Session Obsession

Sometimes the simplest tunes are the hardest to learn.

Take Katy is Waiting for example, a traditional Irish jig, and the 3rd tune in my series of 52. The tune is simple enough because there is a nice call and response to it, and it’s pretty repetitive as far as the melody goes. Learning the dots of this tune is easy. However, making it sound pretty and giving it that lift so people want to dance to it, I found to be quite the challenge. Here’s why:

• There are some long notes that just call for a roll or a double stop. But you have to be careful because you don’t want to lose the jiggy-ness of it by playing too long of a note. A jig is a dance after all, and you don’t want to screw up the dancers’ rhythm.
• Throughout the tune there are short notes that are so short they could be switched out for a roll or a longer note and/or double stop. You have to be careful of not leaving them out all the time though so you don’t lose the essence of the tune and start inadvertently changing the melody.
• There is also plenty of room for cuts, and little variations that as a player, you really have to make some choices not to overdo it with too many.

On the plus side, the tune is fun to play, easy to learn and sounds pretty happy. Here is my version of Katy is Waiting:

Tune in next week for tune #4 from A Tune A Week. Happy playing!

---

Join the mailing list and get A Tune A Week delivered to your inbox. Just add your email address to the box on the right (I don’t share my email list with anyone). Or join the conversation on our Facebook group and Instagram.