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A pub session (seisiún in
to record the singers in the Eel's Foot pub in Eastbridge,
The
thesession.org
– Information about sessions worldwide.
UKSessions.net
– Music session in the UK.
The Tradition of the Pub Session
Music events Drinking culture Irish culture British culture Manx culture Folk music venues Pubs
A pub session (seisiún in Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
; seisean in Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
; seshoon in Manx Gaelic
Manx ( or , pronounced or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the historical language of the Manx peo ...
) is performing music in the setting of a local pub, in which the music-making is intermingled with the consumption of ale, stout, and beer and conversation. Performers sing and play traditional songs and tunes from the Irish, English, Scottish and Manx traditions, using instruments such as the fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
, accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
, concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front.
The ...
, flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
, tin whistle
The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...
, uilleann pipes
The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...
, tenor banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
, guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
, and bodhrán
The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or othe ...
. Some sessions have dancing too
History
Singing and consuming alcohol have been practised together from ancient times, but the written evidence is fragmentary until the 16th century. InShakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''Henry IV'', Hal and Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
discuss drinking and playing the "tongs and the bones". There are depictions of pub singing in paintings by Teniers (1610–1690) Brouwer (1605/6-1638) and Jan Steen
Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour.
Life ...
(1625/5-1656).
1800 to 1950
The 1830 Beer Act abolished the levy on beer and within a single year 400 new pubs opened and within 8 years there were 46,000. The number peaked in the 1870s and declined after 1900. By the 1850s, an increasing number of student songs and commercial song-books were published across Europe. The most famous was the ''Scottish Students' Song Book'' byJohn Stuart Blackie
John Stuart Blackie FRSE (28 July 1809 – 2 March 1895) was a Scottish scholar and man of letters.
Biography
He was born in Glasgow, on Charlotte Street, the son of Kelso-born banker Alexander Blackie (d.1846) and Helen Stodart. He was ed ...
(1809–1895). The mixture of traditional songs with hints of erotic humour continues to this day. The Irish tradition also benefited from the compilation of O'Neill's ''Music of Ireland'', a compilation of 1,850 pieces of Irish session and dance music, published initially by Francis O'Neill
Francis O'Neill (August 28, 1848 – January 26, 1936) was an Irish-born American police officer and collector of Irish traditional music. His biographer Nicholas Carolan referred to him as "the greatest individual influence on the evolution of ...
(1848–1936) in 1903.
One of the most popular drinking songs, " Little Brown Jug," dates from the 1860s. By 1908 Percy Grainger
Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...
had begun to record folk singers, but not in their natural habitat—the pub. In 1938 A.L. Lloyd
Albert Lancaster Lloyd (29 February 1908 – 29 September 1982),Eder, Bruce. (29 September 1982A. L. Lloyd - Music Biography, Credits and Discography AllMusic. Retrieved on 2013-02-24. usually known as A. L. Lloyd or Bert Lloyd, was an English fo ...
persuaded his employers at the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
.
At The Eel's Foot, 1939–47, the songs performed included: "False Hearted Knight", "The Dark-Eyed Sailor", "The Princess Royal", "The Foggy Dew", "Underneath Her Apron", "Pleasant and Delightful", "The Blackbird." Surprisingly, one of the songs was "Poor Man's Heaven" an American IWW song (Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
), dating from about 1920. The oldest singer there was William "Velvet" Brightwell (1865–1960). In 1947 the BBC made more recordings there and broadcast them as "Anglia Sings" on 19 November 1947. Almost all of the participants were in their 50s and 60s. Six years later the first folk club opened in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, and the average age was in the 20s.
Instruments
The fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
has predominated since the 17th century. The melodeon
Melodeon may refer to:
* Melodeon (accordion), a type of button accordion
*Melodeon (organ), a type of 19th-century reed organ
*Melodeon (Boston, Massachusetts), a concert hall in 19th-century Boston
* Melodeon Records, a U.S. record label in the ...
became popular in the 1890s. By the 1950s the accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
took over, particularly in Scotland. By the 1960s the guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
was the instrument most frequently heard in a pub. Nowadays so many people can afford instruments that ensemble playing is the norm. Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
tunes are popular, even in England, however English music is enjoying a large revival currently, due in part to 'new-folk' artists playing traditional English music, such as Bellowhead and Eliza Carthy. Some people go to folk festivals simply in order to play along with others in the beer tent.
Choosing an instrument
Each session has its own informal rules as to which instruments are acceptable and in what number. Some sessions may have a strict "'traditional' instruments only" rule whereas others will accept anyone who shows up to play with any instrument. The word ''traditional'' is used loosely as sessions themselves are a relatively recently revived phenomenon and some instruments considered 'traditional,' such as thebouzouki
The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...
are in fact relatively new to the genres played at a session. It is wise to ask about what is expected at a particular session before bringing a non-'traditional' instrument.
Generally there can be an unlimited number of fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
s, flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
s, accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
s and tin whistle
The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...
s. The bodhrán
The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or othe ...
is common in Irish sessions, but many sessions prefer that only one person play the bodhrán at a time. Uilleann pipes
The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...
are common in Irish sessions, but the more commonly known Great Highland Bagpipe
The Great Highland bagpipe ( gd, a' phìob mhòr "the great pipe") is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the Great Irish Warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British milit ...
s are never used in a session, because they drown out other instruments. Mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
s, banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
s, cittern
The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...
s and bouzouki
The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...
s are welcome in moderation. Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
s and dulcimers
The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments.
Hammered dulcimers
The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of th ...
are frequently allowed in sessions without strict "'traditional' instruments only" rules.
Etiquette
There are "open sessions", when anyone who wishes can play, and "closed sessions", where the playing is restricted to a group. The general rules are fairly simple, but depend on the kind of session. In general, pub sessions are not places for learning an instrument. It is expected that those taking part have attained competence in playing their instrument. Some sessions are wholly instrumental while others will engage the crowd with singing. It is customary to introduce oneself to the other participants before joining in. There will usually be a leader or oldest member who sets the tone and keeps the session running smoothly; often leader(s) do not appear to be leaders at all. Occasionally, even the leaders of a session may not realize that they lead. Practically, however, there are always leaders at a session, by the nature of human dynamics. Some sessions follow a round-robin structure, others have a more free-for-all approach, and the leader(s) of a session should be observed to see how this particular session is run. Due to freeform nature of the session, there is always an element of serendipity and there is an atmosphere of anticipation and an expectation of tolerance from all present. It is frowned upon when one openly criticises people who know only one song or only a few tunes. Sessions are occasions to be enjoyed by all participants, and if others are accepted members of the group, it is not up to one person (other than the leaders of the session) to decide that they are not welcome.Legal considerations
In England and Wales theLicensing Act 2003
The Licensing Act 2003 (c 17) is an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act establishes a single integrated scheme for licensing premises in England and Wales used to sell or supply of alcohol, provide regulated entertainmen ...
came into force in 2005. It could be interpreted as meaning that any performer would be obliged to give prior notification to police, fire brigade and environmental health. Following much lobbying by various groups, the law settled down to allow "spontaneous" events and religious events. License
See also
*Folk clubs
A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk r ...
* Irish traditional music session
Irish traditional music sessions are mostly informal gatherings at which people play Irish traditional music. The Irish language word for "session" is ''seisiún''. This article discusses tune-playing, although "session" can also refer to a singi ...
* List of public house topics
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
{{Commonsthesession.org
– Information about sessions worldwide.
UKSessions.net
– Music session in the UK.
The Tradition of the Pub Session
Music events Drinking culture Irish culture British culture Manx culture Folk music venues Pubs