Session and Related News

There is almost always a session at the pub on Sundays, so do come if you're in town and want to play some tunes, sing a song, dance, or just listen. Look here for what's happening at the next session, cancellations or changes, guest musicians, and upcoming events.

See the Home page for the monthly schedule.

Next session: Sunday, 1/11/08, 3:00 to 6:00 pm (2nd Sunday)

Open session.

About teaching sessions (1st and 3rd Sundays)

At teaching sessions, we focus on learning a tune and reviewing tunes taught at past sessions for about 1/2 the time. We play the rest of the time.

Learn a tune from 3:00-4:00. Visit the Tunes page to learn about tunes of the week, present and past.

Slow jam review 4:00-4:30: The purpose of the slow jam is to build a solid body of tunes and medleys together. This way, at a moment's notice, we can pull together a group of musicians to play for events at the pub or elsewhere.

During the slow jam, we will only play the tunes that have been taught at session. Everyone plays the melody so that we can really focus on the tune. If you weren't there when the tune was taught, now's your chance to pick it up. It's a different way to learn and some people like this better than breaking tunes down, the way I teach. However, if after a few tries you're not getting most of the tune and if your playing is detracting from the overall quality, please drop out. We are in a public place, and although we're learning and playing slowly, we want our music to sound as good as possible for the pub patrons.

We'll work on tunes taught in the recent past, or neglected along the way. The list will be posted and change monthly. Send me your requests for tunes that you want to review. Note: Until St. Patrick's Day, we'll review the St. Patrick's Day Set List.

Session playing 4:30-6:00: Play for fun, round-robin style, reasonable tempo, to give everyone a chance to start their favorite tune(s). Please refer to the guidelines for session etiquette if you're not already familiar with the infamous "Rules".

Irish set dancing classes: (Fridays) Jan. 16, Feb. 6 at 6:30 pm (dancing starts at 7:00)

This is a lot of fun—good exercise for the body and the brain! Thank you, Judith and Charlie, for hosting this very special part of our Irish music and dance community.

General Information: Learn to dance Irish sets at this gathering hosted by Judith and Charlie Muse. Taught by Allan and Tricia O'Sullivan, or Judith when Allan and Tricia can't make it, it's a unique opportunity to learn from masters of set dancing, which is a form of dancing that is fairly new to the Triangle area. Even young folks enjoy it. Email for directions and other details.

•NOTE• The dances are accompanied by live music, thanks to Mara Shea, Alison Arnold, Charlie Muse, Ted Margeson, and others!!!

Don't know what set dancing is? Read about it. Watch this video. Check out this youtube video of one of the dances we learned.

Raleigh Scottish Fiddle Club

Note: the club meets one Sunday afternoon per month from 3:00-6:00ish.

Monthly meeting where a tune is taught followed by sight-reading from multi-part tune collections. Not just for fiddles. Visit here for more information, or contact Blaine for details.