Rich has a point. The last session I attended turned out to be a tunes session. I had my concertina with me, but I'm mostly a songs performer (on the concertina, definitely), so I kept it in its case. As the evening wore on, a couple of the "regulars" got curious about what was in the box, so I whipped it out (oo-er, missus, etc) and gave them a couple of English dance tunes, telling them the key, etc., in case anyone fancied having a crack a joining in.

Wouldn't have felt comfortable bursting into song, cos it was a tunes session. Their gaff, their rules, innit.

This said, anyone who goes to a singaround most probably knows that it's going to involve, er, singing around a room.

My own preference is for a mixed session, with tunes, songs and stories, with everyone getting a crack that wants to. Perhaps I cut my musical teeth in a very "civilised" kind of session (more than 20 years ago -- bloody hell!), but even when I was "giving them a tune" on my melodeon, no-one used to join in on that if it was a "solo spot." (Possibly I was so crap no-one had any idea what I was supposed to be playing).