Irish Traditional Music Sessions
by Doug Huggins

What is a “session?”

In Irish traditional music, a session is simply a gathering of friends who play and sing in a public house (or pub).  It’s not a paid performance band or a rehearsed act, it’s people who share a love of the music, and who play together as much for their own enjoyment as for the enjoyment of the listeners.  Tipping is not necessary.   In addition to playing together, the session is a place to learn new tunes or songs and just socialize.  There are sessions twice a week in Colorado Springs, year ‘round, not just for St. Patrick’s day.

Who can play?

Anyone who loves and respects traditional Irish music and can play it on a traditional acoustic instrument or sing it is welcome to sit in.  Common instruments in this music include fiddle, wooden flute, pennywhistle, mandolin, banjo, concertina, uillean pipes (the Irish bagpipes), bouzouki (also called octave mandolin),  guitar, or bodhran (Irish drum).   Please, no electrified instruments or string basses.  People who have a basic functional grasp of their instrument and who want to learn the tunes should ask to borrow a tunebook from one of the regulars, and listen to recordings to get a feel for the music before jumping in to the session.  Many regulars will be happy to show newcomers the chords or fingerings for traditional tunes.

What is Irish Traditional Music?

This music grew out of the dance and song traditions in Ireland, and generally DOES NOT include the “sentimental”  Irish-American songs (like Mother Machree) written for Vaudeville or other stage shows by “Tin Pan Alley” songwriters or recent commercially written music like “The Unicorn.”   From the dance tradition come jigs, reels, polkas, hornpipes, strathspeys, and waltzes.  From the vocal tradition come ballads, laments, and “sean nos” unaccompanied singing,  and what have been referred to as “sad songs of love, and happy songs of war and drinking.”  Songs may be in English or Irish Gaelic.   It is common to play a tune three or four times through, then change to another tune in the same tempo without stopping, possibly linking three, four, five or more tunes in a “set” or  “rake,” or what we would call a medley.  This practice also grew out of the dance tradition,  allowing the dancers to continue and the musicians to avoid becoming bored with the same tune over and over.  If it reminds you of  Bluegrass music, Irish Traditional Music is one of the ancestors of Bluegrass and square-dance music, and many Irish tunes and songs were adopted into the American folk music tradition.

Where can I find an Irish music session?

The oldest local session is at Poor Richard’s on Tejon on Thursday nights, and the newer session is at J. Quinn’s Pub, also on Tejon, on Sunday afternoons.   There’s an Internet Mailing list for Irish Traditional Music at irtrad-l@listserv.heanet.ie and additional links can be found by searching on the word Ceolas. Denver and Boulder also have sessions.  You can also listen to streaming Internet casts of traditional music direct from Ireland at http://www.rte.ie/radio/latesession/latesession.html  or http://www.rte.ie/radio/ceilihouse/ceilihouse.html. For more info on local Irish Traditional music, e-mail Doug Huggins at Tradmusic427@cs.com.

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