Jon W.

Thanks for your idea for slowing down tunes on the computer. I never would have thought of that. My students will find that especially useful and it means I don't have to record tunes at extra slow speed for them.

As for playing in Irish Trad sessions: Knowing vast amounts of tunes is all very well but if you are not used to playing in sessions it probably won't be all that useful. Sessions are noisy (well they are over here anyway) and you can barely hear yourself. You can usually hear the bodhran or the pipes better than you can your own instrument (I play fiddle). Also people in sessions tend to play tunes much faster than you expect them to be played. Sometimes the tunes are variations of tunes you may find in books or on recordings.

When I started playing at sessions I knew very few tunes. I persisted in attending sessions and gradually I picked up a few on the way. I continued to learn tunes at home but I found that I only consolidated my knowledge of those tunes once I played them in sessions. What many people do is put a wee tape recorder on the table of a good session and learn tunes from them later. The problem there is you don't know the names of the tunes. However you find that most players only know the names to a fraction of the tunes they play.

Certainly learn tunes at home but try and get to as many sessions, as regularly as possible. Listen to lots of tapes/cd's of tunes and totally immerse yourself in the music style. There are no easy ways to learn to play but it is worth the effort. There is no better feeling than when you lead a set in a session and everyone plays your tunes!

If you really are interested in learning Irish tunes in particular, find a festival - even come over this side of the Atlantic and go to some of the West Ireland festivals. There are usually classes all day and sessions all day and all night for the alcoholic insomniac.

Slan,

Laoise.

P.S. it has been a long time since i last replied to a thread - nearly a year - hello to all my old friends and pleased to see you still submitting. Apologies for my absence!