Cor! 5 a.m.! You get up early!
I haven't read the whole thread Wally, so apologies if I'm repeating some of what's already been said. I too play English concertina in Gloucestershire, and despite having played for quite some years, I still feel like a beginner at sessions where I'm not a regular. Things that I've have either helped or not helped me are:-
Getting to know what sort of stuff gets featured regularly at the sessions you go to. Some sessions favour 100m.p.h. Irish stuff, others love English tunes. Some sessions are happy to mix it up, others get a bit sniffy if you don't play 'their' sort of stuff.
Take a recording device of some sort, record a few tunes, and then when you play them at home you'll learn the version they play at your session, as it may be different to the session down the road.
Get to know what tunes are paired together. It can be very disconcerting to launch into what you think will be the second tune only to find that all the others are playing something else! Been there, done that - still do it sometimes!
See how many times through they tend to play each tune. Some sessions do 2A's, followed by 2B's x 3, others may only play them twice through. If you're anything like me it's very easy to lose count.
Playing on your own at home is VERY different to playing in a session where you may be surrounded by experienced players often on very loud instruments. If you have a recording taken at a session, try to play it back over your hi-fi system and adjust the volume so it's like playing at the session itself - even to the extent that you are struggling to hear yourself (neighbours permitting).
In noisy sessions I lift my box up to ear level occasionally just to check I'm making a noise that approximates to the tune.
I find that sitting in a corner (preferably facing the room!) helps, as the sound of the instrument tends to bounce off the walls.
Know when to call it a day. We were in a session at Sidmouth a couple of years ago which was eventually populated by 13 melodeons. Some of the players played sympathetically while some, who really should have known better, simply gave it as much welly as they could muster. There was simply no way we could enjoy it to the full as we couldn't hear well enough. Time to sit back with a beer or find a different session.
Keep playing, good luck, and enjoy your sessions (where do you go by the way?)
