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Thread: Set lists for sessions?

  1. #1
    Mediocre but OK with that Paul Busman's Avatar
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    Default Set lists for sessions?

    Does anyone know of a website with suggestions for sets of tunes to be played at sessions? The Session tells which tunes are sometimes played along with a particular tune but that's only a bit of help. What I'm looking for is sets of two or three tunes ready to go. At sessions, I'm good for suggesting one tune I'd like to start,but usually at a loss to suggest other tunes to follow it.
    If anyone has favorite sets of their own, feel free to post those.
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    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    I've seen a few lists of tune sets played at sessions online, but I don't think they're very useful, because every session can be so different. Most of the time I see set lists where I might know one or two tunes, but others I don't know, or have never heard of. Especially older, more established sessions where the members are tired of playing "standards" and are always shifting their repertoire into new (and often more obscure) material.

    Anyway, if you're not dealing with an existing session repertoire, and looking to put together a few sets for those "give us a tune" moments when attending a new session, then I think looking at recordings of individual artists and bands is a good approach. Many of the sets on the Bothy Band and Planxty albums have become somewhat iconic, played as complete sets in many sessions. That's usually a safe choice.

    You already know about the "recorded together with" feature on thesession.org, but I'll mention it anyway because I think it's actually pretty useful. For those have haven't tried it, it works like this:

    Start with a tune you know and want to play in a set like "The Butterfly" slip jig. Look it up in thesession.org tune database, and check the area labeled "recorded together with" for other tunes you might know. In this case, I see "Kid on the Mountain" is there, and it's a tune I know. So I click on that link, and it takes me to a list of recordings with those two tunes together. Then I click on "Kid on the Mountain" and it shows me recordings together with that tune. One of those is "An Phis Fhiliuch" which I know. Okay, so now I can put together a set of slip jigs as a starting point to see how they work together -- "The Butterfly"/"Kid on the Mountain"/"An Phis Fhiliuch".

    Obviously this isn't foolproof because sometimes tunes are jammed together on band recordings and don't work that well, and it only works if you do know the tunes listed. But in a traditional genre like this, it's at least a starting point for assembling sets.

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    Yarrr! Miss Lonelyhearts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    The Foinn Seisiun books and cds thru Comhaltas are a decent place to start--straightforward settings of widely played tunes arranged in common sets.

    If you have a local session, listen to what tunes and sets are common there. Some sessions don't keep tunes in the same sets from one night to the next, but some do. Either way, if you hear a set you like, learn it--no one will fault you for bringing it back to the session.
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    Unfamous String Buster Beanzy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    The Kingston Irish Tune Book organises them in sets by type, which is handy until you know them well enough to mix & match to your own tastes.
    https://www.scribd.com/document/2387...Irish-Tunebook
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    Mediocre but OK with that Paul Busman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    Anyone here play sets of a jig and reel version of the same tune at a session? My myself I like to play a nice leisurely version of The Spicy (jig), followed by The Clumsy Lover as fast I can reasonably play it. They're jig and reel versions of the same tune. I just printed a jig version of The Star of Munster, but haven't had a chance to play the jig and reel together.
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    You could do The Road to Lisdoonvarna as a jig, then as a slide.
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    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    I've been working on the "Welcome Home Gráinne" set that runs the same general theme through march, jig, and reel. Composed by John Doherty, I believe. That's a fun one. Haven't got it down well enough to bring to a session yet (still need to work up the reel).



    Generally speaking as far as sessions go, I think it isn't very common to hear tune rhythm transitions like this in a pure drop Irish session. It's usually jig sets, reel sets, etc. Rhythm transitions are more of a Scottish and Cape Breton thing (march/strathspey/reel). Or in the case above, the Scottish music influence in County Donegal.

    That doesn't mean you shouldn't try introducing a few like this to a local Irish trad session, because every one is different. There is a great "lift" in the rhythm transitions with sets like this. In a stage performance, it's a good way to get a "Whoop!" out of the audience when the rhythm goes from jig to reel.

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    Registered User Randi Gormley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    there are some standard sets everybody knows, of course, the Coleman set being the most obvious example: Tarlbolton, Longford Collector and Sailor's Bonnett (and the call to Free the Tarlbolton Three!) . A lot of people I've hung around with play the Home Ruler followed by Kitty's Wedding as a hornpipe set. Boys of Blue Hill and Harvest Home is another hornpipe set that nobody plays any more because it was so done to death that it dropped out of fashion, but they're both good hornpipes .. the Ballydesmonds 2 and 3 are a polka set that everybody knows and likes and you get extra points if you know No. 1 because few people do ... and Merrily Kiss the Quaker and Dennis Murphy for slides, although I can never remember which goes first ... there are some sets that are put together because of their titles. We have one called "the elopement set" which runs Haste to the Wedding, Saddle the Pony and Off She Goes. There is one that includes I Buried my Wife and Danced on her Grave as a divorce/murder set but I don't know the other tunes, alas.

    I have a couple sets I like/have put together that seem to do well when I'm called on to start a set: Garrett Barrys, Cliffs of Moher and Mug of Brown Ale for jigs, and Golden Keyboard, Man of the House, Woman of the House for reels.

    My group has numerous sets we've created over the years and I can toss a couple of the set names at you if you're interested, but the other suggestions are way more universal than what we play even though many of our sets were put together from the old recordings back in the day.
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    I, too, have an ambition to someday play with other people and have also explored what are some of the essential Irish tunes I should learn before trying to sit in at a session. There are so many tunes that it's hard to know where to focus. Here's one list I came across that I would encourage those in the know to comment on:

    Top 25 Irish Session Tunes

    1. Drowsy Maggie
    2. Kesh Jig
    3. Butterfly
    4. Cooley's
    5. Silver Spear
    6. Morrison's Jig
    7. Out on the Ocean
    8. Maid behind the Bar
    9. Connaughtman's Rambles
    10. Banish Misfortune
    11. Harvest Home
    12. Blarney Pilgrim
    13. Rights of Man
    14. Musical Priest
    15. Banshee
    16. Wind that Shakes the Barley
    17. Mountain Road
    18. Boys of Bluehill
    19. Lilting Banshee
    20. Lark in the Morning
    21. Cliffs of Moher
    22. Star of Munster
    23. Merry Blacksmith
    24. Kid on the Mountain
    25. John Ryan's Polka

    I know this doesn't really address the issue of how to put together sets of tunes, but I first need to just come up with a solid set of commonly played tunes.

  11. #10
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Randi Gormley View Post
    there are some standard sets everybody knows, of course, the Coleman set being the most obvious example: Tarlbolton, Longford Collector and Sailor's Bonnett (and the call to Free the Tarlbolton Three!) .
    Free the Tarbolton Three!!!

    I love the Tarbolton Lodge reel, but the other two are not that great (IMO). Every Irish trad musician must study the Coleman recordings for a good historical grounding, but that doesn't mean we have to replicate every set he recorded with that gawdawful piano backing as if it's locked in amber.

    The way I get around that -- but it only works in Scottish/Cape Breton sessions -- is with the Buddy MacMaster set from "2003 "Cape Breton Tradtition": Hughie And Janet's March - Warlocks (strathspey) - Tarbolton Lodge (reel)- Alistair Hunter (reel).

    Those are all smashing tunes, well worth learning, and you can't argue against anything Buddy did in a Cape Breton context. But sadly, it won't work in an Irish session that can't handle marches and strathspeys.

    Edit to add: I think Tarbolton Lodge is even a Scottish tune, for all that. Named, I believe for a Masonic Lodge founded by Robert Burns. It was hijacked by the Irish!

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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    Don't be afraid to experiment with putting together your own sets. As has been said, it is safest to stick to one tune type (rhythm) within a set - a set of jigs, a set of reels etc.. But more or less any two or three tunes of the same type are fair game - there's no right or wrong. Some work better together than others, or are easier to link together, but much of this is subjective. There's certainly no harm in learning tried-and-tested sets from recordings, books (e.g. the Foinn Seisiun series, as suggested), your local session - it will help give you a feel for how tunes fit together. But try also working with your existing repertoire, putting tunes together randomly (or systematically, if you prefer ;-) ) until you hit on something that sounds and feels good to you. The most important thing is that you can make one tune flow into anotherwithout losing the rhythm.

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    Registered User Randi Gormley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    Scott, that list will get you pretty much set for the first hour in the sessions around my neck of the woods. fwiw
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    Mediocre but OK with that Paul Busman's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    I find that Julia Delaney and Star of Munster have a similar feel. Has anyone tried these together? I've tried them and found the transition difficult,Julia to Star or vice versa.
    I tried Langstrom's Pony and The Mooncoin Jig at a session, but they were so similar the people,myself included kept mixing up the parts
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    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Randi Gormley View Post
    Free the Tarlbolton Three!
    We have done that. It turned out that everybody was just sitting out Tarbolton and Longford, bored to death and only waiting for the reviving power of Sailor's. Instead, the Bothy Band set Salamanca/Banshee/Sailor's Bonnet is being played.

    Apart from that, several colliding standard sets which share one common tune are always around. Playing one set can punch a hole in another (if you follow that rule of never playing a tune twice). Just make sure to play your set first.
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    Registered User Randi Gormley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    Someone I know does Langstrom's Pony with Saddle the Pony (yes, a pony set); someone else plays Gravelwalk into Julia Delaney. you might try that.
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    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Randi Gormley View Post
    someone else plays Gravelwalk into Julia Delaney. you might try that.
    I know Gravel Walks as the maximum frenzied state a session can achieve. Playing anything behind that can hardly muster any additional afterburner qualities - or so I'd expect. I play Julia Delaneys after Congress.
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    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    One local house session plays "Tuttle's" (another D dorian reel) ahead of Julia Delaney's. "Porthole of the Kelp" might work too.

    I agree with Bertram about "Gravel Walks." It's hard to follow that one with anything else that isn't equally spectacular. I checked the recorded examples I have, and when The Gravel Walks appears in a set, it's the last tune in 4 of the 5 examples I have. And the outlier was a Scottish group, so that doesn't count.

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    Registered User Randi Gormley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    that explains it -- the fiddler who follows gravel walks with julia delaney tends toward scottish and cape breton (we tell her she was taught by wolves) when she has her druthers. i like the idea of congress and julia delaney. i'll have to suggest it!
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    Registered User Tim N's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    I got into the Irish music scene by attending 3 weekend workshops over a 2 year period, which were open to near-novices through to experienced players. I always attended the "ensemble" workshop, playing rhythm bouzouki, where the emphasis was on learning how to build sets that work well. Originally, I barely knew any tunes, so I was glad just to follow along, but later I overcame my reservations and joined the local slow session. I took up mandolin, primarily as a way to properly learn new tunes. Now that I have about 50 tunes that I can play off by heart (although I don't play mando in the session - yet...) I sometimes find myself naturally moving from one tune to another, and putting together the odd private set - which I find is good practice for developing melody-playing stamina.
    The workshops encouraged us to think creatively about building sets. Alongside the technical criteria of time signature, tempo and key to help your choice, there are also the artistic criteria of mood, tension, flow, the overall experience from start to end, etc. etc. We were encouraged to dare to think beyond over-obvious groupings of similar tunes. At the same time, you don't want to annoy people with changes that really grate.
    So although I'm not offering any set suggestions, I am saying that we are all qualified to think about putting together our own, using the resources we have, and that this is a good thing to do, even if only in a small group initially.

    Well alright then
    , I'll suggest a polka set. It may not be very original in terms of the above, but everyone likes to let rip once in a while - we certainly do!
    So, 1)"Egan's Polka" 2) "Rattling Bog" (both in D), and 3)The Britches full of Stitches (in A)to round off.
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    Registered User DougC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    I have a number of really cool sets, that I've devloped over the years, but I'm not sayin'. Wink, wink.

    Also 'over the years' I've learned some common sets from the local masters at our session. And I suppose everyone learns from their session 'leaders'.

    I like to learn what my session does, more than taking a set from another source. I'll play what people know and introduce maybe one rare tune at a time. The point (for me), is to play tunes that people know so we can play together. And for a brief time later in the evening 'cut loose' with some obscure, ripping tunes. But only if people are in the mood for a 'show'. (Maybe everyone knows this, but it bears repeating).

    If someone visits from another town, for sure I'd note what they are playing. And nowadays one can even learn sets from recordings that they have made. If I know that 'so-and-so' is visiting, I'll work on some of her/his recorded tunes. They appreciate the 'gesture' and I'm certainly keen on learning from them.

    How about a B minor reel set?
    Otter's Holt / Musical Priest / Sweeney's Buttermilk reels
    Last edited by DougC; Aug-31-2018 at 12:36pm.

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    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    We have a Bm set, too: Jenny's Chickens, Musical Priest, Superfly. There seems to be no way around that paradoxically musical priest...
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    Registered User DougC's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bertram Henze View Post
    We have a Bm set, too: Jenny's Chickens, Musical Priest, Superfly. There seems to be no way around that paradoxically musical priest...
    Superfly? Please explain. But Jenny's Chickens may be a good addition to Otter's Holt / musical beast / Sweeney's Buttermilk

    (Not the Curtis Mayfield tune from the 1970's I hope.)
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    Last edited by DougC; Aug-31-2018 at 2:17pm. Reason: time warp to 1972
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    working musician Jim Bevan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    It's probably the classical influence in my musical development, the way that the first movement of a symphony or sonata is often the "biggest" of the set – I usually start my sets with a 3-parter, an AABBCC tune, which somehow just feels right, feels balanced.

    I also tend to go "up" in key signatures, meaning that they increase in the number of sharps (or decrease in the number of flats). Hmm... to be more specific ('cuz I'll go from a D major to an A mixo-lydian tune, or vice versa), I at least usually don't go "down". I also try to go from obscure to common, so that more players join in as the set progresses. The combination of the two "rules" means that the jigs Darby Gallagher's or Inver Bank, lovely as they are, never get played.

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  27. #24
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    Quote Originally Posted by DougC View Post
    Superfly? Please explain.
    Written by Kevin O’Neill of "The Treacherous Orchestra," often played together with Taybank Shenanigans. Killer tune with fun syncopation, played in the following clip but not quite that fast in local sessions:



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    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Set lists for sessions?

    That Game of thrones tune Rain of castlemere? Not sure if that's the right spelling or tune?

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