Well it seems a good time to put in my two small copper coins' worth. As someone who enjoys both singing and playing tunes, I will continue to haunt both types of session. I was aware that some people thought that Sunday's Nellies session was a bit more 'tuney' than usual. Nothing wrong with that, I think. I just hope that we don't get divided into two camps.

I think that we're really in agreement here. Maggie probably wouldn't go to the Hase for instance, as she enjoys singing sessions most, but she is working on her guitar accompaniments and whistle playing in the hope that she can play a full part in a tune session in time.

I really enjoyed the only time I went to the Hase, although we were short handed that night. I will be back.

Of course, my favourite is accompanied singing. It's great for a singer to get quality accompaniment at a session, and so my tip to anyone who wants to sing at a session that normally has mostly tunes is to sing the kind of song that can be accompanied in a key that the musicians can play in. It might help if the song and the key and the fact that instrumentalists are invited are announced before. Hopefully the musicians will understand that accompanying doesn't just consist of playing the tune, and will play to support the singer. It also helps if the singer chooses a song with a well-known tune and has a voice that can carry above the instruments. And it goes without saying that Ossonflags has these attributes in spades.

And if you're a tune player that has wandered into a mainly song session, tell the people about your tunes. Hopefully that will make people more interested in listening and less likely to talk over them. You're including them as listeners, you see.

The Friday Kingston session will continue to be tunes and songs and everything else that goes along with it. But that session will always depend on who turns up.

I have tried to be helpful here, from the position of someone who has a foot in both camps. I'll get off this soapbox now before it collapses under the weight of my words.

Les