FOLK MUSIC | Before You Go, Learn a song

I like to think that the corner of our home where we read or listen to music is the first stop on our journey. A book, a novel, a map, a poem, a song: these are the things that will make up the emotional baggage we carry with us.

Music, in particular, has the power to lead us along a path of information and emotions connected to a place. A song is easy to remember, a pleasure to rediscover and, once we reach our destination, it can become the key that opens doors that might otherwise remain closed. Perhaps the doors of a pub, where people gather around a table to play and sing, without a stage and with no real distinction between musicians and audience.

If you're visiting Edinburgh, don't miss the Royal Oak, a small pub spread over two floors. “As above, so below,” as the ancient sage Hermes Trismegistus might have said. Here, in this little world of its own, the only laws seem to be those of drinking and singing. Just head down the stairs, and you'll find yourself in an intimate setting where a voice can silence a conversation and a familiar tune can turn strangers into a choir of companions.

Just a short walk from the Royal Oak, on South College Street, you'll find the Captain's Bar, just beyond the busiest part of the Old Town. It's a small pub with the atmosphere of a lounge aboard an old sailing ship, where acoustic music is enjoyed up close, without amplification. Here, songs need no special effects: just a voice, a guitar, a fiddle and someone willing to listen. The pub occupies premises that have been associated with the city's drinking culture for almost two centuries, and its sessions welcome both local musicians and visitors passing through.

A little further along, on Forrest Road, lies Sandy Bell's, one of the great temples of Scottish folk music. Originally a commercial premises before becoming a pub in the 1920s, it gradually took on a central role in the revival of traditional Scottish music, particularly from the 1960s onwards. Its walls have welcomed musicians, singers, poets and song collectors, including Hamish Henderson, a key figure in the rediscovery of Scotland's traditional musical heritage. Names such as Barbara Dickson and Billy Connolly are also part of the musical history associated with the pub. The sessions still take place every evening: not polished performances put on for tourists, but lively, unpredictable musical gatherings where Scottish and Irish traditions mingle with those brought by musicians from further afield.

If you're in the city on a Sunday afternoon, make your way to the Waverley Bar on St Mary's Street, just a stone's throw from the Royal Mile. The pub is closely associated with the folk revival of the 1960s, and its visitors have included Bert Jansch, The Corries and The Dubliners. The Sunday afternoon session carries on that tradition: around ten musicians gathered around a table, a pub gradually filling up, and the feeling of being part of a community of friends.

"You'll take the high road, and I'll take the low road. And I'll be in Scotland afore ye Where me and my true love will never meet again On the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond"

That's why, before setting off, it's worth finding a Scottish ballad and learning at least the chorus. It doesn't matter if your pronunciation is a little off or you miss a few words: nobody in these rooms will expect you to perform. A glass on the table, a melody passing from one voice to another, and before you know it, you'll find yourself singing along too.