00:00 Introduction to Irish Traditional Music Sessions
01:21 The Meaning of Music Sessions
04:32 Camaraderie and Community in Music
07:07 The Role of Listening in Sessions
10:27 The Evolution of Irish Music
11:54 The Importance of Singing in Sessions
14:27 Dance and Music: A Traditional Connection
16:55 The Transition from House Dances to Sessions
20:12 The Growth of Music Sessions in the Northwest
22:02 The Impact of Paid Sessions
25:15 Guidelines for Beginners in Sessions
29:05 The Art of Listening and Sensitivity
32:27 The Balance of Ego in Music
36:29 Finding Joy in Music
38:53 Navigating New Sessions
43:00 Respect and Manners in Music Sessions
47:19 Successful Sessions for Beginners and Advanced Musicians
50:52 The Essence of Music and Oneness
54:56 Final Thoughts on Music and Community
Conversational Transcript
*[This is an edited conversational transcript, lightly shaped for readability while keeping the spirit of the original conversation]
What does an Irish music session mean?
Tara:
Maybe to start off with, what do Irish music sessions mean to you?
Mairéad:
The whole thing with the session is camaraderie. It’s coming together. It’s community.
Within that community, you don’t even have to talk. You play the tunes, and after playing a session with someone, you seem to know them.
It’s like making friends, but not through language, through music. That’s our language.
Tara:
That’s so true. I’ve often said that I have very good friends through music, but if someone asked me basic things about them, I mightn’t know all that much. And yet the friendship feels deep.
Mairéad:
Exactly. If you’ve had a good tune with someone, you’ll never forget it.
You never forget the feeling they give you in response to your music, and your music responding to them. It’s another level of conversation.
And Irish music sessions have this agelessness. You could have a 90-year-old, a 60-year-old, a 40-year-old, a 20-year-old and a 12-year-old all sitting in the same session and you’re all friends.
When I started playing music, most of the people playing were older men. But I didn’t feel they were old men. They were just musicians. Music keeps your mind young.
Sessions are a conversation, not a set list
Tara:
Have you ever had sessions that stuck in your mind, either for something very positive or something more negative?
Mairéad:
Most of what I think of is positive, especially playing with people I admired so much. The first time I ever played with Séamus Ennis, for instance, or Tommy Peoples, those heroes of my world.
But I remember being outside Ireland once or twice and arriving at a session where someone handed me a list of tunes to be played, the chords, and how many times each tune would be played.
To me, that’s not a session. That’s someone being very organised. But it’s not what I’d call a conversation.
A session has to be flexible. It has to be organic. It has to breathe.
If you want to play a tune a hundred times because it’s building into something, play it a hundred times.
And when someone decides exactly what chords should be played with a tune, sometimes that takes away the creativity too.
Tara:
It’s funny, because when I’m playing in a session, I love putting my own chords to the tune. Sometimes I like when there isn’t a guitar player there, so I can do that myself. And then other times I love when there is a guitar player, because they’ll come up with something else.
Mairéad:
You’re of this newer era where chords have become part of traditional Irish music.
Before that, I don’t think the older fiddlers would have heard chords in the same way. Harmony wasn’t really part of what we were about, although some tunes do lend themselves beautifully to harmony.
But that’s why the melody structure of Irish music is so strong. The melody has to stand on its own.
Some newer tunes now are based on chords, and if you play them without the chords, they don’t sound as melodic. That’s the way things evolve. But our music was always based on beautiful melodies.
That goes back to the song tradition too. The melodies are so strong. Our dance music is based on strong melodies.
Why songs belong in sessions
Tara:
As a singer as well as a fiddle player, how do you feel songs fit into a session?
Mairéad:
I think songs give the ear a different kind of rest from the tunes.
I come from the perspective of loving both, I love playing tunes and I love singing songs. If I see a singer coming into Hudaí Beag’s, for example, I always want to hear them sing.
Songs inspire me. And after people listen to a song, they listen to the next tune with a new ear.
To separate tunes and songs completely is wrong. That’s not how life was. That’s not how our music was.
I know some people nowadays say, “I hope nobody sings a song.” But guess what? They’ll listen to your music more if you let someone sing.
It’s like a sorbet in the middle of a meal. It cleanses your palate. A song cleanses your ear so you can hear the melody again.
Dance music should have dancers
Tara:
Maybe the same applies to dancing. I love when there’s a session with music, singing, and then a couple of dancers get up for a highland or a reel.
Mairéad:
I agree. We’re playing dance tunes all the time, so why play a reel and not have someone dance?
It is dance music. Playing dance tunes purely for listening is actually a newer phenomenon.
My father used to tell a story from when we first started sessions in Hudaí’s. He’d go up to the bar to buy a drink, and the old men would be standing there chatting. They’d say, “All that music going to waste, and not a dancer.”
That’s how they heard it. All those reels, jigs, hornpipes and highlands and no dancer.
The older people at the bar remembered house dances, where the music was for dancing. Nothing else.
From house dances to pub sessions
Tara:
Did the session grow out of the house dance environment?
Mairéad:
The house dance was one part of it. There were musicians like the Dohertys whom people would listen to because they were so agile and amazing.
But the house dances began to die out with the halls, and then later with electricity, radio and television. The focus in the house changed.
In my father’s house in Cois Cladaigh, people used to come together in the evenings. Around here they didn’t really say “ceilidh-ing”; they’d say cuairteacht. People would come in, read the papers, discuss the state of the world, have tea, tell a story, sing a song, or play a tune.
Then television arrived, and that became the focus for a while.
The first session in Hudaí Beag’s happened around the end of the 1960s or early 1970s. A crowd of students came from Carndonagh with Father Jack Gallagher, and they stayed in local houses. Dinnie McLaughlin was with them as fiddle player.
After their lectures every day, we started going down to Hudaí Beag’s Bar, and music started. Other musicians arrived too. That’s how the session thing started here in the northwest.
Then it became huge. In the summertime, you couldn’t get into Hudaí Beag’s. They had to put people on the door.
Tara:
Were the musicians being paid?
Mairéad:
My father made a pact with Hudaí first, and then with Kitty, that we wouldn’t be paid. He wanted us to own our music.
He said, “Your music is yours.”
It’s not that we were rich or anything. But Francie always said your music is yours, and it’s an art form that you own.
Tara:
Do you think being paid can affect the session?
Mairéad:
It can. I’ve seen sessions where someone is paid to play for two hours, which can be great for young students. I’d encourage that.
But sometimes, as soon as the two hours are over, the instruments are packed away and that’s the end. You clock in and you clock out.
I never looked at music like that.
Listening is the most important skill
Tara:
A lot of adult learners want guidelines for getting into sessions. Some have experienced the magic of a good session, but don’t know how to recreate it.
Mairéad:
As beginners, what we did was sit in. If we knew the tune, we played it. But we listened.
Listening is a skill that a lot of people don’t practise anymore. When people play an instrument, all they want to do is play. But part of learning is becoming a discerning listener.
Even with a tune you’ve heard a thousand times, there are always exciting, magical things to hear from different musicians.
Listen. Listen. There isn’t enough listening.
Our tradition is oral and aural. You learn by ear. You listen. You let it seep in. Like a good wine, you let it distil for a while.
And sometimes it comes out differently.
Ego has no useful place in a session
Tara:
What about joining a session? Waiting for your tune to come up, not forcing yourself into the middle of it?
Mairéad:
Your ego isn’t the important part here.
As children, we often have that feeling of “listen to me play.” But part of maturing as a musician is learning to control the ego.
The musicians I find most impressive are usually the ones who sit and listen to the newcomer, and ask them to play. There’s a generosity of spirit there.
They know that person is dying to play. So they let them play a tune, or sing a song, or dance.
But you also have to let go of ego. We all have egos to some degree, but we have to learn how to control them.
Sometimes the silences are important too. Stay silent and listen. You might think, “I’ve heard that tune before,” but then ask yourself, “Have I ever heard it played like that?”
The beauty of subtle variation
Tara:
That’s what I love about Irish music. It’s improvisation, but it’s so soft.
Mairéad:
Exactly. I always think of the Book of Kells. It looks symmetrical, but if you look closely, you couldn’t fold one side over the other and have it match perfectly. There are all these tiny differences.
The variations in Irish music aren’t supposed to be, “Wow, that’s a variation.” They’re supposed to be subtle. It’s a non-spoken thing.
Tara:
I remember learning that the best innovations in the music were the subtle ones. Maybe I learned that from James Byrne.
He played Cailíní Deasa Ard an Rátha in a class in Glencolmcille, and he played it almost the same way round after round. Then he turned one little note around once, and I remember thinking, “Oh my God. Do that again.”
Mairéad:
That’s the class.
It doesn’t have to be, “Wow, did you hear that?” Sometimes you only notice it when you listen again. Less is more.
Nowadays, I hear a lot of musicians putting in big variations because they feel they have to, especially for competitions. Personally, that’s not me. To me, it can mess up the music. The tune gets lost.
How children fall in love with the music
Tara:
At what age did you listen to the music and think, “I’ll do this for the rest of my life”?
Mairéad:
I was late starting, about ten, when my father bought fiddles for me, Gearóid and Anne.
At that time, I didn’t hear anyone my own age playing. That’s how rare it was.
Then I went to Dublin with my mother for a Comhaltas committee event. I saw young musicians there, Paddy Glackin, Mary Bergin, Micheál Ó hAlmhain, Seán Montgomery and they inspired me because they were young.
As soon as you see someone your own age doing something, you think, “I could do that.”
I came home and the fiddle didn’t stay in the case after that.
Tara:
For me, it was similar. There was a weekend in Gaoth Dobhair when I was about sixteen. I remember seeing the fun ye were having and thinking, “Oh. I could do this for the rest of my life.”
Mairéad:
You have to make it playful for children. You have to show them that this can be your life, and it’s fun, and it’s beautiful.
There’s a serious side, but children have to enjoy it.
Should you join the session or listen?
Tara:
When I walk into a session, I often ask myself: “Can I benefit this session?” Or would I benefit it more by sitting at the bar and cheering it on?
Sometimes that’s what the session needs more than another fiddle.
Mairéad:
If there are already ten people playing, are you really going to benefit the session? Maybe it would be better to be a listener.
But if you go into a place and the musicians see you and invite you in, I would definitely sit down.
To me, the ideal session is about five or six people. Then you can have a conversation. You can ask, “Would you play that tune again?” You can pick something up. There’s a flow.
In bigger festival sessions, there can still be great camaraderie. But when there are four or five people and you can hear everyone, it’s fantastic. You can ask where a tune came from. You can hear the story behind it.
My father always chatted with people. “Where are you from? Where did you learn to play?” That matters. It makes a stranger feel invited.
If you feel pushed out, ask why
Mairéad:
People sometimes say to me, “I went to a session and I was pushed out of it.”
That goes against session etiquette. It should be welcoming.
But you also have to ask: why were you pushed out?
Were you taking over the session? Was it a new session for you? Did you come in and start playing tunes they didn’t know? Did you ask if you could join?
There are basic manners.
If someone starts a tune after another tune and your tune doesn’t take off, that’s fine. Play whatever the main tune is. Don’t take it personally.
Tara:
It’s about the good of the music at the end of the day. If people start thinking it’s about the good of themselves, it affects the session.
Mairéad:
Exactly. Ego is selfish in that situation. Irish music is based on respect for each other.
Respect, manners and sensitivity
Mairéad:
If it’s a session you’re not part of, stay quiet until you’re asked to play. Or play the tunes you know. Be part of it. Enjoy it. Listen.
If you like a tune, ask the name of it. Ask if you can record it. Go home, learn it, and maybe come back the next week with that tune.
It has to come down to respect and manners.
Tara:
Do you mind people recording if they ask?
Mairéad:
No, if they ask. A lot of people record anyway, but it’s better to ask.
Tara:
That’s how I learned a lot of tunes. I had a little Sony Walkman and I recorded sessions. When I was a student in Cork, the bus journey home to Donegal took about eleven hours, and I’d listen to those recordings the whole way.
I mightn’t have known the names of the tunes, but I was learning them.
Mairéad:
That’s how it builds gradually. Later, you can ask someone, “What’s the name of that tune?” But even if the name doesn’t stay in, the music does.
What does a successful session look like?
Tara:
What does a successful session look like for a beginner musician, and for a more advanced musician?
Mairéad:
For a child, a successful session is being part of something central. They need encouragement. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí: praise the youth and they will blossom.
But the praise has to be genuine. Children know when it isn’t.
For a musician who can play a few tunes, it’s about using a bit of cop on. Don’t take over the session if it’s one you’re not used to. Even if you are used to it, your turn will come.
Tara:
I’ve had adult students sit in on sessions where the session was buzzing. It didn’t matter whether they started a tune or not. They were carried along by the energy.
Mairéad:
It’s like a surge. A wave. You play better, and you don’t even know how.
You might think, “I don’t know this tune,” and the next thing, you’re playing it.
The sacred place where the ego disappears
Tara:
This whole project is about helping people feel that buzz. We know how good it can feel, but some people haven’t felt it yet. Others have felt it but don’t know how to recreate it.
Mairéad:
It’s like a drug. It’s the feeling of forgetting who you are and becoming part of the whole.
You can’t distinguish between yourself and the instrument. You can’t distinguish between yourself and the others.
It’s like Myles na gCopaleen, the atoms become part of the bicycle and the bicycle becomes part of the man.
That’s when the highest part of music happens. You get this incredible wholeness and oneness. I think that’s a sacred place.
Sometimes it happens in a moment. That moment where there’s no you and no me. It’s just the music.
You’re flying high, and there isn’t a worry in the world.
Advice for someone afraid of joining a session in Ireland
Tara:
What advice would you give to someone who has played a bit, wants to come into a session in Ireland, but is terrified of doing something wrong?
Mairéad:
Go in and sit down. Have your instrument with you.
Somebody might say, “Are you playing?” or “Are you going to play?” Or they might not take any heed of it at all.
Do it in a sensitive way. Don’t go in blazing all around you. To me, that gives the wrong impression.
Take out your instrument. Sit. Listen.
If you know the tune, play. If you don’t know the tune, don’t play.
Enjoy the conversation. Tell them who you are. Ask the name of a tune. If you like a tune, say, “That was lovely. What tune is that? Where did you get it?”
Make it a conversation first.
Gradually, they’ll get to know you and you’ll get to know them. It’s a sensitive, respectful way of starting.
Tara:
And it can be a slow process.
Mairéad:
It can. Or you can go deep into it, depending on your own sensitivity.
Irish people can be a bit standoffish until they get to know you. We hate boasting. We can’t stand it. So don’t come in saying, “I can play this,” or “I know that tune.”
Just be respectful.
Favourite combination of instruments in a session
Tara:
The final question is from a previous guest: what is your favourite combination of instruments in a session?
Mairéad:
That’s like being in a sweetie shop.
But I have to say I’m biased towards flute and fiddle. I think they complement each other beautifully.
The flute has that sustained tone, and the fiddle has the string sound. They blend very well.
I think of Fred Finn and Peter Horan, Tommy Peoples and Matt Molloy, those gorgeous combinations of musicians playing together.
Frankie loved the flute, and he was very interested in making the flute work with the fiddle.
The older wooden flutes weren’t always perfectly in tune with modern pitch, so flute players had to adjust, and fiddle players could manipulate their sound to match. Somehow, the fiddle and flute combined beautifully.
So yes, flute and fiddle is perfect.
This conversation with Mairéad became the perfect beginning for In Tune with Tradition.
Again and again, we returned to the same themes: listening, respect, sensitivity, humility, and the mysterious thing that happens when a group of musicians becomes more than the sum of its parts.
A good session is not just about playing tunes.
It is about reading the room.
It is about knowing when to play and when not to play.
It is about making space for songs, dancers, stories, children, visitors and silence.
It is about letting the music be bigger than your own ego.
And, at its best, it is about that moment Mairéad described so beautifully: when there is no you and no me, just the music.
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https://www.mairead.ie/
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