Orkney Music and Culture

Slow Sessions

Good News! We have started our live Slow Sessions at a new venue: the Orkney Music Rooms located in Garrison Road on the Hatston Industrial Estate. Kerbside parking is available along Garrison Road for those attending. Although we previously encouraged listeners to attend these sessions, for now it must be limited to players only. We plan to change that as soon as it is safe to do so.

The first session is planned for 16th August at 7.15pm. Please refer to our events page for all the latest information on dates and Covid requirements which will apply for those attending in person. We also plan to live stream future sessions on Facebook so that those who cannot be there in person can still join us to play along.

The Slow Session Tunebook will be available to purchase at the live Slow Sessions at a price of £18 for the book.

Slow Session - or how to stop being afraid to make music with others

Playing music with a group of other musicians is a great way to learn new tunes, gain confidence and enjoy music-making without the pressure of getting every note right. However, for beginner and novice musicians of all ages, the thought of joining in with a local traditional session can be quite intimidating as the tunes are often well-known and played at speed. But how, then, can you learn the tunes and gain the confidence to join in?

Since April 2018 and with the ongoing support of funding from the Orkney Islands Council Heritage and Culture Fund, a weekly Slow Session has been running in Orkney, free of charge. Initially established by the precursor to Orkney Music and Culture and led by a range of local musicians and music tutors, the Slow Session began to meet a recognised need among musicians of all ages to develop the ability to play with a group in a setting that felt safe. From the start, musicians with a wide variety of instruments have attended and the focus has always been on learning to play local Orcadian favourites and traditional tunes at a slower pace to gain familiarity and confidence. A Slow Session Tune Book has been produced specifically to encourage musicians to practise these tunes and gain speed as well as beginning to build them into sets, as they would be played at traditional local sessions across the land.

Since the start of the first Lockdown in March 2020, the Slow Sessions have moved online and are broadcast via Facebook Live in order to be accessible to as many people in as many locations as possible. Tunes are still selected largely from the Slow Session Tune Book, available locally from The Orcadian Bookshop and The Waterfront Gallery, with locally composed tunes and traditional favourites being included for variety. You can also purchase the book as a physical book or digital download from this web site here. Here is a sample session which took place on 12th April and is available to watch or on the Orkney Music and Culture YouTube channel.

Although it is not the same as taking part in a face-to-face group session, there is a genuine sense of camaraderie generated by the encouraging tutors and lively online text chat among participants. Currently, the Slow Session is broadcast on Monday evenings at 7pm GMT with links to the tutor’s Facebook Page and the Live stream being shared on the Orkney Music and Culture Facebook Page in advance. The Live videos are also available to watch again after the session has ended.

We are looking forward to gathering in person in the future, to once again enjoy playing our music together at these sessions.