FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Lively music can be heard drifting from area Irish pubs any time musicians gather to socialize and spread a touch of culture from the Emerald Isle. That same camaraderie and love of music can also be shared, however, at a slow session, where musicians gather in small groups to learn traditional Irish tunes.

Tom Morley leads one such session. The violinist, who regularly performs throughout the area, demonstrates jigs and reels as others join in.

Groups of up to 15 get together on certain Sundays, from 4 until 6 p.m., at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 545 S. Mobile St. in Fairhope. The next slow session will take place April 25.

Morley said folks of all ages from Baldwin and surrounding counties bring with them a variety of instruments, including fiddle, flute, whistle, guitar, Irish tenor banjo, Irish drum and mandolin. Participants arrive with varying skill levels.

“They’re playing for themselves as much as anything when they get together,” Morley said. “At jam sessions, you play songs everyone knows, and people sing along. At these, there’s no improvisation. Everyone plays the same thing at the same time.”

He said the musicians work together to learn a group of Irish songs, many of which are short and are strung together at regular jams. By learning the traditional music the way it is meant to be played, Morley said, performers are better able to join in with others when the opportunity arises.

“I lead the music at a slow, comfortable pace,” he said. “I teach them the ones that are most often hooked together. There’s a genuine interest in Irish music now. Slow sessions are especially popular in Boston and San Francisco, where there’s a big Celtic community.”

That love of traditional music is displayed on Sunday afternoons at McSharry’s Irish Pub in Fairhope, where Morley and other musicians get together to jam. He said, “At McSharry’s, we hook them together, and everyone thinks we’re psychic because we play the same tunes.”

Morley began offering the slow sessions in December. The cost to take part in each is $10, with $5 required for a book you’ll receive at your first session. You will receive handouts every week thereafter.

Some instructors teach music by ear, but Morley prefers to use sheet music. He said it accelerates the process by enabling him to teach more than two notes at a time. The great thing about this method, he said, is a musician can enter the group at any point and hit their stride quickly.

“Everyone has already got two dozen songs in their repertoire, but (new people) can catch up. No one should feel like it is too late to join in,” Morley said. “When people come to McSharry’s they are sometimes intimidated, but no one feels intimidated in the slow sessions.”

Barb Place, who enjoys Irish music and can often be found wherever it is performed, said, “I’m just having the time of my life. I absolutely love it. He’s a wonderful teacher.”

Place plays the fiddle during the slow sessions, and considers herself an intermediate performer.

“We’re all about the same,” she said. “I should be intimidated but I’m not. He goes along slow when we’re learning the song. He’s really helpful, and then we pick up the speed a bit.”

Place has become so skilled in fact, she recently performed two songs with others during one of the more public McSharry’s jam sessions. She was admittedly a little nervous, but was carried away by the sound.

“I like all kinds of music,” Place said. “It was hearing (Morley) play with Mithril (that sparked her interest in Irish tunes). The more you hear it, the more you like it. It’s a real peppy, happy music.”

The genre gained its greatest popularity here in the United States in recent years, thanks in part to dancer Michael Flatley’s “Riverdance” shows. Begun in the mid 1990s, the Irish dance and music performances have sold out arenas around the country.

Place, a snowbird from Michigan, enjoys each session, and regrets having to leave them behind when she returns home at the end of the month. She said, “It’s breaking my heart. I’m really going to miss it. I look forward to coming back in October to get back into it.”

Morley said, “It’s been a really fun time for everyone to learn how to play these tunes authentically. We welcome all skill levels and all instruments. This is more than a workshop. It’s a group experience.”

For more information about the Irish music slow sessions, call Morley at (251) 928-0987.