I have a cunning plan!

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After hearing about other people’s experience at the ‘slow session’, I wanted to try it and see if it really was as bad as it seemed, so a couple of weeks ago I plucked up my courage, packed my recorder and set off. They say on the website that they always start with one particular easy tune, and then play a selection of the easier folk tunes, and they also have a ‘tune of the month’ every month as well. So before going I learnt the easy tune that they start with, and also practiced a few other easy tunes off their website, where they helpfully list all the tunes they play, provide the pdf sheet music, and also link to a series of videos showing each tune being played at least once and often two or three times on different instruments. Of course as usual, on the day various things happened just as I was about to set off so I was a little bit late arriving, and as I was locking my bicycle up outside I could hear the first tune already being played. ‘Bother’ I thought to myself, ‘That’s the one tune I’m pretty sure I can play along to!’ But I went in anyway, since I had got there. The venue was the upstairs room of a pub, so I bought a drink (a small one, in case I decided not to stay long!) and went upstairs. It was quite a big room, with about 25 or 30 people sitting around a big table or against the wall, some with sheet music or an ipad propped in front of them, and a range of instruments – many violins, a cello or two, a flute, some tin whistles, a couple of other recorders, one or two guitars, mandolins and other string instruments I don’t know, a bodhran and a concertina. It wasn’t exactly friendly, but it wasn’t really unfriendly either – no-one said hello or anything, but at least they didn’t all stop and stare when I came in! I found a chair in a corner and got my recorder out, planning to just listen if I couldn’t play along. But then they did choose a tune I recognised, and a bit later another, and I found I was able to join in at least some of them after all. They played another slow tune that was really lovely, I didn’t know it but managed to quickly find the music on their website and play along with my phone propped on a chair in front of me (not ideal, but it kind of worked!) So for the first hour I did get to play along with three or four tunes and attempted to join in with a few notes on one or two others. At the interval the leaders and some other random person came over to say hello and ask how I was finding it. After the interval the plan was to play a bit faster, so I thought I would just listen for a bit and then leave. I put my recorder away, but then the first tune they played was actually one I do know so I had to quickly put it back together again to join in! So altogether the whole thing went much better than I expected. And I thought it would be worth trying to encourage others to pluck up their courage and try again, because playing together is a really nice experience. So I have come up with a cunning plan. I’m going to persuade my recorder-playing friend, a couple of other friends who have previously expressed interest but said they were not brave enough, and perhaps the music teacher’s other adult recorder and violin pupils, to get together and start our own ‘really slow session’ where we can encourage each other to go as slowly as the slowest person wants. We can practice a few of the tunes from the ‘slow session’ collection, and then we can all go along to the slow session together. If there are enough of us we will give each other courage, encouragement and of course practical help (like finding the right page) and if we each request one of the pieces that we have practiced, and then we start it off at the pace we prefer, then we will be absolutely guaranteed to be able to play at least those pieces! So there you go, a plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a fox! I am planning the great slow session takeover!! All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2025.