Ottawa Cape Breton Session

Sessions

Sun. Apr 6 - Pub Session - 2pm to 5pm - Come celebrate Tartan Day at the Barley Mow Merivale (1541 Merivale Rd.)!  We'll have lots of fine Scottish and Cape Breton music, so get out your kilts or whatever bit of tartan you can find and join us for some tartany fun.  Everyone welcome, come to listen or bring an instrument and play along with the group as they have fun with some Cape Breton jigs, strathspeys and reels. 🎻 

Sun. Apr 20 - Pub Session - 2pm to 5pm - Easter Sunday jam session featuring Cape Breton jigs, reels, strathspeys and marches. Join us at the Barley Mow Merivale (1541 Merivale Rd.)! We'd love to have you clap along with our East Coast Kitchen Party, or bring an instrument and join in the fun. Bunny suits not required. Feel free to bring chocolate...

Fri. Apr 25- Come out to The Royal Oak Neighbourhood Pub and Restaurant at 800 Hunt Club Rd. at Uplands for a fun, Inverness County style Cape Breton square dance.  This event will feature local musicians and will start at 8pm with a walkthrough of the dance. There is NO COVER for this event, but donations to help cover expenses and to help fund upcoming Cape Breton square dances in Ottawa will be graciously accepted by e-transfer to CapeBretonInOttawa@gmail.com

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Sun. May 4 - Pub Session - 2pm to 5pm - May the Fourth be with you! Put on your Star Wars T-Shirt and join us for an open jam session featuring Cape Breton jigs, reels, strathspeys and marches at the Barley Mow Merivale (1541 Merivale Rd.)! We'd love to have you clap along with our East Coast Kitchen Party, or bring an instrument and join in the fun. Check the Tunes pages for the dots of tunes we'll be playing.

Sessions, sessions, sessions - there are lots of Celtic sessions going on in the National Capital Area that include a nice mix of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and French Canadian tunes. Check out our Google calendar below  for dates and locations. 

Connect

Join our Facebook community to find links to online videos, music resources and other Cape Breton goodness. We also share news via Twitter. To see videos from past sessions check out our YouTube channel. 

Sign up to receive occasional notices about Ottawa Cape Breton Session events, as well as other events involving Cape Breton music and culture in the National Capital. A newsletter goes out approximately once a month, more often if there are last minute events, or a significant change to a planned event.  Past newsletters are here if you want to get an idea of what to expect or catch up on what you missed.

Tartan Day on Parliament Hill

The 17th annual National Tartan Day celebration on Parliament Hill takes place on Sunday April 6, 2025. There will be a show from noon to 1pm on the centre walkway. The show has several pipe bands, highland dancers, Scottish country dancers and a parade of Corgis. There will also be a Scottish fiddling set - can you come out and play? This is an acoustic outdoor event so the more players we have the better. Details and Signup.

Tunes

Cape Breton fiddle music is best learned by ear. Although detailed sheet music and sound files are provided here for learning the basics of a tune , be aware that the tune may sound different when played live. The best way to really learn these tunes is to come out and play along with us at either a house or pub session. You would be more than welcome! The Tunes page contains tunes and sets you are likely to hear at one of our sessions. 

Scenes from some of our past pub sessions - always a great time!

Pub Sessions

Sunday afternoon pub sessions are generally at a pretty fast pace. It is mostly group/session playing with occasional songs or solos.  Everyone is welcome to join, with fiddle, guitar, mandolin, accordion or even a cello! Sessions  are led by Aylene, or sometimes other folks. Let her, or the pianist Ellen know if you have something special to share with the group.   

If you don't play, but love to hear Maritime and Cape Breton music live you're more than welcome to come down to the pub sessions and have some fun. It's always a big and friendly group of folks, a great place to meet old friends and make new ones too. You'll meet lots of other Maritimers in the crowd. Jam ouverte avec concentration sur le pieces de l’ile du Cap Breton, de l’Écosse et de Glengarry. Apportez un instrument ou venez partager une chanson avec nous. Ou, venez savourez la musique et notre plaisir. On ne sait jamais qui s’y présentera, mais c’est certainement toujours un groupe avec un accueil amical avec qui passer l’après-midi.

House Sessions  **Looking for hosts for house sessions**

House sessions are are great way to learn new tunes and meet new people and get familiar with the Cape Breton repertoire. House sessions occur on a second or fourth Sunday from 2-5pm . The pace at house sessions varies, new tunes are learned mostly from sheet music. Players take turns hosting house sessions, or sometimes they are hosted by folks who just love to hear the music. The schedule is a bit erratic, when a house session is scheduled it will be posted on the website. Session à vitesse moyennement accéléré où apprender de nouveau ‘sets’ de pieces, généralement  à partir de feuilles de musique mais aussi ‘à l’oreil’. Lieu idéal pour faire l’essaie d’une  nouvelle chanson, ou pratiquer de nouvelles pieces avant de les jouer à la session au pub. C’est aussi un bon temps pour faire du ‘social’ avec des gens forts sympatiques et pour savourer des grignotines délicieuses.

Host a House Session or Slow Jam

Hosts provide space and chairs (without arms) for anywhere from 6 to 20 fiddlers, and some space for socializing during the break. Session lead,  and all other arrangements are through Cape Breton Session. Please do not contact session hosts directly. To get on the email list for slow jams, or if you want to host a slow jam send an email to cbsession@cbsession.com.  Hosts can be fiddlers/pianists or just folks who don't mind listening to the same tune played over and over again. Ideally hosts provide an in-tune piano (or keyboard), but we can usually arrange to bring a keyboard and/or some extra chairs if needed.  Sessions are BYOB, and players bring along snacks for the break,  but usually the hosts provide tea or coffee, or other non-alcoholic beverages (depending on the weather). Slow jams will always require advance sign up, the host locations have varying capacities. If you have not received a registration confirmation you are not signed up - and should not show up.  More about slow jams...

Workshops and Private Lessons

Cape Breton fiddlers occasionally come and present workshops on fiddle, step dancing and piano here in the National Capital region. We'll make sure that any such events are communicated via our email list, website and social media accounts. There are a few Ottawa-area fiddle teachers who include Cape Breton tunes and stylings in their lessons.     More...

Fiddlers/Bands for Hire

Ottawa Cape Breton Session is an informal jam session, not a band, so we don't provide music for concerts or special events. If you are looking for some fiddle or kitchen party type music we offer a few suggestions on the Hire a Band page.