Point taken but tune players go to tune sessions to participate. The whole point is to make music together and not (in the better ones) to take turns to do one's party piece.

If you attend you will (hopefully) be encouraged to join in. There is in truth no real need for an audience and you would not be turned from participant to audience, as it would be your choice not to play. If you don't like this set up, you do the right thing in not attending, rather than trying to change it. For there are many that do think that the people at these sessions are just waiting for them to turn up and sing.

Some singers who are used to 'taking their turn' simply do not understand the difference when they encounter a tune session, but are generally treated well when they insist on kindly 'giving us a song' and turning willing participants into an audience. And then having the bare-faced-cheek to complain if any of the instruments join in.

Of course bad manners are not confined to singers but I do not accept some singers often expressed views here that some have that they are an oppressed and misunderstood minority group. I believe that the fault and intolerance is largely with singers who don't play instruments and I have no real idea why they are so intolerant.

I do apologise if I am beginning to sound equally intolerant, but if mixed sessions were so sucessful in the UK, why the need for the Wareham Wail or events that specifically exclude instruments?

I have never been at a tune session where a song was stopped or a request to sing one refused..... Well no, I remember one occasion. It was at that point that I left the session.