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.

NOTE: Julie will miss the sessions of 11/23 and 11/30 due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Next session: Sunday, 11/23/08, 3:00 to 6:00 pm

Open session.

Visit the Tunes page to learn about tunes of the week, taught on teaching days.

Slow jam review 4:00-5:00: From now on we'll have a real slow jam until 5:00. The purpose 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. Look here for the list, which will change every 2-3 weeks. Send me your requests for tunes that you want to review.

The Boys of Ballysadare*
The Repeal of the Union*
Con Cassidy's*
The Frieze Breeches*
Walter Sammon's Grandmother*
The Cricket's March Over the Saltbox*
The Chattering Magpie*
The Corner House*
Hewlett
The Hare in the Corn*
The Slopes of Sliabh Luachra*
Dan Breen's*
Cregg's Pipes* / Thady Casey's* aka The Star of Kilkenny
Maud Miller*
The New Copperplate*
Temperance Reel*

Next Irish set dancing class: Friday, November 7 at 6:30 pm (dancing starts at 7:00)

This is a lot of fun—good 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 Friday (or sometimes Saturday) evening 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, a form of dancing that is fairly new to the Triangle area. And, it's fun and good exercise--for the body and the brain. 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 various 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.

Next Raleigh Scottish Fiddle Club session: See schedule below

Fiddle club is on vacation for the summer.  It will meet up again in September. Here are the upcoming dates:

Sunday, November 9
Sunday, December 7

Note: the new dates are Sunday afternoons 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.