I will admit to a couple of biases, and begin by saying I am a singer who backs a trad based band on guitar.

First off, about seisuns. Most players at these events think that fast is good. They completely misunderstand the subtlety and simplicity it takes to be a great player. And when they jump in with a singer many of them are trying to force the tempo beyond where the singer wants to take it. And let me digress for a moment. If someone were so rude as to start a different song while I was singing, they might never play again. The other thing that folks forget about jigs, reels, hornpipes, etc, is that after about 30 to 45 minutes, they are much more fun to play than they are to listen to. As a musician, I just absolutely love playing them, but when I am in a concert setting, I space them out.

Having said those things, let me tell you that singers are just as egocentric and maybe more so. I have seen singers come into a seisun that they knew to be a tune seisun and try to take it over. It seems to me that one should be aware of one's surroundings, and understand the environment that one is playing in.

So .......   isn't this really about not being rude? Pay attention when you walk into a seisun, and observe what's going on. Whether you are a singer or a tune player, when you walk into the room take some time to know what the protocols are there. Oh ... yeah .... and don't forget that you shouldn't try to play tunes you don't know. Don't you just hate it when someone sits there and consistently hits wrong chords or notes?

Mick