A Conversation for Folk Session Etiquette

Are these rules for real?

Post 1

Dr. Funk

Wow! English and Irish sessions are complicated. I'm an American fiddler, and I have to say, in the many sessions (here they're usually called jams) I've been to here, there are just about no rules at all. Certainly, a jam develops a vibe as it goes along, and usually more experienced players end up playing with each other while less experienced players end up playing with each other, but it's not bad form for the two to mix, and there's no clearly established hierarchy unless somebody decides to get all uppity, in which case they will usually be ignored and/or mocked. Most different from your description, most folk musicians find that jams are *the* place to go to pick up new tunes--you learn them by jumping in there and getting it, not after the tune is over.

But I'm particularly confused because I went to Ireland and played in a few sessions there, and not once did I feel unwanted--nor did I feel the sense of hierarchy that you talk about. I understood that you had to know the tune, or be able to pick it up in the first go around, but after that little rule I never felt excluded; indeed, I was constantly encouraged to play more. Are the rules you describe typical? Did I happen to find particularly welcome sessions, or was some cruel joke played on the dumb American all afternoon and night?


Are these rules for real?

Post 2

Follenglot

Well, they aren't rules that are cast in stone, as such, but they are a combination of the unspoken etiquette I have experienced myself over the years in England, plus a similar set of suggestions published a year or two ago by an Irish player.

To be honest, I have experienced worse than this - being ignored if you aren't recognised, and sometimes being ignored because you are recognised as not being one of the clique. I have been to sessions where nobody will welcome you or introduce you to other players, sessions where other players talk loudly when you are playing, even a session where money was demanded for the privilege of playing (and then being talked over!). I have been in a session which closed down because the key players demanded extra free beer from the landlord (of an empty pub) over and above what they were all getting, and walked out in a fit of pique when they didn't get it, destroying a perfectly good session in the process. I have known many pubs which have thrown sessions out because the players monopolised the bar area to the exclusion of the regular customers, and ignored everything going on around them, including whether they were welcome or not! Having said all that, although there are arrogant players and very self-indulgent sessions around, many are good and yes, some or all of the rules above do apply in a good one, in my experience.


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Are these rules for real?

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