Session Obsession

A Tune A Week: #2

Christmas is creeping closer—lights going up, cookies appearing on counters (unless you have a puppy like mine), and that familiar mix of excitement and mild panic settling in. So it felt like the perfect moment to revisit a tune that captures that same swirling spirit: Christmas Eve.

If you’ve been around my blog for a while, you probably remember that I posted this one during a previous Tune of the Week run. And yes… I’m posting it again. Some tunes are just too good to leave behind, and this one has been tugging at my sleeve ever since. Relearning it felt like catching up with an old friend—one who talks fast, laughs loud, and keeps you on your toes.

Christmas Eve is not the easiest fiddle tune to learn. It’s a three-part tune with a ton of room to play. Each part has its own feel, which makes it a playground for ornamentation. Rolls? Absolutely. Bow-crossings? Everywhere. Triplets? Go wild. There’s something about the structure that invites you to lean in and let the tune sparkle a little differently every time you play it.

As I’m working through my Tune-a-Week challenge for December and the year ahead, this one felt like the right early pick: festive, energetic, a little bit mischievous, and full of possibilities. Consider this your nudge to pick it up too—and if you’ve learned it before, maybe let yourself rediscover it like I did.

And on a side note, this tune pairs beautifully with “The Drunken Landlady,” which happened to be Tune #1 in this series. If you’re looking to build a mini set, these two flow into each other with that perfect mix of lift and drive.

Here’s to week #2, to Christmas on the horizon, and to tunes that never quite let you go.