For handy access, I’ve made a pdf of the local showcase list and also the sessions timetable. (see also below). Please note that our regular slow sessionista, Kitty (composer of The Sails of Kittiwake) is performing on Saturday in the Covered Market at 13.20. And morris dancing will be visible (mostly on Saturday, timetable here) in Broad St, Radcliffe Camera square, Bonn Square and beside the Oxford Castle.
And the Slow Session for the Folk Festival is at 2pm on Sunday 21st April, upstairs in the White House pub on Abingdon Road… I hope to see you there (no Zoom or Discord, I’m afraid), but I understand if you find yourself somewhere else as there is so much happening at once!
The April Oxford Slow Session is on this Sunday, 7th April at 4pm, upstairs at the White House pub. The Tune of the month for this month is Father Kelly’s.
There is an extra Slow Session this month as part of the Oxford Folk Festival at the earlier time of 2pm on Sunday 21st April.
Also at the Folk Festival, in the Westgate Library is hosting a FREE folk workshop for primary-age children from 11 to 11.45am, and a FREE Youth Group Taster Session for secondary-age children from 12 to 12.45pm (all children need an accompanying adult).
Hoping for some more sunshine after a very grey February…
The March Oxford Slow Session is on Sunday 3rd March from 4pm, upstairs at the White House pub on Abingdon Road. Hope to see you there! The White House pub has stopped doing roast lunches… but doing pretty good pizzas if you fancy lunch beforehand.
The tune of the month is A Fig for a Kiss, a great tune fast or slow!
I’ve added another new tune: I Buried My Wife and Danced on her Grave… which you could take as a good thing or not, depending on your circumstances! But it is an excellent tune.
I’ve also booked the White House for an extra session at 2pm on Sunday 20th April for the Oxford Folk Festival which is starting this year!
Friday (fourth Friday of the month) Scottish Session From 8pm, White Hart pub in Wolvercote. Tune of the month is Atholl Highlanders. “A new session at The White Hart in Wolvercote, North Oxford, for Scottish and derived tunes, but not too strict, and with extra points for super-tenuously-Scottish tunes.”
Sunday (fourth Sunday of the month) Euro-plus Session The EuroPlus (which means generously tunes that are not especially English) session will happen as usual starting at 4:30pm on Sunday 25 February, upstairs at the White House, Abingdon Road.
For future announcements about the Fourth Sunday EuroPlus, including tune suggestions, please subscribe to the mailing list by sending an email to: oxfordeuroplus-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk
And the next Slow Session will be Sunday 3rd March at 4pm, Upstairs at the White House and the tune of the month is A Fig for a Kiss.
The February Slow Session is on Sunday (as usual) at 4pm, upstairs in the White House, Abingdon Road. I do hope you can join us!
The tune of the month is L’Air Mignonne. This is a lovely simple tune and I hope you find it easy to learn.
If you can’t manage to make it to Oxford (or you’re feeling too sick), please join on Discord… Zoom is still available, but I have a new page to guide you through using Discord and since it is free, we will move to Discord only from May.
I’ve also added two new tunes to the website to start learning: A Fig for a Kiss and Father Kelly’s. Both of these are in the University Ceilidh band repertoire so handy to play when you see some of them in a session.
A new session is starting tonight at the White Hart in Wolvercote (from 8pm)… Hoping to prioritise Scottish tunes but not too strict and “with extra points for super-tenuously-Scottish tunes”. Fourth Friday of the month and launching tonight, the day after Burns Night. The pub will be serving food and I’ve heard rumour of haggis pizzas!
The Fourth Sunday EuroPlus Session at the White House on Abingdon Road is back, this Sunday 28 Jan. Starts at 4:30pm. It’s always nice to see SlowSessionistas there.
Come and celebrate: from 4pm SATURDAY 6th January, Upstairs at the White House You can drop in anytime:
4-5pm
Usual Slow Session
5-6pm
Cakes
6-7pm
Slightly Faster Slow Session
7-8pm
Bread & Cheese and snacks by the White House
8-9pm
A Bit Faster Session
If you are sick or too far away, please join online: Zoom Discord (Zoom is ending in May as it is so expensive, so do try Discord and email me problems for us to iron out before May 2024)
The tune of the month for January is appropriately, The Teetotallers
I hoped when setting up the website and the session that it would help my playing improve. Thanks to everyone coming along, I think we have ALL improved! It is very encouraging to play with others, especially as we are all learning together. So a big thank you and well done to all!
The website has now been viewed over 180,000 times and has steadily increased:
I’ve added a nice easy tune for February: L’Air Mignonne
But I’ve also created a new Archive page (scroll down to the bottom of the Tune pages) for the tunes that we don’t play. I thought too many tunes is daunting for newcomers and so I’m trying to keep the website to the 100-ish tunes that we do play, and archive ones that we’re less keen on to make space for new tunes for us to learn. I find that learning a new tune is a tremendous motivation for practice but having too many to learn can be off-putting. I hope this ends up being a good balance.
It’s grey and cold, so come and be cheery with tunes and mince pies!
December Slow Session this afternoon (3rd Dec) from 4pm Upstairs in the White House pub on Abingdon Road. Slow tunes at 4pm, and slightly faster tunes at 5.30pm. The tune of the month is Jimmy Ward’s Favourite.
Next week (3rd December) is our December Slow Session… so I’m experimenting with making some vegan mince pies…
If anyone else fancies making and bringing some mince pies… don’t hesitate!
Meanwhile, Ray is hosting the Euro-plus session at the White House tomorrow (Sunday 26th November) at 4.30pm. It is a good opportunity to play some tunes together!
Ray says: “In October we had a great turnout, with some new players and a lot of new tunes, plus a lot of SlowSession and Scandi/French favourites. There was a request to do some more current Balfolk stuff, esp. Naragonia. I have put one Naragonia tune on the session site linked at revontuli.uk . (I have the whole tune book, but got special permission from Naragonia to post one tune). Also, I saw a lot of SlowSessionistas picking up the Leveret tune book at the recent Leveret concert, so EuroPlus is a great place to try some of those out. Hope to see lots of you there.” — Ray Pierrehumbert
Also the OxfordUniversity Ceilidh Band is hosting an end of term ceilidh in the Digital Hub (the brand new building) of Jesus College (entrance on Market St, opposite Wagamama) at 7pm on Wednesday 29th November until 10pm.
Tickets are only £10 for students, £12 to non-students. Drinks available. No experience with the dances is necessary… a caller will guide you through the steps. Our regular players, Noah, Eve and Amy are currently members of the band so they must be good!
The dark afternoons (!)/evenings have arrived… so best to make merry and play some tunes!
November Slow Session at 4pm Sunday 5th November upstairs at the White House as usual. Please do come and join in. The tune of the month is Peter T’s suggestion: The Origin of the World… I recommend having a go in advance… and make sure that you are starting on an F# so that you are playing it in the right key… If you can’t make it to the White House, we are also on zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83950612678?pwd=UkhYR0hoakFXUXJnTCtobktrcDE2dz09
But I’m afraid brownies only make it to those who come in person!
December’s Slow Session is on 3rd December… and our Tenth Anniversary Session, January 2024, is on SATURDAY 6th January… please put the date in your diary!
Oxford Slow Session 