We usually start the session with some of the fairly easy tunes to warm up… such as:
Bear Dance, the Clare Reel, Fiery Clockface, Hunt the Squirrel, Ille Bhig, Inisheer, Jimmy Allen, Kafouzalem, Kerfunken, Lucy Farr’s, Old Tom, Rusty Gully, Spirit of the Dance, Salmon Tails and the Swallowtail Jig.
In the second half, we’ll play some of the harder or faster tunes on the website.
And we are happy to play whichever tunes on this website that you have been practising. The tune of the month is just a way to have at least one tune that we’ve all been working on.
If you’d like to listen to all the tunes, there is now a playlist (click for link) on Youtube! I’ve also made a playlist on Spotify. For both of these, if you would like to suggest alternatives that you prefer (or fill in the missing gaps), do email me (oxfordslowsession2014@gmail.com)
We are also available on Zoom at present (see link below). This means that you can join in with us and you will hear us and yourself (although nobody else will hear you). However, if you have no Covid symptoms, you’re not isolating for any other reason and you can travel easily to Oxford, please do join us in the White House Pub (and please submit your contact details on the Covid precautions page so I have an up-to-date list of attendees).
Please note: On Zoom, make sure you press the Chat button so you can write in tune requests and also just in case you don’t know what tune we are playing, I write it in every time. You can access the session room in advance of our session to check it all works. Also, I really recommend using headphones so that you can hear us over your own playing. It is surprisingly difficult to keep in time without being able to hear over your own instrument!
Any problems, email me at oxfordslowsession2014@gmail.com or ring +44 (0) 770 935 2834
Do buy a drink from the bar downstairs and join us upstairs with your instrument.
| Forthcoming Sessions | Tune of the Month | Zoom link and live location |
|---|---|---|
| 7th August 2022, 3.30pm | Any tune on the website | In person-only for August. Upstairs in White House pub in Oxford. |
| 3rd Sept 2022 3-5pm | Any tune on the website | At the George Hotel (High St, Wallingford) as part of BunkFest, Wallingford, FREE music festival |
| 4th Sept 2022, 3.30pm | Michael Turner’s Waltz | Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 2nd Oct 2022, 3.30pm | Montanesa de Lugo | Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 6th Nov 2022, 3.30pm | Maiden Lane | |
| 4th Dec 2022, 3.30pm | Black Joke | |
| 1st Jan 2023, 3.30pm | Maghera Mountain |
| Previous Slow Sessions | Tune of the Month | Zoom link and live location |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd July 2022, 3.30pm | The Good Natured Man | Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the (stop press change of venue) Florence Park Bandstand |
| 5th June 2022, 3.30pm | Billy Malley’s Schottische | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 1st May 2022, 3.30pm | The £42 cheque | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 24th April 2022, 3pm | Part of the Oxford Folk Weekend | Live only Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 3rd April 2022, 3.30pm | The Battle of the Somme | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 6th March 2022, 3.30pm | Cooley’s Reel | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 6th February 2022, 3.30pm | Carraroe jig | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 2nd January 2022, 3.30pm | Out on the Ocean | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 5th December 2021 3.30pm | The Swallowtail Jig | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 7th November 2021 3.30pm | The Hills of Kaitoke | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Upstairs in the White House Pub |
| 3rd October 2021 3.30pm | The Brown Coffin | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Bandstand in Florence Park |
| 5th September 2021 3.30pm | The Fiery Clockface | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Bandstand in Florence Park |
| 8th August 2021 3.30pm | Merrily kissed the Quaker | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Bandstand in Florence Park |
| 4th July 2021 3.30pm | Bronwyn Jenkins | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Bandstand in Florence Park |
| 6th June 2021 3.30pm | Soor Milk Cairt | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Bandstand in Florence Park |
| 2nd May 2021 (3.30pm normal time) | Tarbolton | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) |
| 17th April 2021 2pm BST | Any tune on website | Zoom link here (password slowly) from Oxford Folk Weekend (visit for lots of online gigs and other sessions) or join us at the Bandstand in Florence Park |
| 4th April 2021 (Easter Day) NB start 3.30pm (British Summer Time) | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) or join us at the Bandstand in Florence Park | |
7th March 2021 NB 3.30pm (UK time) start | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) | |
7th February 2021 NB Back to 3.30pm start |
(Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) | |
3rd January 2021 NB 2pm start |
(Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) | |
| 6th December 2020 NB 2pm start | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) If the national lockdown has lifted and if you would like to join us, come to Florence Park bandstand and please send me your contact details beforehand – see Our Covid precautions page. | |
| 1st November 2020 NB 2pm start | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) If you would like to join us, come to Florence Park bandstand and please send me your contact details beforehand – see Our Covid precautions page. | |
| 25th October 2020 (NB 2pm start) |
Any tune on the website | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) If you would like to join us, come to Florence Park and please send me your contact details beforehand – see Our Covid precautions page. |
4th October 2020 | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) If you would like to join us, come to Florence Park and please send me your contact details beforehand – see Our Covid precautions page. | |
13th September 2020 |
Any tune on the website | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) and we’re going to try out Florence Park Bandstand. |
6th September 2020 | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) and it looks like the weather will allow us to meet in Grandpont Nature park too. | |
| 23rd August 2020 – |
Any tunes on website | possible extra session (weather looks ok at present) (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) and please join us at Grandpont Nature Park) |
| 9th August 2020 | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) (only on Zoom for this date) | |
| 26th July 2020 – extra session |
Any tunes on website | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) and weather permitting, please join us at Grandpont Nature Park) |
| 5th July 2020 | (Click here to Join on Zoom (password: slow) and if it is not raining or likely to, please join us at Grandpont Nature Park) | |
| 21st June 2020 | Any tune on the list | (extra outside) Click here to join and use password: slow |
| 14th June 2020 | Any tune on the list | (extra outside) Click here to join and use password: slow |
| 7th June 2020 | Bill Malley’s Barndance | Click here to join and use password: slow |
| 3rd May 2020 | Willafjord | ON ZOOM: Click here to join and use password: slow |
| 19th April 2020 (part of Folk Weekend Oxford) NB 2.30pm | On Zoom (Download folk weekend brochure: http://www.folkweekendoxford.co.uk/what-s-on.html to find Zoom meeting ID) | |
| 1st March 2020 | Inisheer | |
| 9th February 2020 (NB Second Sunday for this month only) | The Flying Tweed | |
| 5th January 2020 | 250 to Vigo | |
| 29th December 2019 (Extra holiday session) | Any tunes on the list | |
| 1st December 2019 | Farewell to Whalley Range | |
| 3rd November 2019 | Spootiskerry | |
| 6th October 2019 | Johsefin’s Waltz | |
| 1st September 2019 | Hole in the Hedge | |
| 4th August 2019 (back to 3.30pm) | Calum’s Road | |
| 7th July 2019 (NB 2pm) | Paddy Fahy’s reel | |
| 2nd June 2019 | Tell her I will (aka Gallagher’s Frolics) | |
| 5th May 2019 (back in Jericho) | Tell her I am | |
| 27th April 2019 in Royal Oak pub | Any tunes on the list… | |
| 7th April 2019 | Jimmy Allen | |
| 3rd March 2019 | Farewell to Nigg | |
| 3rd February 2019 | The Sloe | |
| 6th January 2019 (back in Jericho Tavern) | Da Lounge Bar | |
| 2nd December 2018 (NB in The Chequers Pub) | Snug in a Blanket and the Bitter Withy | |
| 4th November 2018 | Denis Murphy’s Polka | |
| 7th October 2018 | The Frost is All Over and Rose in the Heather | |
| 2nd September 2018 | Claire Connor’s Lament | |
| 5th August 2018 | The Hut on Staffin Island | |
| 1st July 2018 | Flatworld | |
| 3rd June 2018 | The Hills of Kaitoke | |
| 6th May 2018 | Tommy Peoples’s reel | |
| 22nd April 2018 (in the Chequer’s Pub as part of Oxford Folk Weekend free events) | Soldier’s Joy | |
| 1st April 2018 (Easter day) | La Sansonette | |
| 4th March 2018 | Poules Huppées and Kerr’s Jig | |
| 4th February 2018 | Tongadale Reel | |
| 7th January 2018 | The Night Poor Larry was Stretched | |
| 26th November 2017 (December session a week early! back in Jericho Tavern) | Ille Bhig | |
| 5th November 2017 (venue for November – Chequers Pub) | You’ve been a long time away Willy Gray | |
| 1st October 2017 | The Frost is All Over | |
| 3rd September 2017 | Cavers of Kirkcudbright | |
| 12th August 2017 (NB SATURDAY 2.30pm for August only) | Harvest Home | |
| 2nd July 2017 | Bert MacKenzie’s Birthday Waltz | |
| 4th June 2017 | Seven Stars | |
| 7th May 2017 | Keel Row | |
| 2nd April 2017 | Four-Up Hornpipe | |
| 5th March 2017 | The Kesh Jig | |
| 5th February 2017 | Rights of Man | |
| 1st January 2017 | Scottish theme (see below) | |
| 4th December 2016 | Brenda Stubbert’s | |
| 6th November 2016 | Salmon Tails | |
| 2nd October 2016 | Drowsy Maggie | |
| 11th September 2016 | Jump at the Sun | |
| 7th August 2016 | Calliope House | |
| 3rd July 2016 | Rose in the Heather | |
| 5th June 2016 | John Ryan’s Polka | |
| 1st May 2016 | May Mazurka | |
| 3rd April 2016 | Pearl Wedding in D | |
| 6th March 2016 | Hut on Staffin Island | |
| 7th February 2016 | Rights of Man | |
| 3rd January 2016 | Girl with a Blue Dress on | |
| 6th December 2015 | Bitter Withy, God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman and I Saw Three Ships | |
| 1st November 2015 | Calliope House | |
| 4th October 2015 | Rights of Man | |
| 6th September 2015 | Lucy Farr’s | |
| 2nd August 2015 | Tongadale | |
| 5th July 2015 | Trip to Pakistan | |
| 7th June 2015 | Galtee Hunt | |
| 3rd May 2015 | Pearl Wedding in G | |
| 5th April 2015 (Easter Day) | NO SLOW SESSION | |
| 1st March 2015 | Keel Row | |
| 1st February 2015 | Kerfunken Jig | |
| 4th January 2015 | Dr Letcher’s Favourite (aka Mounthills) | |
| 7th December 2014 | Hole in the Hedge and Hunt the Squirrel | |
| 2nd November 2014 | Clare Connor’s Lament | |
| 5th October 2014 | Booley House | |
| 7th September 2014 | Planxty Irwin | |
| 3rd August 2014 | May Mazurka | |
| 6th July 2014 | Butterfly | |
| 1st June 2014 | Poules Huppées (Crested Hens) | |
| 4th May 2014 | The Night Poor Larry was Stretched | |
| 6th April 2014 | The Lily | |
| 2nd March 2014 | The Clare Reel | |
| 2nd February 2014 | Rusty Gully | |
| 5th January 2014 | Bear Dance |
For those who would like to have a list of our tunes by origin, I think they can roughly be grouped like this:
(NB really good tunes travel well and are sometimes naturalised by their new players. But if you feel you need to know which tunes to play in an “irish session” or a “scottish session” and so on, perhaps this might be useful.)
Scottish (or mostly so)
Battle of the Somme
Bert Mackenzie’s 70th Birthday Waltz
Brenda Stubbert’s reel (really Nova Scotia but often appropriated by Scotland too)
Calliope House
Calum’s Road
Cavers of Kirkcudbright
Farewell to Nigg
Hut on Staffin Island
Ille Bhig
Jenny Dang the Weaver
Da Lounge Bar (written by a Norwegian, named after a bar in Lerwick, Shetland)
McCrea’s Delight
Soor Milk Cairt
Spootiskerry
Tarbolton
Tongadale
Trip to Pakistan
Willafjord
250 to Vigo
Irish (or mostly so)
Bill Malley’s Barndance
Billy Malley’s Scottishe
Booley House
Brown Coffin
Butterfly
Carraroe
Clare Reel
Cooley’s Reel
Do You Love an Apple?
Denis Murphy’s Polka
Drowsy Maggie
The Frost is All Over
Galtee Hunt
The Good Natured Man
Hole in the Hedge
Inisheer
John Ryan’s Polka
Kerfunken
Lucy Farr’s
Merrily Kissed the Quaker (orig English but widely played in Ireland)
The Night Poor Larry was Stretched
The Orphan
Out on the Ocean
Paddy Fahy’s reel
Rights of Man
Rose in the Heather
Si Bheag Si Mhor
Tell her I am
Tell her I will
Tommy People’s reel
The £42 pound cheque
Oxford Slow Session 
I’d like very much to come to the slow session on 4th January, is it possible to provide Dr Letcher’s Favourite (and any others) in alto clef for viola, as I’m not great at reading treble clef?? I don’t know how easy or difficult this is to do, but thought I’d ask! – Alison (viola)
Dear Alison,
I’ve transposed Dr Letcher’s favourite and posted it up on that page. There three other tunes I’ve already done for the alto clef, so I’ve created a file with these four tunes together and put it on the ‘All tunes for printing’ page.
I hope this helps!
I can transpose tunes but it just takes a little while. I do have one book of folk tunes in the alto clef, but mostly I’ve found tunes in the treble so I usually follow those (very slowly) until I can hear the tune and then learn it off by heart. It is lovely once you’ve got it in your head, but it does take some patience (well, for me). Anyway, have fun with these tunes (I think Paddy Fahey is a bit impossible on the viola) and let me know if there are others you’d like to learn.
Best wishes,
suke