One VERY IMPORTANT thing. Some of you will not like the opinions expressed in Barry Foy's Field Guide to the Irish Music Session, but read it anyway and try to understand where Barry is coming from. ITM has its own rules about instrumentation, style, and etiquette and you should really understand them clearly before joining a traditional irish session.

Otherwise trying to "jam" with ITMers on their own turf is kind of like playing honky-tonk electric guitar in the midst of Eine Kleine Nacht Musik at Orchestra Hall. You would deserve what you get in either case. Just because a pub session happens in a fairly informal environment does not mean that there is no defined musical agenda.

Practice hard, practice daily, kiddies. To play well and with style takes a lot of work, but it's worth it.

Slow seisuns rock for getting started, but it's a good idea to sit in on a few fast sessions to really get a feel for the lightning speed at which this music happens.