Tunes and typefaces
In an Irish session, tunes are almost never played in isolation. They’re played in sets.
A set of tunes might be as few as two. More usually, it’s three or more.
It’s unusual to change from one tune type into another. You tend to get a set of jigs, or a set of reels, or a set of hornpipes. But it’s very common to change key within a set. In fact, that’s often where a good set really stands out. There can be a real joy at that moment of switching. You might get a “Hup!” from someone listening to the session at that changeover.
So how do you decide what tunes to play in a set?
There are no real rules to this. Some people make up the set on the fly. Or you might try playing a set that you’ve heard other people play, maybe on a recording you like.
On the one hand, you’re looking for contrast. You probably don’t want to play three tunes all in the same key. On the other hand, it’s nice when there’s some kind of connection between the tunes—something about the phrasing or emphasis perhaps.
Pairing tunes for sets always reminds me of pairing typefaces. You don’t want the body copy and the headlines to be too similar, but you do want them to share some quality.
In his classic book, On Web Typography, Jason says:
When it comes to choosing and pairing typefaces, I keep two things in mind: distinction and harmony. To keep the system you’ve created for visual communication properly balanced, you need to choose typefaces that don’t compete too much with each other, but aren’t so similar as to be indistinguishable.
The same could be said for pairing tunes in sets!
Jason also says:
As another approach, opt for typefaces that share the same maker.
That can work for sets of tunes too. While most tunes are traditional, with no known composer, the really good composed tunes have entered the canon.
I’ve taken Jason’s advice for typefaces and applied to sets by playing a set of tunes by Junior Crehan or a set of tunes by Vincent Broderick.
Mostly though, there’s no real system to it. Or at least, not one that can be easily articulated. Like Jason says:
And we’re back to that old chestnut about rules: there are many right answers, and no answers are really wrong; there are just different degrees of good.
