April 27, 2022
Above: Musicians share tunes at the Great Session Experience, part of Minnesota Irish Music Weekend.
A session is a time and place where musicians and music-lovers come together to enjoy traditional Irish music in a social context. Musicians sit in a circle with their instruments while listeners gather around to chat, listen and encourage the musicians.
Sessions are usually led by one or many strong musicians who keep the music flowing by starting tunes, inviting players to start their own sets and by playing great music themselves!
At an Irish session, you’ll see fiddles, flutes, whistles, concertinas, banjos, accordions, uilleann pipes, bodhráns, guitars and sometimes even piano, mandolin, or hammered dulcimer! Singers are often asked to sing, so if you have a song, you might just have to share it!