It is a process fitting instruments to kids and families are usually in there for  more than a few minutes to say the least, leaving plenty of time to talk to the parents. More often than not, they would say, “my daughter (or son) is the musical one, I’ve never been very musical.”

This always makes me giggle because there are very few musicians who wake up one morning and realize they can play an instrument brilliantly. Most of us just spend hours upon hours practicing to get there.

I remember though, there was this one woman in particular who bought what I thought was one of the most beautiful cellos I’ve ever seen. She was buying it for her daughter who was going off to college and was just picking it up the day I was working.

While she was waiting to pick it up I said “this is the most beautiful cello, your daughter is going to love it.” She told me that her daughter was in college out of state and that she was tempted to start playing the cello herself. She always dreamed of playing but thought she was too old to pick it up now. I told her that was nonsense and that you’re never too old to learn something new. I gave her the name of a great cello teacher and encouraged her to give him a call.

Months later the same woman showed up in the shop to get a tune-up on the cello. She told me that she had taken my advice and started cello lessons. She loved her teacher and loved playing so much she was going to buy her own instrument. She also found others her age and ability to play with and though she’ll never be the next Yo Yo Ma, she was having the time of her life.

Playing music isn’t about being the best. It’s about enjoying the process. There are very few people in which music comes easy. Playing any instrument takes time, practice and perseverance. And really, anyone can do it if they have the drive. It doesn’t matter what age you are, it’ never to late to try.

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There isn’t one traditional musician I can think of, that knows the name of every single tune they play, never mind every tune they hear.

In the old days (you know, like  a couple of years ago) you would probably have to play a tune to your friends, family, neighbors and your friends’ family and neighbors, just to find the name of the tune.

These days, now all you have to do is to play the tune into an iPhone app called Tunepal and voila, the name of the tunes is revealed. Seriously what did we do before the iPhone?

I use my iPhone to record sessions, check my email, update my Facebook status and oh yeah, make calls. And now, I can figure out what tunes are being played by the mere click of a button. Does it get any better?

Here’s a little about the app:

If you’re an avid reader of my blog, chances are you not only know what a session is, but you get why this explanation of it is so funny.

It did get me thinking though. I may take for granted that people just know what a session is all about. But in reality, unless you’re a traditional Irish musician, you probably don’t understand the true essence of a real Irish session.

I was reminded myself this weekend at the session at Bagitos when just about every top-notch player I know showed up to share some tunes. Tunes were played with precision and with the quality of music the session could easily have been situated in the heart of Ireland. This was no practice session.

Though there are a lot of different types of sessions, the thing that always remains the same is that the hosts and musicians want to maintain a certain caliber of music. Both for the audience as well as for the players.

Yes, random musicians show up and no one ever really rehearses together. We all just sort of sit down and play tunes. So I can understand the perception of it looking like practice time.  However, there are hours and hours of practice and tune learning going on long before a session ever takes place.

Related Posts:
What is an Irish Session?
Session Obsession – Seven Days

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 3,900 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

To avoid failure, I usually just promise myself not to make any promises in the new year. This has worked quite well in years past. But this year, things are a’ changin’.

This year, I’m going to make some new year’s resolutions, but only two. I’m going to write them here today so that they are on record and therefore, I will have to follow through.  Here they are. Drum roll please…

1. I will write the first draft of that book I’ve been promising to write, pretty much most of my life. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be written.
2. I will spend more time sharing my music. Whether its a session, a show or a street performance. I will play out more than I did in 2011. (This is a round about way of pushing myself to practice more – but hey whatever works).

So now that I have written down my new year’s resolutions. Tell me what yours are.

Here are some ideas to help you out:

1. Patrick Ourceau’s Live at Mona’s CD – One of my all time favorite albums. It’s a recording of a live session at Mona’s in NYC. If you listen closely you can hear people shooting pool in the background, telephone’s ringing, etc. It’s kind of like you’re there listening to it, well, live.
2. Tickets to Lunasa for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day concert at the Flynn Center in Burlington – It should be a great show!
3. Gift certificate to a local music shop – Strings are expensive and we’re all pretty particular about what strings we use. It’s much easier to let us pick them out ourselves.
4. Gift certificate to iTunes – a musicians best friend.
5. Subscription to Fiddler Magazine.
6. Humidifier for instrument case – This is a must-have, especially in Vermont in the winter.
7. Metronome – Heck, we could all use a timing check.
8. Rosin – You can never have enough.
9. Music stand – Although most traditional musicians learn tunes by ear, it’s nice to have a stand when you’re practicing your, ahem, scales.
10. Tuner – We all sound better when we’re in tune.

I hope that helps. Have a very Merry Christmas!

There comes a time though, when you’re learning a tune and you just can’t quite grasp it. So what do you do?

Quit, I say. Just quit!

Not forever of course. Only for the moment.

Believe it or not, sometimes its better to walk away, put down your instrument, play another tune or just quit for the day. You’ll actually play it better tomorrow.

Recently NPR’s show, Radio Lab, had an episode on Sleep that confirms ‘sleeping on it’ actually helps you remember things. “Sleep helps you remember by forgetting.”

There is a limited amount of space in the brain. Every experience you have during the day uses up this space, making it difficult to focus on one thing, like, say, the tune you’re trying to learn.

During sleep, waves of electrical activity wash over your head, and over the course of the night the waves wash through the experience of the day, settling everything down.  This allows your mind to rest  and your head to be cleared so you can play better tomorrow.

So if you’re having trouble with that one elusive note, or you just can’t quite grasp the rhythm of that tune, put it down and quit for the day. You’ll be better tomorrow.

And this was my yard by late afternoon:

If you think this is drastic, think about how your instrument feels. The drastic change of seasons can be grueling on an instrument. There are many things you can do however, to keep your instrument from going into change-of-season-shock. Here are some tips to keeping your instrument safe and happy:

1. Humidify. Keep a humidifier in your case filled with water at all times throughout the winter. When a fiddle gets too dry, the glue can weaken and the instrument could crack. You also might find your pegs pop when you open the case if it’s too dry.
2. Keep it encased. I once had a teacher that said if you’re fiddle isn’t on your shoulder it should be in its case. It’s the safest place. Keep your instrument in its case when it is not being used.
3. Keep away from heat. Keep your instrument away from any heaters or drafts or drastic temperature changes. Try to keep your instrument in a place that has an even temperature all the time.
4. Don’t leave it behind. Don’t leave your instrument in the cold car.
5. Let it sit. When going from a warm house to a cold car to a warm house again, let your instrument sit for a little while before opening the case. This will allow it to adjust to the temperature in the room.

I remember the very first time I learned to play a tune by ear. I took a weekend fiddle workshop and my only goal was to learn one tune before the weekend was out. This may sound simple. I mean a whole weekend to learn only one tune, really? If you’re not used to learning tunes by ear, I’m sure you can relate to what a feat that actually is.

Here are some tips to help you more easily learn tunes by ear.

1. Listen. Listen to the tune you want to learn as much as you possibly can. Listen in the car, while you’re doing the dishes, in the shower, etc. Listen it to it so much that you can sing the tune in your head. It’s much easier to learn a tune that you actually know.
2. Slow it Down. There are tools that you can use to help you slow down the tune without changing the key. The two that I have used are The Amazing Slowdowner and Transcribe. You can even download an app for this onto your iphone.
3. Take a Class. Check your  local community music school. The Summit School of Traditional Music in Montpelier offers two great classes called Beginning to Learn Irish Tunes by Ear and Irish Session Repertoire. All tunes are taught by ear.
4. Practice. If you’re used to reading music, learning by ear can be very challenging. But rest assured it does get easier, it just takes practice. Just like anything, the more you do it, the easier it gets.
5. Be Patient. To some, learning by ear is easy, to others it takes time. So just be patient with yourself and know that you will eventually get better at it as time goes on.

What are some of your tips?

Irish sessions are a little different from a regular jam sessions in that there are some unwritten rules musicians need to follow. For example, we usually play a tune three times and then follow it with another tune or another couple of tunes. This is called a tune set.  The fun of it is pulling that second or third tune out of your head at a moment’s notice. It’s easy to get caught up in playing the same old tune sets because you know how to play them and it’s safe because you’ve practiced it before. But pulling one out of your head while you’re playing is another thing altogether. It’s where I think the creativity of a session comes in.

At last week’s session, someone would play their one tune and then someone else would pick up the pace and string along another tune and so it went.

In an Irish session class I took at The Summit School of Traditional Music in Montpelier, we did this at the end of every class. We called it the ring of fire. One person in the circle would start a tune, play it 3 times then the next person would carry it through to another tune and on it went around the circle. This way you never get wrapped up in playing the same old tune sets. Instead you are forced to play on the fly, which I think makes you a better player and certainly adds some spice to the session.

This week we’ll see what the session holds. What do you think makes a good session?