The Irish Session on Wednesday was a good one and although only 6 sessioneers turned out, half of them are very good melody players with large repertoires.

An idea was mooted which I think is very good. It is designed to help beginners and the less experienced by devoting some time to a particular set or sets to get the tunes right and the changes familiar.

Thursday was normal. Aided by the lovely Heather, we apparently played 75 tunes in 2 hours.

An American girl from Indiana came along and brought her fiddle but didn’t get a chance to play anything. With a stock of Appalachian tunes, it would have been interesting to hear. Maybe next time.

Some nice English tunes were played, but I wish we would lay off the Irish. It somehow doesn’t work with the particular set up at the Bear and I feel I’m fighting the other instruments which are by and large in lumpy English mode. We also take many tunes far too fast or they get speeded up. Some tunes can handle this – Trumpet Hornpipe and Fairy Dance being two. Some tunes just get all out of shape and ugly and unmusical.

Mind you at the other end of the scale, some tunes drag too slowly because of where they are in a set, so striking a happy balance is quite an art.

Sunday night is the Unicorn at Bekesbourne for Irish minded sessioneers. Or if there are very few, any sessioneers.