Traditional Singing Sessions

The Irish session is a delicate and occasionally thorny creature. Curiously, there is one aspect of traditional music that is both integral to, and simultaneously overlooked: songs. Songs are the beating heart of traditional music in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, etc.

For me, my introduction to this music was through the songs. I was very fortunate early on to have two phenomenal Irish singers, Niamh Parsons and Fran McPhail, stay with me when I was in my early twenties. I learned so much, not just about singing, but the tradition itself; a song is given, like a piece of one’s own personal history, and should be cherished as such.

Not every Irish musician needs to be able to sing, but for those people who love this music but don’t play tunes, a session can be a bit alienating. To that end, and under the auspices of the Celtic Arts Foundation, I am starting a monthly singing session with the hopes of making space for the singing tradition here in the Northwest. This will be a time for folks share and more importantly learn songs.

We will be singing unaccompanied. This prospect can be tremendously intimidating at first, but understand that this isn’t a talent show. It’s not a competition. You’re not being judged. It’s also not a performance.

The freedom that comes with singing sans accompaniment (or a cappella, if you like) is very liberating and gives you the latitude to explore a song from the inside out.

‍A few questions you may have:

‍• How do I sing without accompaniment?‍

Give it a try! Singing in the shower is a practice as old as time and unless your shower is much bigger than mine, you don’t have a piano or a guitar in there. It’s basically the same thing, just…not in the shower.

• I don't sing in Gaelic; can I still sing at the session?‍

Definitely.

• I'm not sure I'm ready to sing; is it okay if I just listen?

Absolutely! Listening is the greatest tool we have at our disposal when it comes to this music. Listen for as long as you like, and if you find yourself inspired to give it a go, you'll be welcome. If that day never comes and you only listen, you'll be playing just as important a role as the singers.

• Can I print / hand out lyric sheets?‍

Ideally, the answer is no. Part of singing at a session is obviously the singing, but it’s also the sharing of songs and raising our voices in kind. When you commit a song to memory and internalize it, it takes a very different shape than one you’re reading off a page. The relationship becomes more with the piece of paper than finding nuance in the song.If your song has a chorus that you’d like people to join in on, give them the benefit of the doubt that they can learn it after you take a chorus on your own. And what a great chance to train your ear!All that being said, I know time is precious and everyone learns differently, so maybe a cheat-sheet can be tolerated. But at least do your best to have the words in your head before singing it at the session. The training wheels have to come off at some point!

‍• I don’t have a Scottish/Irish/English accent; can I still sing these songs?

‍The debate over singing in your own accent versus the accent of the land from whence the song came is indeed one that rages and will likely continue long after I’m gone. I always like to remind people that folks have been singing in accents other than their own for generations.Robert Plant did not sing in his West Bromwich dialect with Led Zeppelin. The Beatles did not sound like Liverpudlians (Polythene Pam leaps to mind as a notable exception). Gillian Welch grew up in Southern California, far, far from the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina, but you don’t hear people giving out to her for faking an accent. I could go on.As long as you’re respectful of the culture and don’t do a terrible parody, or sing in a pirate voice for no particular reason, saying 'me' instead of 'my' isn’t being appropriative.

‍• Can I record?‍

Yes, if you do it respectfully. Meaning, don’t post it to social media. No to video entirely. Like I said, for many people, singing unaccompanied will be a new muscle that will need to be exercised without the added pressure of a camera in their face, and not knowing if it will be published without their consent.However, recording to your phone because a certain song spoke to you and you’d like to take it home and learn it should be fine with most singers—just be sure to ask. Better yet, ask the singer to teach it to you sometime! The point of these gatherings is to be social and hopefully bond over a shared love of this music.

‍• I don’t know any Irish/Scottish/English ballads; can I just sing an Allman Brothers* song?‍

American Old Time songs often share so much DNA—or are often the same songs that evolved in the American south—that they can make their way into a singing session without being overly disruptive. But the opportunities for singing traditional songs are very few and far between; let’s keep to traditional songs for the nonce.(*I just used The Allman Brothers as an example; I’m not hating on The Allman Brothers in particular.)

‍• I wrote an Irish ballad-style song; can I sing it here?‍

Within the tradition, there are literally thousands of songs, songs that have been shared from singer to singer for aeons. So let’s spend some time exploring the songs that inspire us a while before we start trying to add to that canon. Writing songs that reflect your region is an excellent endeavor, but this may not be the right place to share them.

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