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As ever, sound advice from Jill.

Regarding bouzoukis, this isn't the first time this question has come up. Can I refer you to this thread? :

It generally had some useful advice, I think.
...

my instruments are just "the OM", "the ETG" and "the RTG". There is as much (or as little) gender as in "R2D2" or "C3PO".

No gender. My Auden is called Auden, and as I have an Auden guitar too, it's sometimes called Auden mando (I know that mando is frowned upon in some circles, but I'ma free spirit). My Mike Black is...

I attend the session in question on a regular basis. It's a great, welcoming session. Please do not speculate about the character of the session. I have contacted the OP privately, and I'm happy...

nope, nope, nope....

no genders or names, please!

(well, I guess Jeff Mando is OK...:cool:)

I don't feel my mandolins have a gender, they are mandolins and I call them by name, the Brentrup, the Unicorn, the Gibson, etc.

Mine's an it. It's little, and its a Gibson Junior A, so its named Junior.

Two things about this have always seemed fairly evident. First is that men frequently express affection for, dote on, and even caress objects that they possess such as instruments and vehicles, and...

Interesting viewpoint from Peter Hill's camera on Alec Finn's technique on selected tempos.


https://youtu.be/zaiXZ-7uPdA


https://youtu.be/8olCCYFJVHw


https://youtu.be/7aVgDnI5cEA

https://youtu.be/ApIcSGLVJM0


https://youtu.be/KM9fRqjrJfs


https://youtu.be/mLggonHZn6M

Back in 2011, the amazing Zoukfest team, superbly led by Roger Landes, had Greek trichordo specialist Alec Finn over again to demonstrate his unique style, accompanying the top Irish banjoist Brian...

When I first started getting into the mandolin, I saw a lot of videos with F-style mandos and was at first enamored with the scroll. "Wow, fancy." But then I realized that I like the sound of oval...

Always good to get different perspectives on triplets, quadruplets, quin… and then make up your own mind. Here’s one:


https://youtu.be/FXnQ5l-Qo1A?feature=shared
...

You could say, I’ll be arriving in Europe in November if that’s what you intended to say. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom

The UK is not now part of Europe, while Ireland is in...

And you can tune a 4-string tenor guitar to the same tuning as the tenor banjo, which would also be the same tuning as the 8-string octave mandolin.

Learn one, you've learned three. ;)

Tenor banjo?

My experience of visiting Temple Bar in Dublin (not especially looking for a session, basically a tourist) was very disappointing. Pub gigs with very predictable repertoires.
Personally over the...

Ah, bummed I won't see you, Jill! Maybe you'll make it down to Ennis during the week to say hello?? Would love to see you!

Lots of great advice here, and I'm glad you've got a mando and booked on Marla's course.

All I would add, is that in my limited experience, there are different types of session in Ireland, which...

When you practice do you stop and “correct” any clams you play? DON’T DO THAT! If you stop when you practice you’ll train yourself to stop when you play. Play through your errors, keeping the feel of...

Tony Williamson put this video together for a seller who had no experience shipping a valuable instrument. We thought it was well done and had great information that it should be available to all for...

Read and re-read Jill's response (#19) and Beanzy's (#21). Enda Scahill has some mandolin material on his site that you might want to check out.
Have fun with it and enjoy your trip!

From that list I'd probably only bother with;

Donnybrook fair
Banish misfortune
Fig for a kiss
Foxhunter's
Going to the well for water
Ballydesmond polka
Toss the feathers
King of the...

Busy weekend. I've been taking note of everyone's excellent advice, but haven't had a chance to weigh in.

I'm in a learning environment, so there are mixed abilities among all the instruments,...

I want to urge the OP to read carefully Jill's post #17 in this thread. It is very well organized, well-written and full of good advice from someone who has been playing traditional Irish music and...