> I learned by way of sessions and ceilidhs but large numbers of people
> don't have that opportunity here. If you are starting from scratch all
> guidelines are helpful.


 Guidelines are fine.. "Rules" are bad, because as soon as you say the
word "rule" then there are all of these strict constructionists who come
out of the woodwork. They'll use those "rules" to find reasons to be
critical. Critical attitudes discourage people from wanting to play this
type of music.
 What we really need are more easily available recordings of traditional
players, so that people who are trying to get a handle on this music for
the first time will have some ideas of what some possible good tempos for
particular tunes are, and also how some sets of tunes can come together.
 Most of the recordings I learned from are terrible-sounding home
recordings done on ancient tape recorders, and they are usually not up to
regular pitch, and sometimes the players are slightly pissed and there is
alot of background noise from the party. :-)
 However they did the trick. I was able to hear what I needed to.


-- 
Toby Rider ([EMAIL PROTECTED])

"He either fears his fate too much,
Or his deserts are small,
That puts it not unto the touch
To win or lose it all."

- James Graham, Marquis of Montrose


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