companion to Irish Traditional Music", "The slower tempo of Clare style allows the player to concentrate more on the melodic aspects of the music. The bowing is more fluid, and extensive use is made of left hand ornamentation such as rolls. Frequent distinction is made between music from the west of the region and that from the east. The West Clare style is represented by the fine playing of Bobby Casey, Junior Crehan, John Kelly, Patrick Kelly, and Joe Ryan. The East Clare style is very much associated with the playing of Paddy Canny, whose wonderful music has been an inspiration to many, including those who play in other styles."

So our friend John is really on the money when he says: "The pace, the phrasing, the intonation (neutral notes), ambiguous modes (think Paddy Fahey) all make it sound more ancient to me." Mr. Vallely couldn't have said it better!

I agree with them both. When I think of Clare music, I think immediately of a certain sound, exemplified by the recording he references, one we lovingly call "The Four Smiling Champions", that features a great set of reels called "The Taproom Set." It features that pulse, those "in-between" notes, and more. You want that Clare sound to the max? Dial up the Tulla Ceili Band. It's that rolling lift times a million.

As to players, I think very first of Paddy Canny, Bobby Casey, PJo Hayes, Peadar O'Loughlin, Junior Crehan; of Dennis Liddy and Michael Hynes (great CD called Waifs & Strays); I think of Martin Rocheford, an East Clare musician who played many instruments; Micho Russell of Doolin (whistle and great singing); of Kitty Hayes (concertina); of Pat O'Connor (The Green Mountain); of John Canny (accordion); of Josephine Marsh (accordion & fiddle); of the MacNamaras -- Mary and Andrew; of Tola Custy (fiddler from the famous Custy family); sure and John's right about pipers: Willie Clancy, Garrett Barry, Ronan Browne, Peter Laban, even Johnnie Doran of Wicklow, whose notation on the back of a photo said, "I was welcome anywhere I went. My favorite counties were Kerry, Clare, Mayo.....My best counties were Clare and Galway." He spent a good bit of time in the west of Ireland, although he lived the life of a Traveller and spent many days on the road from Dublin to Waterford.

Now, as an example of "but you said that Clare music doesn't sound like that!", let's take a stroll over to the "K" section -- The Kilfenora Ceili Band [the only ceili band, incidentally, to win three All-Ireland championships in a row (1993, 1994 AND 1995!)], has a completely different, entirely more bouncy and almost "sligo-ey" style. I can't explain it. I don't know why.

Tomorrow night I'll play you a few tracks from Tulla Ceili Band and Kilfenora Ceili Band -- after all, what's the music for but for dancing. I'm interested to hear your reflections on the county and the music, and we'll also work on a few tunes from one or the other of the bands. I've been poking at our session tune list to see how many tunes are identified with the county or were popular tunes for the sets. I'll let you know!

Or maybe you'll let me know! The whole point of this exercise is just to get familiar with some musicians from the area, and to hear a sampling of the style and of the tune choices!

See you tomorrow!!!

The Trad

*Sigh* Where did summer go?

Dear friends,

Why am I blogging at 6:00 am? I took a Claritin D and now I'm awake. I've been awake since 3:30 this morning. I've been thinking about the end of summer, and about school starting up again, and about the slow session, of course!

As we wave goodbye to summer, we also wave goodbye to that fantasy of free time: long, sunny summer afternoons swinging our feet in the lazy brook or those short, but sweet nights of all-night tune fests in some dingy bar or at someone's backyard barbecue. Remember those dreams of accomplishment we all had? [I'm going to learn a tune a week all summer long....I'm going to buy and learn a new instrument...I'm going to hike the Long Trail every weekend this summer....I'm going to read War & Peace before Labor Day...] Yeah. Right.

Back to reality. Some of you have kids you just stuck on the school bus for the first time this school year. Some of you are just lamenting the loss of long, sunny days and early Fridays. Some of you are just so buried in work you didn't notice it was September. I notice that school buses sometimes slow my progress to work. I have to plan around them. Other than that, I'm kind of envious of the kids: they get to go school shopping (I love supplies!), and get new clothes, and get a fresh start. I believe in "New Year"s, as you know. I look at your birthday as the beginning of your personal new year; and of course I love making New Year's resolutions on January 1 that I know I'll never keep! But, somewhere in my head I have this visual of the calendar as a sort of a racetrack. It's an oval, and it always starts in September for me. Someone just waved that green flag, and I'm all GO!

Whether your experience matches any or all of the above, we all have this in common: shorter days, crisper weather and long, cool nights are a veritable breeding ground for sessions, tunes and musical fun! Let's have our own special Slow Session New Year's! At this month's slow session, I want to feature a little tribute to my favorite county: Clare. We're gonna learn a set of reels (either from my favorite Ceili band, The Tulla, or maybe a reel from East Clare and one from West Clare). We'll go back to the hornpipes The Peacock's Feathers (in dmin and dmaj), and there must be a great set of jigs we can do.

In preparation, I'm doing a bit of research on Co. Clare, and I think I have a handle on the music from there, but there are so many ways of doing things and so many opinions, that I'm trying to pull something together to share with you. I'll be putting my thoughts up here early next week, before the session...

Trusty Companion and I were talking last night about how different musicians we love, and how they're all from different places around Ireland. Then we got talking about their different styles. You know how three people can play the same reel and put the emphasis in a different place and come up with a completely different sound? Also, people from different places will choose different types of tunes to play.

Trusty and I thought it might be fun this "school" year to have a little special focus area for our sessions. So, here's what we're thinking: September is Clare, October will be Kerry (slides and polkas! Yay!), November will be Donegal, and December will be Sligo. Hold on! Slow down! Don't freak out! This doesn't mean we'll only be playing tunes from that region. It just means I'll give you some classic sets of tunes and maybe we'll have a listen to some recordings along with our regular session sets and round-robin playing...

Another thing I'd like to encourage this year: stories and songs. If anyone wants to present something that they're working on, let me know and we'll make a space for it. The sessions we go to in Clare always have a sort of little "solo" section in the middle where a few stories are told, some singers are featured, and some people who've got tunes they want to showcase can do so. This has kind of happened the past few months as a few of our players have tunes they love and want to share, in the hopes that we'll all learn them.

I'll give you your homework in the next blog. Right now I have to go get ready for work. No time for dog walking this morning. I've pondered enough in this blog, and I'll talk to you soon! Have a great day!

The Trad

Slow Session on Brief Hiatus! See you in Sept!

Dear Sessioneers,

In June, I was pretty certain we wouldn't have a July session, and we ended up having one. In July, I was pretty certain we wouldn't have an August session. I've decided for certain that we're going to skip August and pick up again in September. I've got a bunch of materials I need to prep for both slow session and for Eric's guitar class, and I'd like to be able to spend time on that so I'm really ready for you all in the fall.

Let's plan on starting up our sessions again on September 10, ok?It's been really fun seeing people here and there throughout the summer, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the whole gang together again in September! Save the date, and practice your tunes! See you soon,

The Trad

Walking the Dog or "How I found my Beginner's Mind"

As many of you know, our dog is getting on in years. This means that her get-up-and-go is starting to...well, you know. I've started walking her on a lead so I don't have to worry that she'll wander into the road if a car comes by, instead of going off the road like I need her to. We used to walk three miles every morning at a nice, brisk pace. Now we walk maybe a mile, and the walking part is punctuated by frequent stops to sniff, root around in undergrowth, and maybe lap some water out of a mud puddle.

I don't rush her. I listen to her being her dogly self while I enjoy the sunshine, the gorgeous meadows, the cows in the neighboring farm's fields. I suspect the lead makes her feel connected to me. I know I feel more connected to her as she ages. I feel like I have to care for her more, look after her more, love her more. What strikes me, though, is the amount of time I have now to really look around me as we meander down the road. There is only one side road near our house and it is more heavily travelled than ours. We don't generally walk that way. If we were to walk a loop from our house, it would be about six miles long. That's a little more time than I want to invest, and I don't think she'd survive the trek. Instead, we walk south along our road for maybe a half mile. And then we walk back north along our road.

As we walked along in the glorious sunshine yesterday evening, it struck me that I've been observing this stretch of road through the seasons for over seven years now. I'm starting to notice things changing. Little things. Neighbor's got a new combine. There are three calves in the upper field. The county road crew doesn't know how to patch potholes very well. The farmers down the road rebuilt part of their stone wall. The former councilman has his garden in. The new folks have someone to mow for them. Little things that punctuate country life.

I like having a history with these little things. It is the stuff of living. They say not to sweat the small stuff, but actually, I think the small stuff is kind of the point. Did you ever notice that practicing your instrument is like walking the same stretch of road every day for a year? You focus on the little things until suddenly they're automatic, and then you're really free to look at (or listen to) the bigger picture! One day you're grinding away in a session because they're playing one of the six tunes you know and you'll be darned if you'll miss your chance to play it! You keep going to sessions, you keep playing at home, you take your lessons, and so on. And then it happens...one day you realize that you're not struggling to keep up! You're actually trading variations with someone and smiling and you're ready for the tune change. Or you're just listening because the people you're hanging with are so much fun to listen to...and...YEAH! This Irish Music stuff is so cool!!!!

That's when you realize that, now more than ever, those stupid scales and breath- or bow-control strategies and interval exercises are critical. And suddenly you're focused back on the little things. When you reach that point, you've achieved what Zen Buddhism calls "Beginner's Mind." You don't need to know it all, but the simple choice to focus on the little things changes everything. When does it happen, you ask? Well, it's that moment when you discover that knowing the scales in every key makes it quicker to learn a tune. It's the willingness to revisit a sticky spot in a tune, whether you're adjusting your fingering or breathing or bowing or phrasing, to see if there is a new way to play it. It is the ability to hear the pulse of a tune in someone else's playing and to know that you will give your all to get that same sound.

Above all, it is the patience to hear the music from all the players that surround you, good or bad, new or old, and respect their journey and incorporate it into your own experience.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read what I have to say. I'm sorry, but I've got to go now. I have to walk the dog.

The Trad

Right on top of things, eh?

Yep. Here we are again, friends. To paraphrase Laure Cortese's blog, I started this thing to stay in touch with you all about what's going on musically, but I've spent more time doing the "musically" and no time at all keeping this up. .....We interrupt this meaningless babble for a public service announcement.....

[We will have a mini-session tonight at Old Songs: 7:30-9:00 PM, as only three of you have expressed an interest in coming, and one of you really wants to go to Saratoga for a session. See you later? I have no plans for tunes right now, but I'm thinking about a few reels. If we're a small enough group, maybe we'll try something really dead slow by ear.

Tip of the month: Bring an audio recorder.]

If this had been an actual useful piece of information, you would have heard Irish music in the background....we now return to our regularly scheduled meaningless babble....

The nice thing is that so many of you are doing so many musical things yourselves that I'm kind of enjoying the e-mail updates! Saw Fritz and Jen at Old Songs and they said busking at the Ithaca Irish Festival a couple of weekends ago was "interesting." I'll let them tell you why. All I can say is that we're relieved the concertina survived unscathed!

Just got befriended up with Dave on myspace. He's quite prolific and entertaining. Can't wait for him to get hooked up with Atavan so he can perform on stage! I'll post his myspace address here soon so you can enjoy his sense of mad brilliant humour...

Leanne is dancing and playing her way all over the damn state! Look out for her on the big stage soon. If you don't see her on the stage, chances are she'll be in front of the stage if you check out her facebook page!

David P. is playing up a storm, too, and has some very nice tunes. We had a nice chat at Old Songs. Let's go over Jerry's Beaver Hat again this week, eh?

Karen says she feelin' rusty, George is in NYC, and we won't see my-man-Jeff because he's crazy busy at work. Elaine is out o' town traveling. Eric is going to go home and practice tonight, as he'll be performing at a Celtic concert with a bunch of BSO folks on August 6 in a concert in Curtisville, MA!

That's the news in my world. Tell me what's going on in yours!

The Trad

Cancelling for Tonight -- but don't forget Old Songs Festival & Irish Arts Week!

Tonight
Out of the whole group, I've only had two positive responses for tonight. I'm cancelling the session.

July
I'll e-mail everyone in preparation for July 9, and if I have enough positive responses (and the folks at Old Songs will let us use the building), we'll have a session in July.

Old Songs
Stay cool, everyone, and remember that even if you're not camping this year, at least plan to come for one of the days or concerts at Old Songs!

For Irish fans: Liz Carroll and John Doyle (another lefty fiddle player, btw, as well as brilliant guitarist and singer) and Andy Irvine (Irish/Greek bouzouki, gorgeous songs) will be at the festival.

For Celtic fans: April Verch (Ottawa fiddler/dancer extraordinaire!), Malinky (Scottish), Le Vent du Nord (Quebecois)

My personal favorites: Scott Ainsley (blues guitar/song, Vermont), John Kirk & Trish Miller (traditional & original music, song, dance). BTW, these two are the most generous, talented and friendly people you ever want to meet!

Some Memorials:
I've just heard they're having a memorial for Jackie Alper at the festival -- Jackie was an amazing woman, folk music, folklorist and radical! If you don't know who I am talking about, please don't miss the opportunity to learn more about her.

Old Songs will also be celebrating the life and contributions of U. Utah Phillips, a rambler, hobo, wobbly and folk legend. This is another don't miss.

The Visitors -- A Folk Opera
Andy and friends have outdone themselves yet again. If you didn't get to see The Visitors, a tale of the Adirondacks, you need to do so. A performance will be held on Friday afternoon of the festival, so make time to catch this moving, inspiring and highly informative theatre piece about the life, times and music of Adirondack people. Features an all-star cast!
_______________________________________________________
And now, my little advertisement for...
CATSKILLS IRISH ARTS WEEK!!!! July 13-19, including classes in music, song, dance and craft. Features sessions, ceilis, concerts, and much more! Culminates in Andy McGann Irish Festival on Saturday, July 19. If you're not signed up, you should get to it! Or at least plan to come down on a couple of weeknights and have tunes -- no charge for access to the sessions, which happen all over town all week! Weeknight evening concerts are affordable and star-studded.
For more info: http://www.east-durham.org/irishartsweek/

Sorry! Slow Session is THIS Wednesday -- May 14!!!

Yes, guys! I'm sorry -- we've had some upheavals around the ranch this month, and I haven't been paying much attention to my blog or to you all.

Please come on Wednesday, May 14 at 7:30 PM.

I will have tunes planned out and don't forget to practice your session sets! We'll be reviewing Otter's Holt, Galway Bay (in the waltz set), Eagle's Whistle/Inisheer, and much more!

See you soon! Instruments up! Players ready! Let's go......!!!!

The Trad

Nicely Done...

Yes, my friends! I think we can safely say that was the best slow session yet! Keep up the great work playing those tunes. I had a lot of fun, and it sounded like you all did too. Excellent! That's the goal.

We played!
Boy, did we play! We played:

• Gentle Maiden Munster Cloak (Waltzes)
• Galway Bay (April 08 Waltz o' the Month) -- next month, we'll work on inserting it in between the two waltzes in the set above. Probably best to think about playing each waltz only twice in that case.
• Mountain Road Swinging on a Gate Merry Blacksmith (Reels)
• Kesh Jig Father O'Flynn (Top O' Cork Road) Blackthorn Stick (Jigs)
• Eagle's Whistle (March slow tune o' the month) Inisheer
• Hinchy's Delight (two part April jig o' the month) Rose in the Heather (Jigs)
• Father Kelly's Speed the Plough (more Reels)
• Birthday Cake somewhere in there....yum!
• The Otter's Holt (April reel o' the month) Earl's Chair (NEW tune) (Reel)
• Tonra's Tobin's Morrison's Out on the Ocean
• The Swallow's Tail Cooley's Come West Along the Road (Reels)

I think that was about it. A few of us messed around a little with Long Golden Hair in two keys, and I got some suggestions for tunes to play next time. Elaine brought a March/Polka, and says she has a few suggestions. David (whistle) gave me some tune suggestions.

Your May Challenge: Come up with a tune to go after The Otter's Holt! If you're feeling creative, how about two tunes? Your entries should be e-mailed to me by April 30, 2008: fidilkid@hotmail.com.

Next Session: May 7, 2008, 7:30 PM.

Birthdays
It was nice to see such a big group last night, and happy birthday again to Dyan and also to Leanne. We have two friends here that are each celebrating a big birthday. One is ecstatic and embracing the experience, one is a little sad at reaching a milestone. One thing I've learned after so many birthdays of my own is that every one is a blessing, even as it carries us further along the stream of our lives. If you're feeling a little sad about getting there and maybe not having done something you had hoped to achieve, you're certainly not alone. I view every birthday as a personal New Year - a chance to make another resolution and to take one step (even if it is only one step this year) toward whatever huge thing I always wanted to do. So, my friends, find your next step! This is your year! Have a great one!

Tunes
I'm so glad that people continue to bring tunes to contribute. It would be great if you e-mailed the names of the tunes a couple of weeks BEFORE the session so that I can include them in the list.

As mentioned, I will continue to work on notation for each of the tunes on the session list. It occurs to me that there are folks who only learn by ear, and in their case, I think it'll be helpful to include a .wav or .mp3 file of the tune as well. I will get to work on that shortly, as well.

Techno-thoughts
This very nicely segues into my technology blips. Both David (mandolin, etc.) and Fritz (uilleann pipes, etc.) have sent me useful comments on how they are wrestling technology into becoming a very useful beast of burden. Their comments follow:

From Fritz:
"What I am currently doing notationwise is go to http://www.thesession.org/ or http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/tunefind or downloading and searching through the Norbeck files at http://www.norbeck.nu/index.html for my ABC file. I then copy and paste the tune as you would regular text into the ABC Navigator program http://abcnavigator.free.fr/abcnvgt.php?lang=eng and print out the sheet music.
More detailed instructions (there is no manual for ABC Navigator): While in the program window of ABC Navigator hit the ABC button and then the edit mode button and paste the ABC file into the program’s edit window. Hit the ok button and then the “maximize score panel button” and the file will display as typical music notation. You can then have the program play the tune or you can read it and play it yourself or print it out. The rendering is very good and the whole process is free!
For editing music I am using Noteworthy Composer http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/ . It is fairly inexpensive and does a great job of creating any kind of classical notation. A trick I use to get a trad tune into editable mode is to save an ABC file in ABC Navigator as midi and then open it in Noteworthy Composer (Noteworthy wont accept ABC format).
Fritz "

*Trad note: Noteworthy makes very nice looking notation. If you were at yesterday's session, you'll have gotten a copy of Fritz' transcription of Planxty Fitzgerald, which was done in Noteworthy.

From Dave:
"Here are some links and some software notes that might be blog-worthy : First, if you find an ABC for a song and you want to turn that intosheet music or a MIDI file, you can go here: http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html you can just copy / paste the ABC text into the web page and it willgenerate both sheet music and MIDI.... for those of us too lazy toinstall software such as Noteworthy. Next, a bunch of free trad mp3s from Comhaltas, from their books of popular tunes. Helpful to those of us who are trying to learn commontunes, by ear: http://comhaltas.ie/shop/detail/foinn_seisiun_book_volume_1/ http://comhaltas.ie/shop/detail/foinn_seisiun_book_volume_2/ And last, I guess, maybe it's worth mentioning to people that there'snow lots of software that lets you slow music down. Software likeAmazing Slow Downer isn't new. But if you just want to slow a trackdown to make it easier to learn, then both Windows Media Player andQuicktime can do that. In WMP, press Ctrl-Shift-S for Slow mode(press Ctrl-Shift-N to return to Normal speed). In Quicktime, clickon Window menu > Show A/V Controls, to show the dialog that has aPlayback Speed control. At least, that's where the options arelocated in the current versions of the software, on my Windows PC.
Dave"

*Trad note: These are some great tips also. I agree with Dave that Comhaltas is a great resource for tunes. In fact, they also preserve stories and songs, in case you're interested. One thing to watch for, as we've found with TheSession.org and other sources, is that you will always find minor oddities in versions. I'm seeing a pattern with that, and I now generally expect to have to modify a version to sync up with whatever I understand is a common session version. For other sources, I highly recommend Dave Mallinson's books (one hundred enduring session tunes, one hundred annoying session tunes, one hundred polkas that will make you want to put your eye out...you get the idea). In playing and discussing the tunes, we've found that there are the least amount of differences on standard session tunes with those books.

In Conclusion...
Thanks again, Lads for such a fabulous evening of music. I look forward to seeing everyone next month -- we'll continue this ultra-organized approach, as I think it keeps us all on track. Please practice the session sets of tunes on the right hand side of the screen there. I will be adding the new sets shortly.

Please send me an e-mail (fidilkid@hotmail.com) if you need music files or sheet music for any of the tunes in the sets. Elaine, I will get you my version of Mountain Road.

I would really like to see more people memorizing tunes, and not just relying on the sheet music. As you know, I'm not a big proponent of, "I can play anything. What page is it on?" That's my hang-up, I suppose, and I certainly won't throw you out if you use sheet music for everything. The rhythm of the session overall is dependent upon people having enough tunes to make the music flow at a certain speed and with enough confidence to make it as much fun to listen to as it is to play.

In the few years I've gone to Ireland and played in sessions, I've made loads of mistakes, embarrassed myself plenty, learned a lot about the music and how it is shared, and have NEVER ONCE seen a music stand or sheet music at a session. So, right or wrong, my hope is to give you guys the chance to practice the music enough to be able to play it without spots in front of you! Whether or not it ever happens for any or all of you doesn't really matter, I suppose! It's the journey that's the grand Craic, eh?

Happy Spring and see you all very, very soon!

The Trad

Even Further Update...

OK -- read the two previous posts, and:

We'll also be working on Galway Bay, a lovely waltz that I got from the playing of James Morrison. I'll have that one written out for you, and it may go very very well with Munster Cloak as well -- maybe we'll try wedging it in between Gentle Maiden and Munster Cloak (I just tried it. Lovely. Sold. Get used to it, people...)

See you Wednesday!

The Trad

An Update...

Hey, Y'all -- I ran into a little bit of a speedbump in getting sound files up. So, until I get that solved, I'll just let you in on my plans for Wednesday.

We'll be working on:

• Rose in the Heather (d) -- an old warhorse jig that we've done in the past, and
• Henchy's Delight (g) -- this tune was recorded by the Aughrim Slopes Ceili Band in 1937. Henchy's might be a challenge for our accompanists, as it sounds a little "ish" as Eric likes to say.

We'll also be working on:

• The Otter's Holt, a reel in D, composed by West Clare-man Martin "Junior" Crehan.

I think that's probably enough for this week, including the sets of session tunes we'll be going over, but I think we might want to try Byrne's Hornpipe as well.

I WILL bring sheet music to session on Wednesday, but in the meantime, try and dig up any version of the tunes listed above to run through before we get together, ok?

See you all very, very soon,

The Trad

April Session brings....May Flowers...?!

Hi, sessioneers! I'm looking forward to seeing you all next Wednesday, April 9 at 7:30 PM. I'm working on the learning list for next week. I'll be putting files up, including ABC and audio files, shortly. Also, I've got some resources for you courtesy of Fritz and Dave, and some links to tunes.


To Butch: try copying the link that I posted in my last blog (ctrl + C) and go up to your browser's address line and paste the address in (ctrl + V) and hit "Enter" -- all this assuming you are a PC person as opposed to a Mac person. Then I cain't hep ya. Haven't used a Mac since college. I know, my brain has been coopted by the evil empire.


Remember, our next session is coming up this Wednesday. I'll have the materials up tonight or tomorrow morning, but I'm planning on bringing music. What you need to practice is the session tunes listed in last month's post, as well as along the right side of the page. Those are our standard session sets, and we'll be playing them on a regular basis! The more we do it, the better we'll get!

See you soon!

The Trad

Slow Session Tomorrow Night...

Dear Friends, Thanks to those of you who came out to the Guilderland Library yesterday to support us and fight for chairs with the elderly...we had a great time. A friend of ours even hosted an after-party for us! So, our elbows are warmed up, but our fingers are tired! Anyone want to come out to Old Songs and play some tunes? This Wednesday, March 12, 7:30 PM at the Old Songs Community Arts Center, 37 South Main, Voorheesville!

Here's our list of session sets. We'll go through them first at a nice, reasonable pace: The Mountain Road (DMaj) Swinging on a Gate (GMaj) Merry Blacksmith (DMaj) (Reels)
Tobins (D) Morrison's Jig (Emin) Kesh Jig (G) Brendan Tonra's (D) (Jigs)
Father Kelly's (G) Speed the Plough (D) (Reels)
Swallowtail Jig (Emin) Gallagher's Frolics (Emin) Mist Covered Mountain (Amin) Kesh Jig Father O'Flynn's Blackthorn Stick (G) (Jigs)
Banshee (G) Silver Spear (D) Cooley's Reel (Emin) Come West Along the Road (G) (Reels)
Her Long Golden Hair Flowing Down Her Back (Amin) (slow tune)
Inisheer (G) (waltz)
The Peacock's Feather hornpipes (Dmin & G?)

We'll start the evening off with those, and then move to some other stuff -- maybe some new sets. We had some suggestions, and I just have to get a second to look them over and work them up. Elaine, if you come, would you bring sheet music for your tune?

See you all very soon!

The Trad

Spring?

Friends, I want to share a wonderful essay I received a few days ago from my friend Marjorie on the East Coast. It moved me to think about the world around us, and how we move in concert with nature whether we realize it or not. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did...

Silver Lake continues to reveal itself so charmingly, year after year, in all the different seasons.

This year the ice has stayed the entire season. Not necessarily safe to walk or skate on, but very little open water. That has been unusual.

The swans have taken to sitting in the middle of the ice, sometimes quite still, which has alarmed several of us in the past, fearing that the birds were somehow frozen into the ice and unable to move. But yesterday the swans were rather restless. Clearly not stuck to the ice.They sat for a while, but kept shifting, adjusting themselves, but with no particular goal evident. Just sitting.

But when I next saw them, a short time later, there were two swans, both walking on the ice, but with totally diffferent demeanors about them. The lead swan was strutting along, head held high, clearly the more experienced of the two. The second swan had his (or her) head tucked down, wings bent down almost dragging along the ice, as if to help her balance with each uncertain step she took. And with each step the swan's feet slid, looking like it were her first time on ice skates. She did not look happy.

Then, something happened. The first swan started running, and after came the less confident swan (unhappily) running as well. I could hear their feet slapping on the ice. Then they were airborne, and gently honking. They lifted up slowly, headed around the island, circled, and when they came back past me they were much higher, still gently honking, soared over the trees and out of the neighborhood. There is another pond nearby that I've heard they spend time at here in town. Clearly they had decided it was time for a change. Or at least one of them had decided this, and the other...well, sometimes change comes, whether one is ready or not. Whether with confident grace or slipping and sliding, it's going to happen. And if one is lucky, you might even end up flying.

Looking forward to spring!

Love, Marjorie

Thanks, Marjorie! And guess what, all? I saw an eagle today in my neighborhood! It was high up in a tree, looking down into the field and the creek below. I've seen eagles flying over the Hudson River plenty of times, but never up in cow country -- my neck of the woods.

Keep your chin up! Spring is almost here, and you never know what you'll see!

The Trad

Keep your hands where I can see them!

Yeah, this whole blogging thing is fun and all, but what's really cool? Reading other people's blogs. In case you can't tell by the way I look, I like two things: music....and food. Anyway, while Trusty is working away at some tune or other, I guility (and voraciously) read food blogs.

I just found one that I'm in love with: The Wednesday Chef. Also 52 Cupcakes (http://52cupcakes.blogspot.com/) ...and Bee boppin' the Boroughs (http://beeboppinnyc.blogspot.com/)! Beebopp has a craft blog, too, but I can't find the link.

Wednesday is fabu for his way of thinking, and his really great view of food in the world! 52 is the Queen of Cupcakes (she bakes a different kind every week, and blogs about it). Yeah. I have one muffin recipe I make for Trusty. He takes them to work. Therein lieth his devotion to me. Until Dunkin' Donuts has their pumpkin muffins, and then I'm on my own for a month. Beebopp is who I wanted to be at 22, and wasn't.

I did spend the last year of school (I stayed an extra year to get an extra bit of a degree at Uni) wandering the far-flung parks and fields of greater Buffalo. I used to wander from my apartment near UB's south campus across town to Buff State and the Albright-Knox Art Museum. I found a lot of little shops, hole-in-wall coffee places, took photographs, hung out with ducks in parks. Ah, the sweet freedom of spending an entire Saturday (and sometimes Sunday) just wandering the city with noone waiting for me to be responsible for any-damn-thing-at-all! It's too bad blogs didn't exist back then. I really should've written about it for the Generation. But that would have been an organized and forward-thinking thing to do. Didn't have that in my repertoire back then.

As for music blogs, I'm loathe to recommend very many, because they're all like mine. Self-absorbed, self-indulgent, and sort of pedantic in some cases. I did just discover David Byrne's blog, though, and it's bright, insightful, funny, and very aware of more than just music in the world: http://journal.davidbyrne.com/. Check it out. This man is smart! Best show I ever saw, by the way, was David Byrne (just slightly pre-Rei Momo, I think) at Massey Hall in Toronto. The band hit the stage running, and Byrne salsa-ed, merengue-ed, and latin pop-ed himself all over the damn stage like a crazyman! And the horn section.....yeaaaahhhhhhh..... Ahem. Anyway...

While it's unlikely that I'm going to run off and start playing all kinds of other music, I'm finding it very refreshing to stop, look and listen around me at art, crafts, music, literature, food...you know...the cool stuff we're doing with our own two hands!

I think I'll go bake cupcakes....

The Trad

Zamboni Ride!

Guys, I'm cancelling the slow session. I just can't get past the idea that even if the weather is great when we arrive at 7:30, it won't be a freakin' skating rink by the time we leave.

So, don't forget the Dance Flurry is this weekend (www.danceflurry.org) where trusty and I will be playing along with a million other fantabulous performers (!). Also, if you're not up in Saratoga (or if, like Jeff, you are but you're going anyway...), there's a phenomenal Old Songs concert featuring Alisdair Fraser and Natalie Haas (www.oldsongs.org for tix/info).

Also, a few reminders on upcoming cool music:

Irish Arts Week: Paul Keating reminded me to tell you all that there's an early registration discount for The Catskills Irish Arts Week (http://www.east-durham.org/irishartsweek/). It's totally worth it to register early if you can. Plus, check out the amazing teaching line-up! (Bear in mind, it is subject to change due to performers' scheduling.) Arts Week is scheduled for July 13-19, 2008.

Banjo Burke Festival: Bridget Burke asked me to let people know that there is a fundraiser for the Second Annual Banjo Burke Festival being held at the Celtic Hall in East Greenbush on April 22 (I think). I'll get you more details as soon as I can. (The festival will be held in East Durham on Columbus Day Weekend.)

Old Songs: Andy Spence asked me to remind people to get your tickets for the Celtic Fiddle Festival (featuring Kevin Burke - Ireland, Christian LeMaitre - Brittany, Andre Brunet - Quebec, and Ged Foley - every-damn-where on Guitar) on Tuesday, February 26 at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $25.

Celebration of Celts: Louise Dunphy asked me to remind you to save the first weekend in May for the Celebration of Celts, which I believe is moving back to the Chatham Fairgrounds. I'll let you know when I have more details. Cel o' Celts is May 2-3-4, 2008.

The Dance Flurry: Trusty and I wish you a very happy Flurry weekend! We hope to see you out there, and I want to remind everyone to go support Cedar Stanistreet and Friends for the Celtic session on Sunday morning! I expect, like always, the session will be in the Atrium of the main hotel. Don't miss it! It's going to be great fun! Also, Maura MacNamara will be playing in various places, as will Bob Gaesser and the Italian Village Dance Band. Get out and support our friends! (This weekend: Feb. 15-17)

Until Next Time,

The Trad

Random...

I don't want you to think I forgot about you! Trusty and I have been working on a demo, and the experience has made us very much aware of our human frailties -- we make the same mistake over and over, even if we've practiced the corrections over and over; I get the intonation wrong on a passage...over and over; we fail to use all the variations or ornaments we'd planned on because that microphone staring us in the face is more terrifying than we'd counted on. Sure, you waltz in the first night thinking "How hard can this possibly be? We'll sit down, get tuned up, and blast through all 15 tracks in one night."

Yeh. Right.

So, it's been a slow go, but a great learning experience. If anything, I've left each session feeling more confident, and having a stronger sense of musicial direction. In fact, it's been easier to practice lately. I don't feel so daunted by the enormous amount of tunes there are to learn or to listen to. I've spent a few afternoons recently in front of the computer just letting my iTunes play while I play along. I have lots of CDs loaded on my computer, and I alphabetize the tracks, and just go. There's this great randomness to it.

It's been a challenge to keep up with the likes of Jimmy Noonan and the Kane sisters. It's been fun playing those groovy swoopy tracks from Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill's recording. And playing the old style with Breda or Claire Keville or Pat O'Connor or Kitty Hayes. So cool.

I bought Trusty a nifty little mp3 player for Christmas, and we've been downloading the podcasts for all the Trad shows from Clare FM (http://www.clarefm.ie/) and listening to them as we tool around town. I highly recommend this for a couple of reasons: 1. it's random (my theme o' the day), 2. you're unlikely to have every single recording on their play list (unless you're Gary Martin or Bob Gaesser), and 3. it brings tunes to mind that you didn't know you wanted to learn. One broadcast can send you off in a completely different direction than you thought you were going. And it gives you all kinds of ideas for linking sets of tunes together. Very good for getting ready for slow session!

Don't forget, slow session is two weeks from tomorrow. I think Karen will be with us, and George will be back from some sunny clime (he missed January because he was in the Caribbean), but I don't know that Colleen will be joining us as she's been under the weather, but everyone send good wishes in her direction that she'll be healing quickly and feeling better soon. We miss you, Colleen!

I'm hoping to see Sean and Jeff back, and Jennifer and Fritz!, and I know Pete will be there, if I can just remember to send him the darn lists I promised to mail out. I'm hoping that a couple of Nickelharpe players will join us (Peter and Debbie), and they're mad for Irish waltzes (JEFF, ARE YOU LISTENING?)....also, looking forward to having Leanne and Jim back, as well as Caroline (so nice to see you earlier this month!) and Elaine (grand, as always!). We had a new gent visit in January, but I feel so terrible, I don't remember his name. If you're reading this, please pipe up and remind me!

Well, all, I hope you're enjoying the cold weather, and the opportunity to practice! Don't be afraid of it. Just pick something you really like to play and play it! Get that instrument in your hands as often as possible. Hey, they've figured out that exercising for even as little as five minutes at a time can benefit you. Why can't you treat practicing that way? Just pick it up, play two tunes, put it away and go cook some dinner. Don't stress on it! You love this stuff!!!! Remember?

Catch you soon, and I hope I catch you playing...

The Trad

What Time Is It?

Yesterday Trusty Companion and I played a contra dance. It was more of a trainwreck than a dance, but it was fun anyway! The best part? When we anticipated a change in the dance, and switched tunes at the perfect time! I've always been impressed by the great players, like Fennig's All-Stars, where their tune choices are superb and their timing is impeccable. Yesterday, we had a little taste of how that works.

It was so cool!

We hope you're having a great weekend, and that you've given some thought to my previous diatribe on community. If there's someone at the session you want to get together with and play some tunes to practice, ask them! Get their phone number or e-mail and make a date. That's how the rest of us started out. If we couldn't find a session, we'd make one at our house! You CAN do that. You share tunes you're working on, learn some that they've got, play together, and generally have fun. Our session usually involved chili and beer, but that part is up to you...

Don't forget, the list of sets for next time is up already (look to your right!). I will have copies of the big giant practice tune list for folks at February's session. Remember, it's Wednesday, February 13, right before The Dance Flurry in Saratoga Springs, NY (Feb. 15-17, 2008 at the City Center).

Phenomonal young fiddler Cedar Stanistreet and friends (probably John Cromie, a superb whistle player, among others) will be leading the Irish Jam on Sunday morning. So stay up all night and show up in the atrium of the hotel for that shindig. Should be fun! There's always a pile of fabulous players that come, including some kids from Boston who kick #$%!

In the meantime, enjoy the weather and the rest of your weekend, and don't forget to practice!

All the best,

The Trad

Living in a Virtual World

Well, this takes the cake: I just finished reading a virtual interview between two avatars in a virtual lounge in Second Life, a virtual metaverse. The woman conducting the interview is a non-profit professional, and the woman being interviewed is the first person to have an avatar that earned One Million Actual US Dollars selling "real estate" in a virtual reality setting. That is pretty incredible. Someone will pay actual real discretionary income to purchase a plot of megabytes on a "private" island next to a pix-alicious waterfall so they can build their virtual dream home.

Where do they find the time?

Hey, don't get me wrong. I like the internet as much as the next guy. Well, maybe a little less than your average 15-year-old. And I'm reasonably savvy, but I haven't cottoned onto constant texting like every normal 24-year-old. MySpace is only now becoming a reality for me. And YouTube. Hey -- you can market your music there! (Our buddy David from the session did. Check out his band's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Oz6_Ptizs. Excellent playing!)

When I first read this interview, I was struggling to understand how one would be attracted to the idea of creating a wholly new life and self in a brand new universe and making the time to live it. I mean, my whole life is really pretty filled up with living the life I already have. And then to have the wherewithall to create an income stream out of relationships forged with a whole bunch of people who are also sitting around in their jammies and fuzzy slippers, typing on their computers. Pretty creative.

So what happens in this "metaverse"? Well, people create their avatars, get oriented to their new world, make new friends, run around like maniacs, and maybe get their groove back. And then -- and here's the surprise -- they get bored. And they start to look for more. More? I don't mean more funky virtual clothes or jewelry or cars or houses or lovers or food or whatever consumeristic needs this fantasy world can fulfill. I mean more like finding your purpose or making a difference or needing to change the status quo. That's a question, though, isn't it? If you've just created this perfect self and environment and whatever, why would you need to change it? Isn't everything hunky dory?

Why would you want to change something that's completely made up? Isn't it just a pretend world? You can make it whatever you want, right? Well, No. There are other people creating their own experiences. It's not static. Things are constantly changing. Which would, perhaps, explain why there are activists and do-gooders in virtual worlds too. We aren't really changing the society completely, we're just moving it from one plane to another. Think about it: you go there and reinvent yourself. At the same time, zillions of other people are doing the exact same thing. Maybe you can change the way you look or what your life looks like or how you behave. And everyone else is doing that, too. Look, you can change yourself all you want, but you can't really change the fact that once you're there and someone else is there, it's sort of automatically a new society. A community. Whether you wanted it to be or not. So, now I get it. (Anthropology rules!) We go there to be someone we're not, have things we don't, create things we do. We want things to be better there, so we make an effort to make them better. And that includes charity in thought, word, and deed.

The person who made her Million-in-a-Metaverse has now become a metaphilanthropist. First she used some of her proceeds to sponsor a person who couldn't afford the fees to have access to Second Life. Seems like sort of a weird charity, but hey...she gave someone who couldn't afford it access to a global village. This guy, from an impoverished family in Southeast Asia or somewhere, could connect with people in Brazil, the U.S., South Africa, Iceland, or wherever the people he met were from. I'd say that's an incredibly cool opportunity, wouldn't you?

Next she saw an opportunity to foster real meaningful dialogue among Second Lifers on a larger scale. She had seen and heard avatars having thoughtful and informed conversations about real issues. So she donated the real estate to develop a Non-Profit Commons, a virtual suite of non-profit organizations to give them a place to promote themselves, connect with volunteers and people in need. Residents of the metaverse can visit, get involved, make a donation, or decide it's not for them and start stalking the hot chick who works at TechSoup.

Even in this virtual reality, you can volunteer your real time and energy, you can organize, you can create virtual events and hold them. There are people literally making a living by interfacing with this virtual metaverse. You can buy a private island to host your event. Big corporations are doing it. I think Google owns an island where their employees can "go" to attend company conferences or corporate training. Heck, the American Cancer Society held a virtual relay-for-life. In their first year, they raised $5,100. In their fourth year, they've raised over $100,000 without anybody strapping on sneakers. I know...it kind of defeats the purpose of a walk. But look, people clearly want to be engaged in community, and if you build it, they will come!

All right. Why is she talking about virtual reality? Has she completely lost her mind? We're not dialing it in from our computers. Is she selling Amway? Is she nuts?

Here's the thing: I'm not talking about virtual reality. I'm talking about us. About community. Our Slow Session is a community. Old Songs is a community. Neither are static. They're both growing. Both are stronger and better because you are involved, because YOU show up.

No matter what face you put on to come to session, no matter whether you're totally confident in your playing, working at it, or completely new at it and afraid of screwing up in front of everybody, you're part of our world. This session is about welcoming new people, helping to keep regular attendees growing and moving in the direction they want to go, and building confidence.

Remember, in this universe:
1. mistakes are welcome, even encouraged.
2. learning by ear is encouraged: bring a recorder and get the tune as it is played at the session.
3. we do care what you think: give constructive feedback if you think there's something you'd like to see happen.

What's Next for The Session?
In the spirit of growing and changing, we've found that maybe a little bit of a new approach would help keep the session fun and useful! Here's what's happening:

Session Portion
1. We're enjoying learning Waltzes. If Jeff is around, perhaps he'll start us off with one.
2. We'll start off each session evening by playing some sets of tunes. I'll be posting those shortly. If you want to suggest a set, please comment or e-mail me.
3. We'll play established sets every time, if we can get through them. This will help us get used to playing tunes in sets, get used to changing from tune to tune, and keep us building our repertoire.
4. We'll add new sets every time -- we can put some together right on the spot, incorporating tunes from the big lists, and new tunes that we're working on.

Learning Portion
1. We'll work on a few learning tunes: one or two from spots, and one or two by ear, depending on what people are interested in, and what they'd like to learn. Again, send recommendations or make a comment to the blog.
2. We'll finish up with either a slow tune or a new waltz and an old waltz, if Jeff is with us.

I hope this new format will be enjoyable for everyone.

Again, thank you so much for continuing to be a part of the slow session community, and welcome to those who are new. Thank you for bringing a vibrancy to Old Songs, along with all the other DIY-ers who make music during the week. Because of you, Old Songs is growing in so many wonderful ways. Old Songs isn't virtual, it's a reality. But it can only stay a reality if we support it. So, next time you're surfing around on the web, and you're feeling a little meta-philanthropic, visit the Old Songs site (http://www.oldsongs.org/) and consider making a donation. Keep the groove alive!

Happy New Year to you all!

The Trad