Introduction to Wellington Slow Session

We meet on Tuesday nights from 7:30 to 8:30 at the Welsh Dragon Bar, 10a Cambridge Terrace, Wellington 6011, New Zealand. Players who want to play traditional Irish music at a relaxed pace are welcome.

The slow session is an opportunity for players who are starting out with Irish traditional music and want an opportunity to play tunes that they’re learning or have already learnt with others in a supportive environment.

We don’t teach tunes in this session but it’s a great chance to practice playing with others. The focus is on melody instruments, but there is some scope for accompaniment. Learning by ear, and playing tunes from memory is strongly encouraged. Please read the Learning by Ear page.

See our Guidelines for the Slow Session if you need more information. In particular, accompanists should read the Accompaniment in the Irish Session page.

Tunes to get started with

Here are some tunes that are played frequently at the slow session. If you are not sure which tunes to start with, learn some of these tunes. We’ll also be happy to take requests if there is a tune you’ve been working on.