My input is based on my experience as both an amature musician, and an Irish person who grew up in Dublin, but has lived in various European countries since 1985, currently living in Berlin Germany.

There are in general two types of sessions, one which tends to be "hierarchical", and into which you must be accepted over time, and another type which is generally "free form", which if you can identify it as such, is very welcoming and a wonderful playing experience.

The sessions I call hierarchical, tend to have a leader who calls the shots. They are usually male dominated, as pointed out in a previous message, and in my experience rather "snobbish" and often also in my opinion rather boring, as they do not provide freedom of expression for all the participants. In these sessions, you have to earn your place, and they can be rather intimidating for new joiners. Often these sessions are run in co-operation with the proprietor of the bar/venue, and one or two "leaders" may be paid a basic "retainer". I personally hate these sessions.

The sessions I call "free-form" often grow out of one or two people wanting to explore their music with others, and find a sympathetic venue. They will happen with or without an audience, and the musicians tend to be focussing on each other, rather on performing. These sessions may start with one musician, and tend to be very fluid and dynamic, so that new people come, and old people go over time. THe session itself often migrates around the locality (my experience is always in cities, so you often find these type of sessions start in one pub, and six moths later move to another pub for all sorts of reasons - sessions may also split, if a "clique" developes, and the more "free-form" oriented members get pissed off if the session starts to become "hierarchical". I personally love the social and musical expericences of these types of sessions.

I hope the above discuorse is vaguely interesting to the people who have partaken in this discussion.

Regards,

Colin Manning (colin@ework4.com)