What a Session Really Is

A folk session is a group of musicians sitting in a circle — usually in a pub corner, sometimes in a back room or a village hall — taking turns to lead tunes and songs. There is no stage, no set list and, more often than not, no amplification. Someone launches into a reel, three or four instruments join in, and the thing runs itself for as long as the players are enjoying it. The repertoire is largely instrumental dance music: jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, waltzes and the occasional slow air, with songs threaded in between. Instruments vary by region — fiddle, whistle, flute, melodeon, concertina, banjo, bodhrán, pipes — and the guitar sits underneath all of it, providing the harmonic floor.

That last point matters. In most sessions the guitar is a supporting instrument. Your job is to make everyone else sound better, not to be heard above them.

Listening Comes Before Playing

The most useful thing you can do in your first few sessions is play less. Sit at the edge of the circle with your guitar on your knee and simply listen. Learn where the pulse sits: a jig is in six-eight with a lilting, lilting swing, a reel is in four-four and drives forward, a hornpipe has a dotted, slightly jaunty bounce. Feel how the melody players breathe together before you attempt a single chord.

• Find the key first. A quiet "what key is this?" to your neighbour is fine. Guessing loudly is not.
• Count the structure. Most tunes are AABB — two eight-bar parts, each played twice through before moving on.
• Track the repeats. Listen for the lift at the end of the B part that signals the set is coming to a close.
• Watch the leader. A nod, a raised foot or a lifted bow tells you when to come in and when to stop.

Session Etiquette

None of this is written down anywhere, which is precisely why newcomers find it daunting. The rules are simple, though, and they all come back to respect for the tune and the people playing it.

• Don't start a tune you cannot finish cleanly. A short set played well beats a long one that falls apart.
• Don't noodle between tunes. Silent gaps are fine; aimless strumming while someone tunes up is not.
• If you don't know the tune, lay out for the first time through and join in quietly on the second.
• Never play over a song unless the singer invites you. Many songs in sessions are unaccompanied, and that is the point.
• Keep time steady. Don't accelerate, and don't drag the tempo back to where you'd find it comfortable.
• Have something ready when your turn comes round. A tune, a song, or a polite "pass, thanks".
• Don't announce your mistakes. Play through them and keep the pulse going.

Choosing Chords and Keys

Two chords per bar is plenty; one is often better. Folk tunes move quickly, and a simple, well-timed change lands far better than a busy progression. Fiddle-friendly keys dominate: G, D, A, E minor, A minor and E dorian. A capo is your friend here — capo at the second fret and play G shapes to sit comfortably in A, or capo at the fourth and play C shapes to land in E.

Think about voicing rather than volume. Partial chords, two-note shapes and open strings allowed to ring will blend with a melodeon or a set of pipes far more gracefully than a full barre chord. Take care with the third in the bass when fixed-pitch instruments are present; they have their own tuning and yours will clash. In dropped D or DADGAD, resist the urge to drone through everything — those tunings are wonderful for airs and songs but can smother a fast reel.

Repertoire Worth Learning

There is a core of tunes that turns up in sessions the length and breadth of the country. Learn a handful properly rather than dozens half-heartedly, and learn them by ear where you can. Slow a recording down, take it phrase by phrase, and sing the melody before you touch the fretboard.

• Tune types: a couple of jigs, a couple of reels, a polka, a waltz and one slow air will see you through most evenings.
• Songs: two or three you can deliver confidently in a key that suits your voice, ideally ones the room already knows the chorus to.
• Chord vocabulary: D, G, A, E minor, B minor, C and F, plus the modal shapes — A minor, E minor, and the mixolydian feel of a flat seventh.
• Set structures: know how two or three tunes link together so you can lead a set rather than a single tune.

Gear, Volume and Settling In

A small-bodied guitar — a parlour, an 000 or a small dreadnought — travels well and sits in a session mix far better than a big rosewood beast. Bring a clip-on tuner and use it with the mute engaged, a handful of medium picks, and a capo you trust. Leave the amplifier at home unless the organisers have specifically asked for one.

Position yourself where you can hear the melody instruments clearly, usually just outside the inner circle rather than in the middle of it. Use fingerstyle for airs and songs, and a light flatpick or thumb-and-fingers approach for dance tunes. Watch your dynamics: pull right back under a singer, sit out entirely during a solo fiddle air, and dig in only when the whole room is belting out a chorus.

Finally, remember that a session is a social occasion with music attached. Turn up regularly, learn the names, buy a round when it's your turn, and stay curious about the tunes you don't yet know. That is how a newcomer becomes a regular — and it is a far better route in than any amount of practising at home.