Sorry. Pressed the button too early.

I also wanted to say that if you want to accompany traditional music you need to really get to know it. I listened to Irish traditional instrumental music for nearly 10 years before I tried to accompany it and I started out playing it by playing for dancers. If you've just been sitting in a pub belting out the Fureys' greatest hits or the Christy Moore songbook for a few free pints or if you play bass in a rock band and you've been to a couple of sessions and just fancy having a go, then I'm sorry, but you just aren't likely to be up to it.

Irish music is a skill and an area of study. You need to do the homework. That means listening to other stuff besides guitarists or bass players. For a guitarist it's a bit like learning a language. When you can start to think and respond in the new language without translating what you've heard into your first language and then formulating a reponse and in turn translating that into the new language, you're starting to get it.

The problem is that most guitarists and bassists tend to think primarily in folk or rock terms and so they don't really get Irish music. What you are aiming for is to become an Irish traditional musician who happens to play the guitar or bass as opposed to a guitarist or bassist who plays in a traditional session from time to time. Unless you are prepared to at least aim for that, my advice would be 'don't bother'. This is not music for 'dabblers'.