In Tune with Tradition - Perspectives on Session Etiquette in Irish Traditional Music

Belfast flute player and uilleann piper Harry Bradley joins Tara to talk about why an Irish music session is not a free-for-all, even when it can look like one from the outside.
Harry describes the session as a “benevolent meritocracy”: there may be no boss, but experience, repertoire and the people who know and shape a particular session still matter. He talks about learning from older musicians, sitting into unfamiliar sessions, when not to start a tune and why newcomers can learn a great deal by taking a more passive role at first.
They also discuss what happens when you cannot keep up with the pace, the difference between practising at home and what you learn by playing with other people, paid sessions and noisy pubs, and Harry’s experience of focal dystonia after years of pushing to be heard.
Harry’s advice to newcomers is simple: sit in, suss it out, listen and tip along. The session is not happening because of you. It is a mutual thing.
More about the podcast and Session Etiquette: https://www.sessionetiquette.com

In this episode of In Tune with Tradition, Tara chats with harper Janet Harbison at the Donegal Harp Summer School in Dungloe.
Janet has spent a lifetime around the Irish harp, but this conversation is as much about belonging as it is about the belonging of the instrument.
Tara and Janet talk about sessions as social life and practice, the difference between a harper and a harpist, learning the core session repertoire and why Janet now describes herself as a teacher of social musicianship.
Along the way, Janet traces a musical life through Dublin, Belfast and Donegal, and reflects on the musicians, teachers, students and sessions that shaped how she thinks about traditional music.
“Where there was traditional music, there was my tribe.”
Mentioned in this episode:
Patrick MacGill Festival
Visit www.patrickmacgillfestival.ie for more details.

This episode Éamon Ó Ciosáin talks with Tara about nerves, listening and the things musicians gradually learn by actually spending time in Irish music sessions.
Éamon speaks openly about going blank when asked to start a tune, playing slightly above your comfort level and why nerves do not necessarily disappear with experience.

Chapters
01:35 – Returning to music and finding a regular session
03:29 – What does a genuine Irish music session mean?
04:22 – Does being paid change the session?
05:18 – When the best sessions happen by accident
06:01 – The highs and lows of sessions
07:12 – Finding the rhythmic sweet spot
08:19 – When speed starts running away
09:07 – Going blank when somebody asks you to start a tune
10:54 – Choosing tunes other people will know
13:09 – Why Tara does not want to play solo in a session
14:03 – Performing on stage versus playing with people
15:13 – Knowing when listening contributes more than playing
16:13 – Sessions that are open and sessions that are not
17:46 – Sometimes musicians simply want a conversation with their friends
19:04 – Advice for musicians beginning to join sessions
20:33 – How better musicians can pull your playing upwards
22:10 – Everybody gets nervous
23:49 – Phones, recordings and how they change the session
23:49 – Recording in sessions and being in the moment
25:06 – Tourist sessions and mic'd-up performances
26:03 – Receiving negative feedback in a session
27:24 – When somebody really does need to be asked to stop
29:19 – Do we need better language for difficult conversations?
30:51 – Is there a minimum level for joining a session?
31:50 – Different types and levels of sessions
32:53 – Why improver sessions can help
33:50 – Recreating session conditions at home
35:26 – What makes a successful session for Éamon?
37:30 – Music for comfort and inspiration
39:36 – Why house sessions feel different
41:00 – Where did the modern session come from?
42:20 – Sessions after COVID
Mentioned in this episode:
Patrick MacGill Festival
Visit www.patrickmacgillfestival.ie for more details.
Shortlisted for Awards
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This episode of In Tune with Tradition was recorded in person in Miltown Malbay during Willie Clancy Week 2025, (shortly after the podcast was officially launched), where Clare fiddle player, teacher and broadcaster Joan Hanrahan joins Tara Connaghan for a warm, reflective conversation about what Irish traditional music sessions really are: shared spaces built on listening, trust, and people first. They talk through session etiquette, intergenerational learning, the role of repetition and repertoire, and why music can feel healing in moments of grief, joy, and everything in between.

Chapters
01:25 – What an Irish music session means to Joan
02:22 – First sessions in Garvey’s in Inagh and learning tunes by osmosis
04:55 – Why the intergenerational nature of Irish music matters
05:51 – Nobody knows it all
06:13 – Old tunes, repertoire and why quantity is not everything
07:24 – Advice for joining a session when you know nobody
08:25 – The natural high when a session really works
11:15 – People first, music second
12:27 – Music as a constant through grief, loss and life
14:18 – Friendships across the world and a connection with Cape Breton
17:13 – What happens when musicians truly gel
18:21 – Processing grief through music
20:05 – Writing tunes for Joan’s father and sister
24:48 – Why Joan likes playing tunes more than twice
26:21 – What blocks the flow of a good session
29:44 – Welcoming people without asking them to prove their worth
30:33 – Joan’s ideal session size and why sessions should inspire you
31:58 – Festival sessions, hospitality and keeping music human
35:18 – Ten ingredients of a successful session
38:12 – Old pubs, open fires, singers, dancers and good listeners

Resources:
The West Wind with Joan Hanrahan – Clare FM Joan’s long-running traditional Irish music and song programme on Clare FM.
Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy
Session Etiquette Questionnaire Share a question, challenge or joy from your own session experience for a future episode.
Support In Tune with Tradition Help support the recording, production and editing of the podcast.
In Tune with Tradition: The Private Session Experience
Join the Session Etiquette mailing list
Recorded and produced by Tara Connaghan and edited by Anita Alvarez Santos.
Recorded in person in Miltown Malbay during Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy 2025.

Fiddle player and teacher Jacqui Martin joins Tara Connaghan to talk about friendship, slow sessions, rhythm, seating, safe places to play and why Irish music sessions can feel like strange social experiments where anyone can walk in and change the whole evening.

Resources:
https://www.cobblestonepub.ie/cobblestone-backroom/balaclavas-session
Ceoltóir course - Ballyfermot
Clontarf Comhaltas CCE
Session Etiquette Questionnaire
Support the In Tune with Tradition podcast
In tune with Tradition: The Private Session Experience