What to Know
- No cover charge! Digital and cash tipping of the lead musicians is greatly appreciated!
- Every Sunday: The Early Session is from 5:30 pm-7:00 pm
- 1st Sunday: The Guest Host Session, rotating guest melody players, 7:30pm - 10:30pm
- 2nd Sunday: Starry Session hosted by Shay Black, 7:30pm onward
- 3rd Sunday: Kids Session, 4:30pm
- 3rd Sundays: FairPle Starry Session, rotating leaders, 7:30pm onward
- 4th Sunday: Starry Session hosted by Shay Black, 7:30pm onward
- 5th Sunday: Starry Session hosted by Philip, 7:30pm onward
Etiquette & Customs
The Starry Plough Early Session
Every Sunday, 5:30-7pm
The Early Traditional Irish Session invites musicians who have already begun to familiarize themselves with the style, culture, and etiquette of playing Irish tunes in a session setting. This session assumes skill above beginning play but below full speed session play. Participants bring tunes/sets they have learned to share with the group at large.
If you are a beginner, this is a good session to come to in order to familiarize yourself with the tunes and the tradition. Please come and listen. If you are ready to take the next step from beginner to medium speed session play, this session is for you!
The Starry Session
Second, Third (FairPlé session), Fourth and Fifth Sundays, 7:30 onward
Irish sessions are fun gatherings of musicians and singers sharing tunes and conversations in a relaxed setting. The sessions at the Starry Plough have been an important part of the East Bay’s Irish music community for 50 years, passing along tunes and the tradition. The
Starry Session focuses on reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas, slip jigs, and the like, with regular song breaks every hour or so.
This is an open session, in that if you can play the tunes up to speed, you are welcome to join. It’s important to note that Irish sessions are not “jam” sessions that musicians might encounter in other genres and styles. To that end, improvising or jamming over the tunes is not a good idea. An ability to play Irish music is the prerequisite of joining the session; don’t drone, harmonize, or noodle along.
A general guideline is to musically follow whoever starts a set of tunes. If you begin a set of tunes, you’re in the drivers’ seat, so have a follow up tune in mind and stay strong during the transition. Between sets of tunes, musicians will likely have a chat. These chats are just as important as the music. It’s okay to have some space between sets of tunes, so if you’re new to the session, take your cues from the session leaders before starting up music that might interrupt players having a good chat. Don’t be afraid to ask for the name of a tune that you’d like to learn!
Everyone is more than welcome to watch and listen to a session. And while listeners can chat over the tune sets, there is an expectation that Ciúnas (the Irish word for “quiet”) is observed during singer sets. If you have a song to sing, ask the session leader if there is space on the singers list. Try to sing songs that engage the audience, and a song with an audience chorus is always well received.
Welcome! Playing in an Irish session is great fun and can build lifelong friendships.
The Guest Host Session
First Sundays, 7:30-10:30pm
The Starry Plough is rich in talented musicians who come regularly, and rich in Irish music and dance, 12 events per month! On first Sundays, guest session leaders are invited; wonderful players from around the Bay Area who can’t regularly attend. This introduces us and the guest hosts to new tunes and new players. The guest host starts many of the tune sets but as at all the Starry Plough sessions, tune set leading rotates. This is a great session to bust out your most obscure set (although it is nice if the final tune of your set is well-known so that all can join in).
At the guest host session there is a greater emphasis on melody instruments and tune playing: there is only one chordal accompanist and drummers are asked to play very quietly. Song breaks may or may not happen, depending on the guest host. As at all the Starry Plough sessions, if you don’t know the tune, feel free to listen attentively, record it, or play along unobtrusively.
At all the Starry Plough sessions, the Wooly Hat™ is passed around for tips to support the musicians and digital tipping is available through the Venmo QR code on every table.
The FairPlé Session
Third Sundays, 7:30-10:30pm
The FairPlé session follows the same etiquette and flow as the Starry Session. It is led by women and aligned with the global FairPlé movement. FairPlé aims to achieve gender balance in the production, performance, promotion, and development of Irish traditional and folk music. We advocate for equal opportunity and balanced representation for all. Although we advocate for women, we are an inclusive organization seeking equality for all genders, allowing for non-binary and non-essentialist understandings of gender. FairPlé invites participation from ALL. We are an inclusive, grass-roots organization founded in recognition of the true ethos of folk music: music by all, for all. Full mission statement here: https://www.fairple.com/mission-statement
