10 first session tunes for beginners
These are the ten tunes I give new students when they want to start playing at sessions. They’re all on the notes of D or G major, they sit in first position on banjo, mandolin or fiddle, and they build up in groups: three slow tunes, three polkas, three hornpipes and barndances, then your first jig. Learn them in this order and you’ll have a set ready for most sessions.
The Dawning Of The Day (Fáinne Geal An Lae)
air · D major
A beautiful slow air in D, and the tune of Raglan Road. Its long notes give you time to make every one ring.
▶Hear it: Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, piano (Irish Traditional Music Archive). Watch on YouTube Sí Bheag Sí Mhór
waltz · D major
A slow waltz in D, with room to make every note ring. Said to be the first tune O’Carolan wrote.
▶Hear it: on harp, the instrument O’Carolan wrote it for (Sonja Harp). Watch on YouTube Fanny Power
air · G major
Another O’Carolan tune, in G. It moves at an easy pace, so you can put all your attention into a clean, even tone.
▶Hear it: a fiddle trio (Katy Adelson). Watch on YouTube The Britches Full Of Stitches
polka · D major
Short and bouncy, and it sits right inside the D major scale. The classic first polka.
▶Hear it: Jackie Daly and Séamus Creagh, live; it’s the second tune. Watch on YouTube Egan's (The Kerry Polka)
polka · D major
The easiest tune on the list: two short parts that keep coming back to the same few notes. Play it straight after the Britches and you have your first set.
▶Hear it: Mad For Trad, live. Watch on YouTube John Ryan's
polka · D major
The same feel as the first two polkas, a little wider. Add it to the Britches and the Kerry and you have a full set of three polkas.
▶Hear it: the Verlander Family and Friends, live. Watch on YouTube The Boys Of Bluehill
hornpipe · D major
Your first hornpipe, in D. Play the pairs of notes long-short and it starts to bounce.
▶Hear it: Séamus Ennis, uilleann pipes; it’s the first tune. Watch on YouTube The Stack Of Barley
barndance · G major
A barndance in G, with the same swung feel as a hornpipe. Easy-going and fun to play.
▶Hear it: Johnny Connolly. Watch on YouTube Off To California
hornpipe · G major
A second hornpipe, in G. Give it the same swing as the Bluehill and the two make a pair.
▶Hear it: on concertina; it’s the first tune, before “Whiskey You’re the Devil”. Watch on YouTube The Kesh
jig · G major
Your jig, and a session staple. Jigs go in threes; once this one flows, the jigs in the tune directory are open to you.
▶Hear it: The Bothy Band; it’s the first tune in the set. Watch on YouTube
How I’d learn them
- One tune at a time. Open it in the Melody Trainer: it shows every note on your instrument and waits for you to play it, so you can go as slowly as you need.
- Then learn it by ear. Trad is passed on by ear, so once you know a tune, practise hearing a phrase and playing it back with Play It Back.
- Put them into sets. The three polkas go together, and the Bluehill and Off to California make a pair of hornpipes. Playing tunes back to back is what a session sounds like.
- Speed comes last. Play it clean and steady with the metronome first, then nudge the tempo up.
New to the banjo altogether? Start with my Beginner Banjo course: it gets you tuned up and playing the D major scale before the first of these tunes.
Why these ten
They’re all on the notes of D or G major, and those two key signatures cover nearly every tune you’ll hear at a session. They mix slow tunes, polkas, hornpipes, a barndance and a jig, so you’re ready for whatever gets started. And they’re well known, so you’ll hear them, and people will join in.
Not sure what makes a polka a polka? Here’s how to tell a hornpipe, a reel and a polka apart.