The Old School Session - Traditional music practice sessions
Welcome to the Old School Session. The purpose of this web site is a reference for point for the tunes to learn before coming along to the sessions. Please print out all the scores you want to use and bring them with you.
We meet at The Old School, Church Street, Sturminster Marshall, near Wimborne, Dorset, on the 2nd Friday of the month (dates listed on the dates page) from 8pm to 10.30pm.
The purpose of the sessions is to allow novice folk musicians to practice at a nice slow pace (as slow as necessary). Learning on your own at home is good but sooner or later you'll want to step out and play with other musicians. The Old School Session is a halfway house between home and the pub sessions. You can practice the art of playing tunes in a session environment, have some fun, and hopefully learn a few things along the way.
There's no audience, just your fellow musicians. Even though there are a lot of tunes on the list, you only need to learn one to start with. Just sit out the tunes you don't know and listen. Your personal tune list will soon grow, and in time you'll be playing along with more tunes and putting sets together.
A frequently asked question is "can I play from the scores?". The answer is "yes"; there's plenty of room for your music stand and nobody will berate you for it. However, if you plan to progress to pub sessions it is highly recommended that you learn the tunes by heart. To join in at pub sessions, you need to be able to identify a tune from just hearing it. The tune that comes next is rarely announced (or even decided) prior to the set starting. By the time you have identified the tune and found your score, the set will be over.