Irish Music Session

crappy phone pic in low light

notice how Sunshine has turned herself so she's not facing the patrons

When Irish musicians get together to play, it's called a session. I have no idea why, but it is.

Sunshine's fiddle teacher organized a session for the kids last spring as an alternative to the traditional recital, and she'll be doing the same thing this spring.

The Irish music school we're involved with holds weekly adult sessions (Mr M has attended once or twice, but his skills aren't quite up to speed, literally), but there hasn't been anything for the kiddos.

One of the teachers (my whistle teacher, among other things) decided that needed to change, and has organized a monthly kids' session.

Last week was the first meeting, and despite the cold temps and piles of snow everywhere, we went (though I did contemplate staying home in our warm house). Others were more easily swayed by the bad weather, and only one other girl and the teacher showed up. Despite the small group, they were able to play several songs together and have a good time.

I could tell Sunshine was nervous (she hasn't had a lot of experience playing in front of others), but she did a good job and soldiered on. The advantage of these sessions is that they're held at an Irish pub, so everyone's busy eating and the music is just in the background. Some patrons pay attention, but it's not like the performers are being stared at on a stage.

One elderly couple who knew the other family that participated were kind enough to give the girls a tip, which they thought was so cool. Their first paying gig! Ok, barely paying, but still :) It left them with an upbeat memory of the experience. Sunshine can be a bit negative about experiences that she's not completely comfortable with, and those few dollars pushed her to the positive side of things. We're looking forward to next month to see who shows up and who knows which songs.