and I’m feeling terrified at the very thought!
Luckily it’s not a public, open session - it’s at my teacher’s house - but it’s with people I don’t know and I’ve never played in front of anyone else before.
Does anyone have any tips? And ideas on how to keep the nerves at bay and my fingers from tying themselves in knots? Or how to stop myself going completely blank?
I’m really hoping that I’m going to love it once it over…. 🙂
I’m sure you’ll love playing sessions, it’s great fun I especially enjoy the intimacy of house sessions.
Some general tips;
- Get acclimatized before starting your own set, first get a feel of the atmosphere and what everyone else is doing
- Do start your own set though, at least one, yes it’s scary at first but you only get better at it when you do it more often.
- Play tunes that others know, it’s by far the easiest when you can drop a note and hop back in because the others are still playing.
- Have fun, enjoy! All you’re doing is having a good time with like minded people, there are many worse things in life.
Don’t be embarrassed about being nervous - everyone’s been there.
Most of all, just look forward to the buzz you get from ‘locking in’ with other players. It might not come easy at first, but the more opportunities you take to play with others, the quicker you’ll get there.
Have tons of fun! Do listen a bit first to get a feel for the session. Pick a set in advance that you know quite well and that they are likely to know too. I’m still at intermediate level, but having my favorite set handy has really helped me participate when going around to other sessions. You’re not performing in front of them, you’re playing WITH them!
Don’t worry if you don’t know too many of their tunes, either. There are tons of tunes out there and each session has their favorites, though some are more commonly known than otheres. I played less than a handful of tunes when I went to my first session (and that’s a generous estimate… it was probably more like 1.5), but it was still great listening, and as time went on I ended up playing the whole night.
Most importantly, enjoy lots!!
Thanks for the advice 🙂
Actually, it hadn’t even occured to me that everyone’s nervous at first and “been there, done that” already! What a dimwit.
And the bit about the “not performing” - thanks for that CatMurphy as that’s what I’ve been thinking. I’ve been manically trying to play every tune I’ve ever learned and not really getting very far! So I’ll now concentrate on a couple of sets that I know well, just in case I’m brave enough 🙂
Thankfully my teacher has put a few reel sets together for me to practise so I know I’ll be able to do those at least….
Maybe your teacher taught the others too, so you’ll know some of their tunes! Just join in and enjoy your self!
Hope you have a great time, playing, and listening. Playing music with others is a life enhancing thing (that can be very frustrating sometimes!)
It’s a house session you’re going to, but bear in mind the spirit of this comment from Himself, (then known as EnDaC) a while back,
https://thesession.org/discussions/38095#comment774197
Sound advice there from Himself - I think I’m definitely guilty of over-thinking this!
I’m now veering between looking forward to it and pure fear. I’ll definitely enjoy the listening part though so I’ll focus on that bit 🙂
Will let you know how I get on (and thanks again)
While a session is a bit like the battlefield where your skills are tested, it’s not a performance, at least not as if you were to play the same tunes on stage, in front of an audience. (Which is also why I prefer sessions more than gigs - spontaneity itself is challenge enough).
It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than this:
-Hey, do you know [tune #1] and [tune #2]?
-Yeah, the first one, I’m not sure about the second, how does it start?
-♫♪♫…
-Perfect, let’s play those two.
Have fun!
“Whitty1” - best of luck, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Please do let us know how it goes.
have fun!
Don’t drink too much…at first
All I can say is I bet you’re going to have a tin of fun -- and I am so envious! Where I live I will probably never get the opportunity to play in one. I guess I’ll will just have to live vicariously through the rest of y’all. Cheers!
Go, have fun.
Patrick, I thought there was a session in Lubbock.
Frank, you’re correct there is one in Lubbock. But it’s nearly 2 1/2 hours away, which makes it difficult to try and attend. My goal is to get good enough and stop in one day when I am up there. I may try and round up a local group here in the Permian Basin, though at this point I only know of one other member of The Session who is from Midland.
I played at my first session in November, but went in October just to scope it out and got some sage advice from some of the ol’ session vets. Might not work for everyone, but for me, being quite the music newbie, it made sense.
1. It’s perfectly okay to sit out tunes you don’t know or can’t keep up on. No one is going to judge you for not playing - especially if they know you’re a newbie - but they sure will if you try to play tunes you don’t know.
2. If they play a tune you kinda know but aren’t 100% sure on, listen the first time through, play quietly the second time through and, if you’re feeling confident that you know it the third time through, go balls-to-the-wall.
3. Relax and have fun!
I was super nervous at first, having only been playing 6 months when I played the first time (I had no intentions of playing at a session so soon, but several of the players encouraged me to give it a try as the first hour is done as a slow/beginner session, and one guy offered to work with me a bit if I show up half an hour early) but luckily this particular session is pretty relaxed. I’m the kind of person that would be perfectly content to sit on the outskirts, jump in on the few tunes I’m confident I can keep up on, and just enjoy listening the rest of the night, but they have welcomed me into the group and even insist that I occasionally start a set…and no one minds at all if I start the bog standard newbie hornpipe set of Off to California/Boys of Bluehill/Harvest Home. (Yes, I have a few other sets that are pretty solid, and several more I’m working on for this month, but for my first time I was really nervous and needed the kind of tunes I could play in my sleep!) Hopefully you’ll find your session to be just as welcoming and have a great time!
Firstly, have a great time! Secondly, should you get to start a tune, ease into it. Even if it feels a bit too slow at first. When I was first venturing out into the session world with my handful of tunes, it took quite a bit of nerve for me to start one all by myself. When I did, I foolishly allowed myself to get swept up in the tempos of the other, more experienced players and kicked off my tunes way faster than my skill level at the time. Disaster. Ease into your tunes and they’ll find a nice comfortable pace all on their own. Enjoy!
And since this is your first time at a session in a relaxed, friendly environment, it’s probably ok to ask someone more experienced to start a tune after yours if you run out of ideas. (even at our intermediate, advanced sessions friends will ask others to do it occasionally).
Just enjoy it! I still get nervous from time after 5 years sessioning.
Spend time introducing yourself as a person and just getting to know the other people. Like any social gathering, it takes time for people to warm up. A lot of musicians are introverts, so it might even be weeks or more.
Playing with friends is kind of what it’s all about.
OK Whitty1… how’d it go?
Been at least 12 hours…
I guess she’s allowed a nap … ;)
Wow! So many comments, thank you all. It was a late night and I’m an early-to-bed type so I went straight to sleep when I got in so didn’t update last night. Anyway…
It went really well. It was small; there were only 4 of us so it wasn’t too intimidating. My teacher had taught the others previously so it was quite easy and relaxed. I couldn’t drink as I was driving but I tend to get worse after a drink so that was probably a good thing!
I hadn’t realised that it was going to be a steadier type of session so I had no trouble keeping up which was nice. I managed to play most tunes and didn’t disgrace myself at all (thankfully!). I even started off a couple of sets!
I’m the sort of player that stops as soon as I go wrong and then start from the beginning again, so I was worried about that. Having played last night though, I’ve realised I can do it. I might not be able to at full pace yet, but I know that I can do now. So that’s boosted my confidence a bit 🙂
So all in all, it was a success and I am really glad I went. And thanks to your encouragement yesterday, I went looking forward to it instead of dreading it. So thanks to all of you. My teacher is planning on another one in a couple of weeks with some better players so I’ll go to that one to get a taste of a more “normal” paced session and see how that goes. Then who knows? I may even venture in to public at some point!!
Cheers all 🙂
Glad it went well. You’ll be ready for the Old Road Tavern at the end of May! 🙂
I don’t know about that TomB-R. That is a mighty fast session!
Patrick, I thought it took most people in your neck of the woods a half hour just to get to the end of the driveway, so I didn’t think Lubbock would be too far to go. I’m likewise a little to distant from any regular session, so I know how it goes.
I grew up in Hawaii. I remember rooming with a Texan on a 4H event as a kid though. His dad was a rancher out in West Texas. He was impossible. He’d brag, “We can get in the truck and drive half a day in any direction and still be on our own property!”
Don’t worry, I told him.
“Oh yeah? Well, we have TWO trucks like that, brah!”
LOL! You tell ‘em Jason! Actually if the kid’s dad were to ever hear him brag, he’d give him a talkin’-to. Most ranchers around here don’t like to even hint to others about how much land they own. Kind of a personal matter to them. Frank you got me chuckling, as well. As we like to say around here, “You have to drive a long way to get anywhere around here -- that’s half the fun of getting there!” Truth be told you are partly correct. A couple a year’s back we attended a big chin-dig at a ranch a few hours away. They actually had a band famous for playing “Texas Swing” come out to perform for the dance -- a group by the name of Asleep At The Wheel. We followed the directions to the ranch gate and entered the ranch. And we drove down a dusty ranch road for nearly half an hour before we reached the ranch house. As the old Bob Wills songs says: miles and miles of Texas. Whitty1, I sure am glad you had a fun time. Congratulations on your first session!
I would drive a very long way indeed for a chance to see Asleep At The Wheel!
I have only been playing at sessions, open mics and jams etc for a couple of months. I was extremely nervous at first, but once you get past the nerves I found it to be a tremendous buzz to be playing. Go ahead and do it. You won’t regret it! 🙂
You know that bit you said about stopping if you make a mistake and going back to the beginning ? Imagine if you did that while playing for a dance - a good skill is learning to come in again if you’ve flubbed a bit of the tune, without messing up the rhythm and timing of the others, so the tune apparently continues seamlessly. Only you need know, unless you point it out to others by trying to go back to the beginning.