Folk music of Ireland
Encyclopedia
The folk music of Ireland (also known as Irish traditional music, Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland
.
(1188), Gerald de Barri conceded that the Irish were more skilled at playing music than any other nation he had seen. He claimed that the two main instruments used at this time were the "harp
" and "tabor
" (see bodhrán
), that their music was fast and lively, and that their songs always began and ended with B-flat
.
In A History of Irish Music (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood
wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland
, there were at least ten instruments in general use. These were the cruit (a small harp) and clairseach
(a bigger harp with typically 30 strings), the timpan (a small string instrument
played with a bow
or plectrum
), the feadan (a fife
), the buinne (an oboe
or flute
), the guthbuinne (a bassoon
-type horn
), the bennbuabhal and corn (hornpipes
), the cuislenna (bagpipes
- see Great Irish Warpipes
), the stoc and sturgan (clarion
s or trumpet
s), and the cnamha (castanets). There is also evidence of the fiddle
being used in the 8th century.
There are several collections of Irish
folk music from the 18th century, but it was not until the 19th century that ballad printers became established in Dublin. Important collectors include George Petrie, Edward Bunting
, Francis O'Neill
, Canon James Goodman
and many others. Though solo performance is preferred in the folk tradition, bands or at least small ensembles have probably been a part of Irish music since at least the mid-19th century, although this is a point of much contention among ethnomusicologists.
Irish traditional music
has survived more strongly against the forces of cinema, radio and the mass media than the indigenous folk music of most Europe
an countries. This was possibly due to the fact that the country was not a geographical battleground in either of the two world wars. Another potential factor was that the economy was largely agricultural, where oral tradition
usually thrives. From the end of the second world war until the late fifties folk music was held in low regard. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
(an Irish traditional music association) and the popularity of the Fleadh Cheoil
(music festival) helped lead the revival of the music. The English Folk music scene
also encouraged and gave self confidence to many Irish musicians. Following the success of The Clancy Brothers
in the USA in 1959, Irish folk music became fashionable again. The lush sentimental style of singers such as Delia Murphy
was replaced by guitar-driven male groups such as The Dubliners
. Irish showband
s presented a mixture of pop music and folk dance tunes, though these died out during the seventies. The international success of The Chieftains
and subsequent musicians and groups has made Irish folk music a global brand.
Historically much old-time music
of the USA grew out of the music of Ireland, England and Scotland, as a result of cultural diffusion
. By the 1970s Irish traditional music was again influencing music in the USA and further afield in Australia and Europe. It has occasionally been fused with rock and roll
, punk rock
and other genres, as in certain recordings of Horslips
, Thin Lizzy
, The Corrs
, The Chieftains
, Enya
, Clannad, Riverdance
, and Van Morrison
.
, Irish folk music has changed slowly. Most folk songs are less than two hundred years old. One measure of its age is the language used. Modern Irish songs are written in English
and Irish
. Most of the oldest songs and tunes are rural in origin and come from the older Irish language tradition. Modern songs and tunes often come from cities and towns, Gaeltacht and English-speaking Ireland.
Unaccompanied vocals ar sean nós
("in the old style") are considered the ultimate expression of traditional singing. This is usually performed solo (very occasionally as a duet). Sean-nós singing is highly ornamented and the voice is placed towards the top of the range. A true sean-nós singer will vary the melody of every verse, but not to the point of interfering with the words, which are considered to have as much importance as the melody. To the first-time listener, accustomed to pop and classical singers, sean-nós often sounds more "Arabic" or "Indian" than "Western".
Non-sean-nós traditional singing, even when accompaniment is used, uses patterns of ornamentation and melodic freedom derived from sean-nós singing, and, generally, a similar voice placement.
term which translates as crying/weeping. The Caoineadh-type song is therefore a lament
song which is typified by lyrics which stress sorrow and pain. Traditionally, the Caoineadh song contained lyrics in which the singer lamented for Ireland after having being forced to emigrate due to political or financial reasons. The song may also lament the loss of a loved one (particularly a fair woman). Many Caoineadh songs have their roots/basis in The Troubles
of Northern Ireland
with particular reference to the presence of the British military during this period. Examples of Caoineadh songs include: Far Away in Australia, The Town I loved So Well and Four Green Fields.
Caoineadh singers were originally paid to lament for the departed at funerals, according to a number of Irish sources.
at celebrations for wedding
s, saint's days or other observances. Tunes are most usually divided into two eight-bar strains which are each played as many times as the performers feel is appropriate; Irish dance music
is isometric
. (16 measures are known as a "step", with one 8 bar strain for a "right foot" and the second for the "left foot" of the step. Tunes that are not so evenly divided are called "crooked".) This makes for an eminently danceable music, and Irish dance
has been widely exported abroad.
Traditional dances and tunes include reels
(4/4), hornpipe
s (4/4 with swung eighth notes), and jig
s (double and single jigs are in 6/8 time), as well as imported waltz
es, mazurka
s, polkas, and highlands or barndances (a sort of Irish version of the Scottish strathspey
). Jig
s come in various other forms for dancing — the slip jig
and hop jig are commonly written in 9/8 time, the slide in 12/8. (The dance the hop jig is no longer performed under the auspices of An Coimisiun.) The forms of jig danced in hardshoe are known as double or treble jigs (for the doubles/trebles performed with the tip of the hardshoe), and the jigs danced in ghillies/pomps/slippers are known as light jigs.
Polka
s are a type of 2/4 tune mostly found in the Sliabh Luachra
area, at the border of Cork
and Kerry, in the south of Ireland. Another distinctive Munster
rhythm is the Slide
, like a fast single jig in 12/8 time. The main differences between these types of tunes are in the time signature
, tempo
, and rhythmic emphasis. It should be noted that, as an aural music form, Irish traditional music is rather artificially confined by time signatures, which are not really capable of conveying the particular emphasis for each type of tune. An easy demonstration of this is any attempt to notate a slow air on the musical stave. Similarly, attempts by classically trained musicians to play traditional music by reading the common transcriptions are almost unrecognisable - the transcriptions exist only as a kind of shorthand.
The concept of 'style' is of large importance to Irish traditional musicians. At the start of the last century, distinct variation in regional styles of performance existed. With increased communications and travel opportunities, regional styles have become more standardised, with soloists aiming now to create their own, unique, distinctive style, often hybrids of whatever other influences the musician has chosen to include within their style.
Due to the importance placed on the melody in Irish music, harmony
should be kept simple (although, fitting with the melodic structure of most Irish tunes, this usually does not mean a "basic" I-IV-V chord progression), and instruments are played in strict unison
, always following the leading player. True counterpoint
is mostly unknown to traditional music, although a form of improvised "countermelody" is often used in the accompaniments of bouzouki
and guitar players. Much of the local character of a style comes from the type of decoration that is added to a tune.
and bouzouki
only entered the traditional Irish music world in the late 1960s. The bodhrán
, once known in Ireland as a tambourine
, is first mentioned in the 17th century, although probably is just an adaptation of the ancient Celtic war drum. The 4-string tenor banjo
, first used by Irish musicians in the US in the 1920s, is now fully accepted. Céilidh
bands of the 1940s often included a drum
set and stand-up bass as well as saxophone
s. Neither the drum kit nor the sax are accepted by purists, though the banjo is. Traditional harp-playing died out in the late 18th century, and was revived by the McPeake Family of Belfast, Derek Bell
, Mary O'Hara
and others in the mid-20th century. Although often encountered, it plays a fringe role in Irish Traditional music.
Instruments such as button accordion
and concertina
made their appearances in Irish traditional music late in the 19th century. There is little evidence for the concert flute
having played much part in traditional music. Traditional musicians prefer the wooden simple-style instrument to the Boehm-system of the modern orchestra. The mass-produced tin whistle is acceptable. A good case can be made that the Irish traditional music of the year 2006 had much more in common with that of the year 1906 than that of the year 1906 had in common with the music of the year 1806.
There is a three-cornered debate about which instruments are acceptable. Purists generally favour the line-up that can be heard on albums by The Chieftains
, The Clancy Brothers
, The Dubliners
, and The Bothy Band
. Modernists accept the drum kit of The Pogues
and The Corrs
, and the electric guitars of Horslips
. Classically-influenced composer such as Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin
and David Downes
will accept the piano.
It uses the standard GDAE tuning. The best-known regional fiddling traditions are from Donegal
, Sligo
, Sliabh Luachra
and Clare
.
The fiddling tradition of Sligo is perhaps most recognizable to outsiders, due to the popularity of American-based performers like Lad O'Beirne, Michael Coleman
, John McGrath, James Morrison
and Paddy Killoran
. These fiddlers did much to popularise Irish music in the States in the 1920s and 1930s. Other Sligo fiddlers included Martin Wynne and Fred Finn
.
Notable fiddlers from Clare include Mary Custy, Yvonne Casey, Paddy Canny
, Bobby Casey, John Kelly, Patrick Kelly
, Peadar O'Loughlin
, Pat O'Connor, Martin Hayes
and P. Joe Hayes.
Donegal has produced James Byrne
, Vincent Campbell, John Doherty
, and Con Cassidy.
Sliabh Luachra, a small area between Kerry
and Cork
, is known for Julia Clifford
, her brother Denis Murphy
, Sean Maguire, Paddy Cronin
and Padraig O'Keeffe
. Contemporary fiddlers from Sliabh Luachra include Matt Cranitch
, Gerry Harrington and Connie O'Connell, while Dubliner Séamus Creagh, actually from Westmeath, is imbued in the local style.
Modern performers include Kevin Burke, Maire Breatnach
, Matt Cranitch
, Paddy Cronin
, Frankie Gavin
, Paddy Glackin
, Cathal Hayden
, Martin Hayes
, Peter Horan
, Sean Keane
, James Kelly, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
, Brendan Mulvihill, Mairead Nesbitt
, Gerry O'Connor
, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
, and Paul O'Shaughnessy
.
There has been many notable fiddlers from United States in recent years such as Winifred Horan
, Liz Carroll
, and Eileen Ivers
.
The flute has been an integral part of Irish traditional music since roughly the middle of the 19th century, when art musicians largely abandoned the wooden simple-system flute (having a conical bore, and fewer keys) for the metal Boehm system
flutes of present-day classical music.
Although the choice of the Albert-system, wooden flute over the metal was initially driven by the fact that, being "outdated" castoffs, the old flutes were available cheaply second-hand, the wooden instrument has a distinct sound and continues to be commonly preferred by traditional musicians to this day. A number of excellent players—Joanie Madden
being perhaps the best known—use the Western concert flute
, but many others find that the simple system flute best suits traditional fluting. Original flutes from the pre-Boehm era continue in use, but since the 1960s a number of craftsmen have revived the art of wooden flute making. Some flutes are even made of PVC
; these are especially popular with new learners and as travelling instruments, being both less expensive than wooden instruments and far more resistant to changes in humidity.
The tin whistle
or metal whistle, which with its nearly identical fingering might be called a cousin of the simple-system flute, is also popular. It was mass-produced in 19th century Manchester England, as an inexpensive instrument. Clarke whistles almost identical to the first ones made by that company are still available, although the original version, pitched in C, has mostly been replaced for traditional music by that pitched in D, the "basic key" of traditional music. The other common design consists of a barrel
made of seamless tubing fitted into a plastic or wooden mouthpiece
.
Skilled craftsmen make fine custom whistles from a range of materials including not only aluminium, brass, and steel tubing but synthetic materials and tropical hardwoods; despite this, more than a few longtime professionals stick with ordinary factory made whistles.
Irish schoolchildren are generally taught the rudiments of playing on the tin whistle, just as school children in many other countries are taught the soprano recorder. At one time the whistle was thought of by many traditional musicians as merely a sort of "beginner's flute," but that attitude has disappeared in the face of talented whistlers such as Mary Bergin
, whose classic early seventies recording Feadóga Stáin (with bouzouki accompaniment by Alec Finn
) is often credited with revolutionising the whistle's place in the tradition.
The low whistle
, a derivative of the common tin whistle, is also popular, although some musicians find it less agile for session playing than the flute or the ordinary D whistle.
Notable present-day flute-players (sometimes called 'flautists' or 'fluters') include Matt Molloy
, Kevin Crawford
, Peter Horan
, Michael McGoldrick
, Desi Wilkinson, Conal O'Grada, James Reilly
, Emer Mayock, Joanie Madden
, and James Galway
, while whistlers include Paddy Moloney
, Carmel Gunning
, Paddy Keenan
, Seán Ryan
, Andrea Corr
, Mary Bergin
, Packie Byrne, and Cormac Breatnach.
, Leo Rowsome
and Willie Clancy
, in refined and ornate pieces, as well as showy, ornamented forms played by travelling pipers like John Cash and Johnny Doran
. The uilleann piping tradition had nearly died before being re-popularized by the likes of Paddy Moloney
(of the Chieftains
), and the formation of Na Píobairí Uilleann
, an organization open to pipers that included such legends as Rowsome and Ennis, as well as researcher and collector Breandán Breathnach
. Liam O'Flynn
is one of the most popular of modern performers along with Paddy Keenan
, John McSherry
, Davy Spillane
, Jerry O'Sullivan
, Mick O'Brien
and many more. Many Pavee (Traveller) families, such as the Fureys and Dorans and Keenans, are famous for the pipers among them.
Uilleann pipes
are among the most complex forms of bagpipes
; they possess a chanter
with a double reed and a two-octave range, three single-reed drones, and, in the complete version known as a full set, a trio of (regulators) all with double reeds and keys worked by the piper's forearm, capable of providing harmonic support for the melody. (Virtually all uilleann pipers begin playing with a half set, lacking the regulators and consisting of only bellows, bag, chanter, and drones. Some choose never to play the full set, and many make little use of the regulators.) The bag is filled with air by a bellows
held between the piper's elbow and side, rather than by the performer's lungs as in the highland pipes and almost all other forms of bagpipe, aside from the Scottish smallpipes
, the Northumbrian pipes of northern England, and the Border pipes
found in both parts of the Anglo-Scottish Border
country.
The uilleann pipes play a prominent part in a form of instrumental music called Fonn Mall, closely related to unaccompanied singing an sean nós
("in the old style"). Willie Clancy
, Leo Rowsome
, and Garret Barry
were among the many pipers famous in their day; Paddy Keenan
, Davy Spillane
and Robbie Hannon play these traditional airs today, among many others.
The harp is among the chief symbols of Ireland. The Celtic harp, seen on Irish coinage and used by Guinness, was played as long ago as the 10th century. In ancient times, the harpers were greatly respected, considered to have near-magical powers and assigned a high place amongst the most significant retainers of the Irish lords and chieftains. Perhaps the best known representative of this tradition of harping today is Turlough Ó Carolan, a blind 18th century harper who is often considered the unofficial national composer of Ireland. Thomas Connellan
, a slightly earlier Sligo harper, composed such well known airs as "The Dawning of the Day
"/"Raglan Road" and "Carolan's Dream".
The native Irish harping tradition was an aristocratic art music with its own canon and rules for arrangement and compositional structure, only tangentially associated with the folkloric music of the common people, the ancestor of present day Irish traditional music. Some of the late exponents of the harping tradition, such as O'Carolan, were influenced by the Italian Baroque art music of such composers as Vivaldi, which could be heard in the theatres and concert halls of Dublin. The harping tradition did not long outlast the native Gaelic aristocracy which supported it. By the early 19th century, the Irish harp and its music were for all intents and purposes dead. Tunes from the harping tradition survived only as unharmonised melodies which had been picked up by the folkloric tradition, or were preserved as notated in collections such as Edward Bunting
's, (he attended the Belfast Harp Festival
in 1792) in which the tunes were most often modified to make them fit for the drawing room pianofortes of the Anglicised middle and upper classes.
The first generations of 20th century revivalists, mostly playing the gut-strung (frequently replaced with nylon after the Second World War) neo-Celtic harp with the pads of their fingers rather than the old brass-strung harp plucked with long fingernails, tended to take the dance tunes and song airs of Irish traditional music, along with such old harp tunes as they could find, and applied to them techniques derived from the orchestral (pedal) harp and an approach to rhythm, arrangement, and tempo that often had more in common with mainstream classical music than with either the old harping tradition or the living tradition of Irish music. A separate Belfast tradition of harp-accompanied folk-singing was preserved by the McPeake Family. Over the past thirty years a revival of the early Irish harp has been growing, with replicas of the medieval instruments being played, using strings of brass, silver, and even gold. This revival grew through the work of a number of musicians including Arnold Dolmetsch
in 1930s England, Alan Stivell
in 1960s Brittany, and most importantly Ann Heymann in the USA from the 1970s to the present.
Notable players of the modern harp include Derek Bell
(of The Chieftains
), Laoise Kelly (of The Bumblebees), Grainne Hambly, Máire Ní Chathasaigh
, Mary O'Hara
, Antoinette McKenna
, Michael Rooney, Aine Minogue
, Patrick Ball
and Bonnie Shaljean. The best of these have a solid background in genuine Irish traditional music, often having strong competency on another instrument more common in the living tradition, such as the fiddle or concertina, and work very hard at adapting the harp to traditional music, as well as reconstructing what they can of the old harpers' music on the basis of the few manuscript sources which exist. However, the harp continues to occupy a place on the fringe of Irish traditional music.
), it is claimed that it was popular across the island. It was recorded in the U.S. by John Kimmel, The Flanagan Brothers, Eddie Herborn and Peter Conlon. While uncommon, the melodeon is still played in some parts of Ireland, in particular in Connemara
by Johnny Connolly.
Modern Irish accordion players generally prefer the 2 row button accordion. Unlike similar accordions used in other European and American music traditions, the rows are tuned a semi-tone apart. This allows the instrument to be played chromatically in melody. Currently accordions tuned to the keys of B/C and C#/D are by far the most popular systems.
The B/C accordion lends itself to a flowing style; it was popularized by Paddy O'Brien of Tipperary
in the late 1940s and 1950s, Joe Burke and Sonny Brogan
in the 1950s and 60s. Dublin native James Keane
brought the instrument to New York where he maintained an influential recording and performing career from the 1970s to the present. Other famous B/C players include Paddy O'Brien of County Offaly, Bobby Gardiner
, Finbarr Dwyer
, John Nolan and James Keane
.
The C#/D accordion lends itself to a punchier style and is particularly popular in the slides and polkas of Kerry Music. Notable players include Tony MacMahon
, Máirtín O'Connor
, Sharon Shannon
, Jackie Daly
, Joe Cooley
.
The piano accordion became highly popular during the 1950s and has flourished to the present day in céilí bands and for old time Irish dance music. Their greater range, ease of changing key, more fluent action, along with their strong musette tuning blended seamlessly with the other instruments and were highly valued during this period. They are the mainstay of the top Irish and Scottish ceilidh bands, including the Haste to the Wedding Celidh Band, the Gallowglass Céilí Band, the Fitzgerald Céilí Band, the McStocker Céilí Band. Dermot O'Brien
, Malachy Doris, Sean Quinn and Mick Foster are well known Irish solo masters of this instrument and were well recorded. The latest revival of traditional music from the late 1970s also revived the interest in this versatile instrument. Like the button key accordion, a new playing style has emerged with a dry tuning, lighter style of playing and a more rhythmically varied bass. The most notable players of this modern style are Karen Tweed
(England) and Alan Kelly
(Roscommon).
Concertinas are manufactured in several types, the most common in Irish traditional music being the Anglo system with a few musicians now playing the English system. Each differs from the other in construction and playing technique. The most distinctive characteristic of the Anglo system is that each button sounds a different note, depending on whether the bellows are compressed or expanded. Anglo concertinas typically have either two or three rows of buttons that sound notes, plus an "air button" located near the right thumb that allows the player to fill or empty the bellows without sounding a note.
Two-row Anglo concertinas usually have 20 buttons that sound notes. Each row of 10 buttons comprises notes within a common key. The two primary rows thus contain the notes of two musical keys, such as C and G. Each row is divided in two with five buttons playing lower-pitched notes of the given key on the left-hand end of the instrument and five buttons playing the higher pitched notes on the right-hand end. The row of buttons in the higher key is closer to the wrist of each hand. 20 key concertinas have a limited use for Irish traditional music due to the limited range of accidentals available.
Three-row concertinas add a third row of accidentals (i.e., sharps and flats not included in the keys represented by the two main rows) and redundant notes (i.e., notes that duplicate those in the main keys but are located in the third, outermost row) that enable the instrument to be played in virtually any key. A series of sequential notes can be played in the home-key rows by depressing a button, compressing the bellows, depressing the same button and extending the bellows, moving to the next button and repeating the process, and so on. A consequence of this arrangement is that the player often encounters occasions requiring a change in bellows direction, which produces a clear separation between the sounds of the two adjacent notes. This tends to give the music a more punctuated, bouncy sound that can be especially well suited to hornpipes or jigs.
English concertinas, by contrast, sound the same note for any given button, irrespective of the direction of bellows travel. Thus, any note can be played while the bellows is either expanded or compressed. As a consequence, sequential notes can be played without altering the bellows direction. This allows sequences of notes to be played in a smooth, continuous stream without the interruption of changing bellows direction.
Despite the inherent bounciness of the Anglo and the inherent smoothness of the English concertina systems, skilled players of Irish traditional music can achieve either effect on each type of instrument by adapting the playing style. On the Anglo, for example, the notes on various rows partially overlap and the third row contains additional redundant notes, so that the same note can be sounded with more than one button. Often, whereas one button will sound a given note on bellows compression, an alternative button in a different row will sound the same note on bellows expansion. Thus, by playing across the rows, the player can avoid changes in bellows direction from note to note where the musical objective is a smoother sound. Likewise, the English system accommodates playing styles that counteract its inherent smoothness and continuity between notes. Specifically, when the music calls for it, the player can choose to reverse bellows direction, causing sequential notes to be more distinctly articulated.
Popular concertina players include Niall Vallely
, Kitty Hayes
, Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh, Tim Collins, Gearoid O hAllmhurain, Mary MacNamara, Noel Hill and Padraig Rynne.
The four-string tenor banjo is played as a melody instrument by Irish traditional players, and is commonly tuned GDAE, an octave below the fiddle. It was brought to Ireland by returned emigrants from the United States
, where it had been developed by Africa
n slaves
. It is seldom strummed in Irish music (although older recordings will sometimes feature the banjo used as a backing instrument), instead being played as a melody instrument using either a plectrum
or a "thimble".
While the instrument's percussive sound can add greatly to the "lift" of a session
, a poorly played or overly loud banjo can be disruptive. Skilled and sensitive players will generally find themselves welcomed in "open" sessions
. Barney McKenna
of The Dubliners
is often credited with paving the way for the banjo's current popularity, and is still actively playing. Notable players include Kieran Hanrahan
, John Carty
, Angelina Carberry, Gerry O'Connor, and Kevin Griffin.
With a few exceptions, for example Tom Hanway
, the five-string banjo has had little role in Irish traditional music as a melody instrument. It has been used for accompaniment by the singers Margaret Barry
, Pecker Dunne
, Luke Kelly
, Al O'Donnell, Bobby Clancy
and Tommy Makem
.
The mandolin is becoming a somewhat more common instrument amongst Irish traditional musicians. Fiddle tunes are readily accessible to the mandolin player because of the equivalent range of the two instruments and the practically identical (allowing for the lack of frets on the fiddle) left hand fingerings.
Although almost any variety of acoustic mandolin might be adequate for Irish traditional music, virtually all Irish players prefer flat-backed instruments with oval sound holes to the Italian-style bowl-back mandolins or the carved-top mandolins with f-holes favoured by bluegrass mandolinists. The former are often too soft-toned to hold their own in a session (as well as having a tendency to not stay in place on the player's lap), whilst the latter tend to sound harsh and overbearing to the traditional ear. The f-hole mandolin, however, does come into its own in a traditional session, where its brighter tone cuts through the sonic clutter of a pub. Greatly preferred for formal performance and recording are flat-topped "Irish-style" mandolins (reminiscent of the WWI-era Martin Army-Navy mandolin) and carved (arch) top mandolins with oval soundholes, such as the Gibson A-style of the 1920s. Noteworthy Irish mandolinists include Andy Irvine (who almost always tunes the E down to D), Mick Moloney
, Paul Kelly, and Claudine Langille. John Sheahan
and Barney McKenna
, fiddle player and tenor banjo player respectively, with The Dubliners
are also accomplished Irish mandolin players. The Dubliners "Live at the Gaiety" DVD features an extensive mandolin duet of a three-tune "set," two hornpipes and a reel. The instruments used are flat-backed, oval hole examples as described above: in this case made by UK luthier Roger Bucknell of Fylde Guitars.
s. These are usually strummed with a plectrum (pick) to provide backing for the melody players or, sometimes, a singer. Irish backing tends to use chord voicings up and down the neck, rather than basic first or second position "cowboy chords"; unlike those used in jazz, these chord voicings seldom involve barre fingerings and often employ one or more open strings in combination with strings stopped at the fifth or higher frets. Modal (root and fifth without the third, neither major nor minor) chords are used extensively alongside the usual major and minor chords, as are suspended and sometimes more exotic augmented chords; however, the major and minor seventh chords are less employed than in many other styles of music. Players usually strum only two to four strings at a time, rather than across all six at once; the strings are often slightly muted with the palm of the plectrum (picking) hand.
The guitarist follows the leading melody player or singer precisely rather than trying to control the rhythm and tempo. Many players agree that the guitar part should take inspiration and direction from the melody.
Many of the earliest notable guitarists working in traditional music, such as Dáithí Sproule
and the Bothy Band
's Mícheál Ó Domhnaill
, tuned their instruments in "DADGAD" tuning, although many players use the standard "EADGBE" and "DADGBE" tunings: among others, Steve Cooney, Arty McGlynn
and John Doyle
. A host of other altered tunings are also used by some players.
Guitarists and Bouzouki players sometimes play melody instead of accompaniment, but this playing tends to be drowned out in anything but small sessions.
Although not traditional, the Irish bouzouki has found a home in the modern Irish traditional music scene. The Greek bouzouki was introduced to Irish traditional music in the late 1960s by Johnny Moynihan
and then popularized by Donal Lunny
, Andy Irvine
, and Alec Finn
. Today's Irish bouzouki (usually) has four courses of two strings (usually) tuned G2D3A3D4. The bass courses are most often tuned in unisons, one feature that distinguishes the Irish bouzouki from its Greek antecedent, although octaves in the bass are favored by some players. Instead of the staved round back of the Greek bouzouki, Irish bouzoukis usually have a flat or lightly arched back. Peter Abnett, the first instrument maker to build an Irish bouzouki (for Dónal Lunny in 1970) makes a three piece staved back. The top is either flat or carved like that of an arch top guitar
or mandolin
, although some builders carve both the back and the top. Alec Finn
and Mick Conneely are the only notable players still using a Greek bouzouki, one of the older style trixordo three course (six string) instruments tuned DAD.
A frame drum
, usually of bent wood and goatskin, the bodhrán is considered a relatively modern addition to traditional dance music. Some musicologists suggest its use was originally confined to the wrenboys on St. Stephen's Day
and other quasi-ritual processions. It was introduced/popularized in the 1960s by Seán Ó Riada
(although there are mentions of "tambourines" without zils being played as early as the mid 19th century), and quickly became popular. Notable players include Liam O'Maonlai (Hothouse Flowers) Johnny 'Ringo' McDonagh, Tommy Hayes
, Eamon Murray of Beoga, Colm Murphy, John Joe Kelly of Flook and Caroline Corr
of The Corrs
.
Mention should also be made here of the "bones" - two slender, curved pieces of bone or wood - and "spoons". Pairs of either are held together in one hand and shaken rhythmically to make a percussive, clacking sound.
Occasionally, at pub sessions, there are some non-traditional hand drum
s used, such as the West African Djembe
drum - which can produce a low booming bass note, as well as a high pitched tone - and the Caribbean Bongo drum
. These drums are used as a variation to, or combined with, the bodhrán during sessions.
, Mick Kinsella, Paul Moran, the Murphy family from County Wexford, Eddie Clarke and Brendan Power (the latter being of New Zealand
).
The Gaelic League was often accused of being a largely middle-class organization and of taking little heed of the interests or enjoyments of those living in rural areas of Ireland; most of the League's meetings were in fact held in London.
Religion also played a role in the re-development of Irish culture. The actual achievement of independence from Britain tallied closely with a new Irish establishment desire to separate Irish culture from the European mainstream, but the new Irish government also paid heed to clerical calls to curtail 'jazz dancing' and other suggestions of a dereliction in Irish morality—though it was not until 1935 that the Public Dance Halls Act curtailed the right of anyone to hold their own events; from then on, no public musical or dancing events could be held in a public space without a license and most of those were usually only granted to 'suitable' persons - often the parish priest.
Combined with continued emigration, and the priesthood's inevitable zeal in closing down un-licensed events, the upshot was to drive traditional music and dancing back into the cottage where it remained until returning migrants persuaded pub owners to host sessions in the early 1960s.
's The Chieftains
, The Clancy Brothers
, The Irish Rovers
, The Dubliners
and Sweeney's Men
were in large part responsible for a second wave of revitalization of Irish folk music in the 1960s, followed by Planxty
, The Bothy Band
and Clannad in the 70s. This revival was aided in part by a loose movement of musicians founded in 1951 with the aim of preserving traditional music, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
.
The 1960s saw a number of innovative performers. Christy Moore
and Dónal Lunny
, for example, first performing as a duo, and later creating two of the best-known bands of the era, Planxty and Moving Hearts
(in the 1980s). The Clancys broke open the field in the US in the early part of the decade, which inspired vocal groups like The Dubliners
, while Ceoltóirí Chualann
's instrumental music spawned perhaps the best-known Irish traditional band, The Chieftains, which formed in 1963.
By the 70s, Planxty
and Clannad set the stage for a major popular blossoming of Irish music. Formed in 1974, The Bothy Band became the spearcarriers of that movement; their début album, 1975 (1975), inspired a legion of fans. New groups that appeared in their wake included Moving Hearts formed by Dónal Lunny
and Christy Moore and featuring Davy Spillane on uilleann pipes - the first time this had effectively happened in a rock setting.
Van Morrison
is also renowned from the trad-rock scene, and is known for incorporating soul
and R&B.
and a form of Celtic fusion
pioneered in Ireland which incorporates Celtic music
, instrumentation and themes into a rock music
context. It can be seen as a key foundation of the development of highly successful mainstream Celtic bands and popular musical performers, as well as creating important derivatives through further fusions. Perhaps the most successful product of this scene was the band Thin Lizzy
. Formed in 1969 their first two albums were recognizably influenced by traditional Irish music and their first hit single ‘Whisky in the Jar’ in 1972, was a rock version of a traditional Irish song. From this point they began to move towards the hard rock that allowed them to gain a series of hit singles and albums, but retained some occasional elements of Celtic rock on later albums such as Jailbreak
(1976). Formed in 1970 Horslips
were the first Irish group to have the terms ‘Celtic rock’ applied to them, produced work that included traditional Irish/Celtic music and instrumentation, Celtic themes and imagery, concept albums based on Irish mythology
in a way that entered the territory of progressive rock all powered by a hard rock
sound. Horslips are considered important in the history of Irish rock as they were the first major band to enjoy success without having to leave their native country and can be seen as providing a template for Celtic rock in Ireland and elsewhere.
Traditional music, especially sean nós singing, played a major part in Irish popular music later in the century, with Van Morrison
, Hothouse Flowers
and Sinéad O'Connor
using traditional elements in popular songs. Enya
achieved enormous international success with New Age
/Celtic fusions. The Pogues
, led by Shane MacGowan
, helped fuse Irish folk with punk rock
. This resulted in top ten hits in Ireland, the UK and the USA. Afro-Celt Sound System combined Celtic instrumentals with West African influences and drum n bass in the 1990s.
In the 1980s, major folk bands included De Dannan
, Altan, Arcady, Dervish
and Patrick Street
. A growing interest in Irish music at this time helped many artistes gain more recognition abroad, including Mary Black
, and Sharon Shannon
. The BBC
screened a documentary series about the influence of Irish music called Bringing it all Back Home (a reference to both the Bob Dylan
album and the way in which Irish traditional music has travelled, especially in the New World following the Irish diaspora
, which in turn has come back to influence modern Irish rock music). This series also helped to raise the profile of many artistes relatively little known outside Ireland.
In the 2000s Beoga, Gráda
, Danú
and Teada
are among the youngest major instrumental bands of a largely traditional bent.
There are many other Irish bands developing fusions of local and Irish music such as Flook, Kíla
, Gráda and The Dave Munnelly Band.
A place to hear traditional Irish music as part of a living and evolving tradition is at Ionad Cultúrtha, which is a regional cultural centre for the traditional and contemporary arts in Ballyvourney (near Macroom in County Cork). It holds many music and visual art events and has a very progressive programming policy.
's Camden Town
at a bar called the Devonshire Arms
(although some ethnomusicologists believe that Irish immigrants in the United States may have held sessions before this); the practice was only later introduced to Ireland. By the 1960s pubs like O'Donoghues in Dublin were holding their own pub sessions.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
History
In Topographia HibernicaTopographia Hibernica
Topographia Hibernica , also known as Topographia Hiberniae, is an account of the landscape and people of Ireland written by Gerald of Wales around 1188, soon after the Norman invasion of Ireland...
(1188), Gerald de Barri conceded that the Irish were more skilled at playing music than any other nation he had seen. He claimed that the two main instruments used at this time were the "harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
" and "tabor
Tabor (instrument)
Tabor, or tabret, refers to a portable snare drum played with one hand. The word "tabor" is simply an English variant of a Latin-derived word meaning "drum" - cf. tambour , tamburo...
" (see bodhrán
Bodhrán
The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...
), that their music was fast and lively, and that their songs always began and ended with B-flat
B-flat
B-flat or B may refer to:* B-flat major* B-flat minor* The musical pitch B* B-flat Jazzclub in Berlin, Germany...
.
In A History of Irish Music (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood
W. H. Grattan Flood
Chevalier William Henry Grattan Flood , renowned musicologist and historian, was born in Lismore in 1857. As a writer and ecclesiastical composer, his personal contributions to Irish musical form produced enduring works. As an historian his output was prolific on topics of local and national...
wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland
Gaelic Ireland is the name given to the period when a Gaelic political order existed in Ireland. The order continued to exist after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans until about 1607 AD...
, there were at least ten instruments in general use. These were the cruit (a small harp) and clairseach
Clàrsach
Clàrsach or Cláirseach , is the generic Gaelic word for 'a harp', as derived from Middle Irish...
(a bigger harp with typically 30 strings), the timpan (a small string instrument
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
played with a bow
Bow (music)
In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
or plectrum
Plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
), the feadan (a fife
Fife (musical instrument)
A fife is a small, high-pitched, transverse flute that is similar to the piccolo, but louder and shriller due to its narrower bore. The fife originated in medieval Europe and is often used in military and marching bands. Someone who plays the fife is called a fifer...
), the buinne (an oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
or flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
), the guthbuinne (a bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
-type horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
), the bennbuabhal and corn (hornpipes
Hornpipe (musical instrument)
The hornpipe can refer to a specific instrument or a class of woodwind instruments consisting of a single reed, a small diameter melody pipe with finger holes and a bell traditionally made from animal horn...
), the cuislenna (bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
- see Great Irish Warpipes
Great Irish Warpipes
The Great Irish Warpipes are an instrument that in modern practice is identical, and historically was analogous or identical to the Great Highland Bagpipe. "Warpipes" is an English term; The first use of the Gaelic term in Ireland is recorded in a poem by John O'Naughton , in which the bagpipes...
), the stoc and sturgan (clarion
Clarion (instrument)
Clarion is a common name for a trumpet in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It also is used as a name for a 4' organ reed stop. There is wide confusion over whether clarion invariably refers to a type of trumpet or simply the upper register of the standard trumpet....
s or trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s), and the cnamha (castanets). There is also evidence of the fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
being used in the 8th century.
There are several collections of Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
folk music from the 18th century, but it was not until the 19th century that ballad printers became established in Dublin. Important collectors include George Petrie, Edward Bunting
Edward Bunting
Edward Bunting was an Irish musician and folk music collector.-Life:Bunting was born in County Armagh, Ireland. At the age of seven he was sent to study music at Drogheda and at eleven he was apprenticed to William Ware, organist at St. Anne's church in Belfast and lived with the family of Henry...
, Francis O'Neill
Francis O'Neill
Francis O'Neill was an Irish-born American police officer and collector of Irish traditional music.O'Neill was born in Tralibane, near Bantry, County Cork. At an early age he heard the music of local musicians, among them Peter Hagarty, Cormac Murphy and Timothy Dowling. At the age of 16, he...
, Canon James Goodman
Canon James Goodman
Canon James Goodman was a collector of Irish music. Raised in Ventry, County Kerry, a Gaeltacht area, he was a native Irish language speaker.-As a cleric:Goodman studied at Trinity College, Dublin, having gained a scholarship in 1847...
and many others. Though solo performance is preferred in the folk tradition, bands or at least small ensembles have probably been a part of Irish music since at least the mid-19th century, although this is a point of much contention among ethnomusicologists.
Irish traditional music
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
has survived more strongly against the forces of cinema, radio and the mass media than the indigenous folk music of most Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries. This was possibly due to the fact that the country was not a geographical battleground in either of the two world wars. Another potential factor was that the economy was largely agricultural, where oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
usually thrives. From the end of the second world war until the late fifties folk music was held in low regard. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the primary Irish organisation dedicated to the promotion of the music, song, dance and the language of Ireland. The name of the organisation is often abbreviated to Comhaltas or CCÉ...
(an Irish traditional music association) and the popularity of the Fleadh Cheoil
Fleadh Cheoil
The Fleadh Cheoil is an Irish music competition run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann or more commonly known as "Comhaltas" ....
(music festival) helped lead the revival of the music. The English Folk music scene
Folk music of England
Folk music of England refers to various types of traditionally based music, often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music, for which evidence exists from the later medieval period. It has been preserved and transmitted orally, through print and later through recordings...
also encouraged and gave self confidence to many Irish musicians. Following the success of The Clancy Brothers
The Clancy Brothers
The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...
in the USA in 1959, Irish folk music became fashionable again. The lush sentimental style of singers such as Delia Murphy
Delia Murphy
Delia Murphy was a singer and collector of Irish ballads. Her notable voice gave her the nickname the "Queen of Connemara".-Early life:...
was replaced by guitar-driven male groups such as The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
. Irish showband
Irish showband
The Irish Showband was a dance band format which was popular in Ireland during the early rock and roll era from mid 1950s to the late 1970s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six or seven piece dance band. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and cover...
s presented a mixture of pop music and folk dance tunes, though these died out during the seventies. The international success of The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
and subsequent musicians and groups has made Irish folk music a global brand.
Historically much old-time music
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
of the USA grew out of the music of Ireland, England and Scotland, as a result of cultural diffusion
Cultural diffusion
In cultural anthropology and cultural geography, cultural diffusion, as first conceptualized by Alfred L. Kroeber in his influential 1940 paper Stimulus Diffusion, or trans-cultural diffusion in later reformulations, is the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technologies,...
. By the 1970s Irish traditional music was again influencing music in the USA and further afield in Australia and Europe. It has occasionally been fused with rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and other genres, as in certain recordings of Horslips
Horslips
Horslips are an Irish Celtic rock band that compose, arrange and perform songs based on traditional Irish jigs and reels. The group are regarded as 'founding fathers of Celtic rock' for their fusion of traditional Irish music with rock music and went on to inspire many local and international acts....
, Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
, The Corrs
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...
, The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
, Enya
Enya
Enya is an Irish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter. Enya is an approximate transliteration of how Eithne is pronounced in the Donegal dialect of the Irish language, her native tongue.She began her musical career in 1980, when she briefly joined her family band Clannad before leaving to...
, Clannad, Riverdance
Riverdance
Riverdance is a theatrical show consisting of traditional Irish stepdancing, notable for its rapid leg movements while body and arms are kept largely stationary. It originated as an interval performance during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, a moment that is still considered a significant...
, and Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
.
Music for singing
Like all traditional musicTraditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, Irish folk music has changed slowly. Most folk songs are less than two hundred years old. One measure of its age is the language used. Modern Irish songs are written in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
. Most of the oldest songs and tunes are rural in origin and come from the older Irish language tradition. Modern songs and tunes often come from cities and towns, Gaeltacht and English-speaking Ireland.
Unaccompanied vocals ar sean nós
Sean-nós song
Sean-nós is a highly ornamented style of unaccompanied traditional Irish singing. It is a sean-nós activity, which also includes sean-nós dancing...
("in the old style") are considered the ultimate expression of traditional singing. This is usually performed solo (very occasionally as a duet). Sean-nós singing is highly ornamented and the voice is placed towards the top of the range. A true sean-nós singer will vary the melody of every verse, but not to the point of interfering with the words, which are considered to have as much importance as the melody. To the first-time listener, accustomed to pop and classical singers, sean-nós often sounds more "Arabic" or "Indian" than "Western".
Non-sean-nós traditional singing, even when accompaniment is used, uses patterns of ornamentation and melodic freedom derived from sean-nós singing, and, generally, a similar voice placement.
Caoineadh Songs
The term Caoineadh/kˠi:nʲɪ/ is an Irish languageIrish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
term which translates as crying/weeping. The Caoineadh-type song is therefore a lament
Lament
A lament or lamentation is a song, poem, or piece of music expressing grief, regret, or mourning.-History:Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. Laments are present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by...
song which is typified by lyrics which stress sorrow and pain. Traditionally, the Caoineadh song contained lyrics in which the singer lamented for Ireland after having being forced to emigrate due to political or financial reasons. The song may also lament the loss of a loved one (particularly a fair woman). Many Caoineadh songs have their roots/basis in The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
with particular reference to the presence of the British military during this period. Examples of Caoineadh songs include: Far Away in Australia, The Town I loved So Well and Four Green Fields.
Caoineadh singers were originally paid to lament for the departed at funerals, according to a number of Irish sources.
Music for dancing
Irish traditional music was largely meant (to the best of our current knowledge) for dancingDance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
at celebrations for wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
s, saint's days or other observances. Tunes are most usually divided into two eight-bar strains which are each played as many times as the performers feel is appropriate; Irish dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
is isometric
Isometre
Isometre is a music theory term describing the use of pulse without regular meter. See also: homorhythm. The music is currently used in the psalmsongs of the Orthodox Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, based on the rhythm made by Petrus Datheen , as well as some other churches....
. (16 measures are known as a "step", with one 8 bar strain for a "right foot" and the second for the "left foot" of the step. Tunes that are not so evenly divided are called "crooked".) This makes for an eminently danceable music, and Irish dance
Irish dance
Irish dancing or Irish dance is a group of traditional dance forms originating in Ireland which can broadly be divided into social dance and performance dances. Irish social dances can be divided further into céilí and set dancing...
has been widely exported abroad.
Traditional dances and tunes include reels
Reel (dance)
The reel is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type. In Scottish country dancing, the reel is one of the four traditional dances, the others being the jig, the strathspey and the waltz, and is also the name of a dance figure ....
(4/4), hornpipe
Hornpipe
The term hornpipe refers to any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and elsewhere from the late 17th century until the present day. It is said that hornpipe as a dance began around the 16th century on English sailing vessels...
s (4/4 with swung eighth notes), and jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
s (double and single jigs are in 6/8 time), as well as imported waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
es, mazurka
Mazurka
The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
s, polkas, and highlands or barndances (a sort of Irish version of the Scottish strathspey
Strathspey (dance)
A strathspey is a type of dance tune in 4/4 time. It is similar to a hornpipe but slower and more stately, and contains many dot-cut 'snaps'. A so-called Scotch snap is a short note before a dotted note, which in traditional playing is generally exaggerated rhythmically for musical expression...
). Jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
s come in various other forms for dancing — the slip jig
Slip jig
Slip jig refers to both a style within Irish music, and the Irish dance to music in slip-jig time. The slip jig is in 9/8 time, traditionally with accents on 5 of the 9 beats — two pairs of crotchet/quaver followed by a dotted crotchet note.The slip jig is one the four most common Irish...
and hop jig are commonly written in 9/8 time, the slide in 12/8. (The dance the hop jig is no longer performed under the auspices of An Coimisiun.) The forms of jig danced in hardshoe are known as double or treble jigs (for the doubles/trebles performed with the tip of the hardshoe), and the jigs danced in ghillies/pomps/slippers are known as light jigs.
Polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
s are a type of 2/4 tune mostly found in the Sliabh Luachra
Sliabh Luachra
Sliabh Luachra is a region in Munster, Ireland, located around the River Blackwater, on the County Cork/County Kerry/County Limerick borderland.-Music and literature:...
area, at the border of Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
and Kerry, in the south of Ireland. Another distinctive Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
rhythm is the Slide
Slide (tune type)
In Irish traditional music, a slide is a tune type in 12/8 akin to, and often confused with, a single jig. Slides originated the Sliabh Luachra region of southwestern Ireland....
, like a fast single jig in 12/8 time. The main differences between these types of tunes are in the time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
, tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
, and rhythmic emphasis. It should be noted that, as an aural music form, Irish traditional music is rather artificially confined by time signatures, which are not really capable of conveying the particular emphasis for each type of tune. An easy demonstration of this is any attempt to notate a slow air on the musical stave. Similarly, attempts by classically trained musicians to play traditional music by reading the common transcriptions are almost unrecognisable - the transcriptions exist only as a kind of shorthand.
The concept of 'style' is of large importance to Irish traditional musicians. At the start of the last century, distinct variation in regional styles of performance existed. With increased communications and travel opportunities, regional styles have become more standardised, with soloists aiming now to create their own, unique, distinctive style, often hybrids of whatever other influences the musician has chosen to include within their style.
Due to the importance placed on the melody in Irish music, harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
should be kept simple (although, fitting with the melodic structure of most Irish tunes, this usually does not mean a "basic" I-IV-V chord progression), and instruments are played in strict unison
Unison
In music, the word unison can be applied in more than one way. In general terms, it may refer to two notes sounding the same pitch, often but not always at the same time; or to the same musical voice being sounded by several voices or instruments together, either at the same pitch or at a distance...
, always following the leading player. True counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
is mostly unknown to traditional music, although a form of improvised "countermelody" is often used in the accompaniments of bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
and guitar players. Much of the local character of a style comes from the type of decoration that is added to a tune.
Instruments used in traditional Irish music
The guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
only entered the traditional Irish music world in the late 1960s. The bodhrán
Bodhrán
The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum ranging from 25 to 65 cm in diameter, with most drums measuring 35 to 45 cm . The sides of the drum are 9 to 20 cm deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side...
, once known in Ireland as a tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, is first mentioned in the 17th century, although probably is just an adaptation of the ancient Celtic war drum. The 4-string tenor banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, first used by Irish musicians in the US in the 1920s, is now fully accepted. Céilidh
Céilidh
In modern usage, a céilidh or ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. It originated in Ireland, but is now common throughout the Irish and Scottish diasporas...
bands of the 1940s often included a drum
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
set and stand-up bass as well as saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s. Neither the drum kit nor the sax are accepted by purists, though the banjo is. Traditional harp-playing died out in the late 18th century, and was revived by the McPeake Family of Belfast, Derek Bell
Derek Bell (musician)
George Derek Fleetwood Bell, MBE was an Northern Irish harpist, pianist, oboist, musicologist, and composer, best known for his accompaniment work on various instruments with The Chieftains....
, Mary O'Hara
Mary O'Hara
Mary O'Hara is an Irish soprano and harpist from County Sligo. O'Hara achieved fame on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Her recordings of that period influenced a generation of Irish female singers who credit O'Hara with influencing their style, among them Carmel...
and others in the mid-20th century. Although often encountered, it plays a fringe role in Irish Traditional music.
Instruments such as button accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
and concertina
Concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...
made their appearances in Irish traditional music late in the 19th century. There is little evidence for the concert flute
Western concert flute
The Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, or flute player....
having played much part in traditional music. Traditional musicians prefer the wooden simple-style instrument to the Boehm-system of the modern orchestra. The mass-produced tin whistle is acceptable. A good case can be made that the Irish traditional music of the year 2006 had much more in common with that of the year 1906 than that of the year 1906 had in common with the music of the year 1806.
There is a three-cornered debate about which instruments are acceptable. Purists generally favour the line-up that can be heard on albums by The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
, The Clancy Brothers
The Clancy Brothers
The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...
, The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
, and The Bothy Band
The Bothy Band
The Bothy Band was an Irish traditional band active during the late 1970s. It quickly gained a reputation as one of the most influential bands playing Irish traditional music...
. Modernists accept the drum kit of The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
and The Corrs
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...
, and the electric guitars of Horslips
Horslips
Horslips are an Irish Celtic rock band that compose, arrange and perform songs based on traditional Irish jigs and reels. The group are regarded as 'founding fathers of Celtic rock' for their fusion of traditional Irish music with rock music and went on to inspire many local and international acts....
. Classically-influenced composer such as Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin
Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin
Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin is an Irish musician. As a pianist, composer, recording artist and academic, he holds the Professorship of Music at the Irish World Music Centre of the University of Limerick...
and David Downes
David Downes (Irish composer)
David Downes is a composer, pianist, producer, and musical director who is best known for being the co-founder and musical director of the all-female Irish ensemble Celtic Woman.-Career:...
will accept the piano.
Fiddle
One of the most important instruments in the traditional repertoire, the fiddle (or violin - there is no physical difference) is played differently in widely-varying regional styles.It uses the standard GDAE tuning. The best-known regional fiddling traditions are from Donegal
Donegal fiddle tradition
The Donegal fiddle tradition is a type of Irish traditional music, based on a two-hundred year-old tradition of playing the fiddle in County Donegal, Ireland...
, Sligo
Sligo
Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
, Sliabh Luachra
Sliabh Luachra
Sliabh Luachra is a region in Munster, Ireland, located around the River Blackwater, on the County Cork/County Kerry/County Limerick borderland.-Music and literature:...
and Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
.
The fiddling tradition of Sligo is perhaps most recognizable to outsiders, due to the popularity of American-based performers like Lad O'Beirne, Michael Coleman
Michael Coleman (musician)
-Early years:Michael Coleman was born in Knockgrania, in the rural Killavil district, near Ballymote, County Sligo, Ireland. His father, James Coleman, was from Banada in County Roscommon, and a respected flute player...
, John McGrath, James Morrison
James Morrison (fiddler)
James or Jim Morrison , known as "The Professor", was a notable South Sligo-style Irish fiddler.Morrison was born in 1893 near Riverstown, County Sligo at the townland of Drumfin...
and Paddy Killoran
Paddy Killoran
Paddy Killoran was an Irish musician.Killoran was born near Ballymote, County Sligo, Ireland...
. These fiddlers did much to popularise Irish music in the States in the 1920s and 1930s. Other Sligo fiddlers included Martin Wynne and Fred Finn
Fred Finn
Fred Finn Fred was born in Killavil, Co. Sligo in 1919. His father Mick a Fianna Fáil activist and former councillor, was also a fiddle player and a contemporary of Michael Coleman. Fred was one of the most popular of the South Sligo musicians, renowned for his wit and humour as well as his highly...
.
Notable fiddlers from Clare include Mary Custy, Yvonne Casey, Paddy Canny
Paddy Canny
Paddy Canny was an Irish fiddle player. In a career that spanned over six decades, Canny was instrumental in popularizing Irish traditional music, both in Ireland and internationally...
, Bobby Casey, John Kelly, Patrick Kelly
Patrick Kelly (fiddler)
Patrick Kelly was an Irish folk fiddler from Cree, County Clare.He learned his music from the blind travelling fiddler, George Whelan....
, Peadar O'Loughlin
Peadar O'Loughlin
Peadar O'Loughlin is an Irish flute, fiddle, and uilleann pipes player from Kilmaley County Clare, Ireland who has been an institution in Irish music since the late 1940s and is best known for having played on the highly influential 1959 LP "All-Ireland Champions - Violin" , which was one of the...
, Pat O'Connor, Martin Hayes
Martin Hayes (musician)
Martin Hayes is a fiddler, born in Maghera in East County Clare, Ireland, and now living in West Hartford, Connecticut. He has been the All Ireland Fiddle Champion six times, and has won a National Entertainment Award, and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2000 award for Instrumentalist of the Year...
and P. Joe Hayes.
Donegal has produced James Byrne
James Byrne (musician)
James Byrne was a Donegal sheep herder, farmer and fiddle playing icon. He has been called one of Ireland's leading fiddle players.-Biography:...
, Vincent Campbell, John Doherty
John Doherty (musician)
John Doherty was an Irish folk fiddler.John Doherty was born in Ardara, County Donegal. He was born in 1900 and came from a famous clan of Irish Travellers who worked as a tinsmiths and horse traders...
, and Con Cassidy.
Sliabh Luachra, a small area between Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
and Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, is known for Julia Clifford
Julia Clifford
Julia Clifford was a fiddler and Irish traditional musician.Julia Murphy was born at Lisheen, Gneeveguilla, County Kerry, part of an area in west Munster known as Sliabh Luachra one of eight children. Her father Bill played flute, fife, and fiddle and had a fife and drum band...
, her brother Denis Murphy
Denis Murphy (Irish musician)
Denis Murphy was an Irish fiddler and noted traditional musician.Murphy was born in Lisheen, Gneeveguilla, County Kerry one of eight children of Bill and Mainie Murphy. His father played fife, flute and fiddle and had a fife and drum band. It was a house where music was played a lot with...
, Sean Maguire, Paddy Cronin
Paddy Cronin
Paddy Cronin is an Irish fiddler.Cronin was born in Ré Buí near Gneeveguilla, County Kerry in the 1920s. He was taught fiddle by Padraig O'Keeffe. In 1949, Seamus Ennis recorded him on acetate disc for Radió Éireann, copies of which are held in the Irish Traditional Music Archive. Shortly after...
and Padraig O'Keeffe
Padraig O'Keeffe
Padraig O'Keeffe was a noted Irish traditional musician.O'Keeffe was born in Glountane, Castleisland, County Kerry,into a large family where his father was the local national school headmaster. He was reared by his maternal grandparents...
. Contemporary fiddlers from Sliabh Luachra include Matt Cranitch
Matt Cranitch
Matt Cranitch is a well known Irish fiddle player.Dr. Cranitch is a founding member of Na Fili. He is a graduate in electrical engineering and music from University College Cork, lectures at the Cork Institute of Technology on subjects of electronic engineering and music technology...
, Gerry Harrington and Connie O'Connell, while Dubliner Séamus Creagh, actually from Westmeath, is imbued in the local style.
Modern performers include Kevin Burke, Maire Breatnach
Máire Breatnach
Máire Breatnach is one of the most prominent fiddle players in Ireland. She also sings in Irish on some of her albums. Since the early 1990s, she has had five solo albums, participated in many other albums , with substantive contributions in some cases, and contributed to many music CDs, as well as...
, Matt Cranitch
Matt Cranitch
Matt Cranitch is a well known Irish fiddle player.Dr. Cranitch is a founding member of Na Fili. He is a graduate in electrical engineering and music from University College Cork, lectures at the Cork Institute of Technology on subjects of electronic engineering and music technology...
, Paddy Cronin
Paddy Cronin
Paddy Cronin is an Irish fiddler.Cronin was born in Ré Buí near Gneeveguilla, County Kerry in the 1920s. He was taught fiddle by Padraig O'Keeffe. In 1949, Seamus Ennis recorded him on acetate disc for Radió Éireann, copies of which are held in the Irish Traditional Music Archive. Shortly after...
, Frankie Gavin
Frankie Gavin
Frankie Gavin, b.1956, Corrandulla, County Galway, is a fiddle player of traditional Irish music.Frankie Gavin is from a musical family; parents and siblings being players of the fiddle and accordion. As a child he played the tin whistle and, later, the flute. He received some formal training in...
, Paddy Glackin
Paddy Glackin
Paddy Glackin is an Irish fiddler from Clontarf, Dublin. His father Tom Glackin was from Donegal and Paddy's fiddle style reflects his family's Donegal roots. Glackin is considered one of the leading Irish fiddlers in the late 20th/early 21st centuries. He became fiddle champion at the All-Ireland...
, Cathal Hayden
Cathal Hayden
-Biography:Cathal Sean Hayden is an Irish fiddle and banjo player of note. He was born on 13 July 1963, in the village of the Rock, Co Tyrone outside Pomeroy, an area immersed in traditional music. The third in the family of eight, he was born into a deep musical background. His father played the...
, Martin Hayes
Martin Hayes (musician)
Martin Hayes is a fiddler, born in Maghera in East County Clare, Ireland, and now living in West Hartford, Connecticut. He has been the All Ireland Fiddle Champion six times, and has won a National Entertainment Award, and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2000 award for Instrumentalist of the Year...
, Peter Horan
Peter Horan
Peter Horan is an Irish flute and fiddle player who is known for having developed a unique style influenced by the local irish fiddling tradition. He was called "one of the country's best known flute and fiddle players" when he died.For nearly 30 years performed as a duet with the famous fiddler...
, Sean Keane
Sean Keane
Seán Keane may refer to:*Seán Keane , fiddle player of The Chieftains*Seán Keane , Irish folk singer; brother of singer Dolores Keane...
, James Kelly, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh is an Irish fiddler and the lead vocalist for the Irish traditional band Altan.-Biography:Ní Mhaonaigh grew up in Gweedore , County Donegal, on the northwest coast of Ireland....
, Brendan Mulvihill, Mairead Nesbitt
Máiréad Nesbitt
Máiréad Nesbitt is a Classical and Celtic music performer, most notably as a fiddler and violinist. She is currently the fiddler for the group Celtic Woman.- Background :...
, Gerry O'Connor
Gerry O'Connor
Gerry "Fiddle" O'Connor is a traditional Irish fiddle player.His family has played fiddle for at least four generations and Gerry learned his music from his mother, Rose O'Connor, and also from hand-written manuscripts passed down through the family.He later came under the influence of John Joe...
, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh is a fiddler, born in Dublin, Ireland. He is known for developing a drone-based fiddle style heavily influenced by the uilleann pipes and the music of Sliabh Luachra...
, and Paul O'Shaughnessy
Paul O'Shaughnessy
Paul Joseph O'Shaughnessy in Bury, England, is a retired English professional footballer who played as a defender for Bury in the Football League.-External links:...
.
There has been many notable fiddlers from United States in recent years such as Winifred Horan
Winifred Horan
Winifred Horan is an Irish-American fiddler. After classical training, she played with the all-female Celtic music ensemble Cherish the Ladies before becoming an original memberof the Irish traditional music group Solas.-Biography:...
, Liz Carroll
Liz Carroll
Liz Carroll is an Irish-American musician. She was born in Chicago of Irish parents. In 1974 she won the All-Ireland under 18 fiddle championship. The next year she won the All-Ireland Senior Fiddle Championship....
, and Eileen Ivers
Eileen Ivers
Eileen Ivers is an Irish-American musician.Eileen Ivers was born in New York City of Irish-born parents and grew up in the Bronx. She spent summers in Ireland and took up the fiddle at the age of nine. Her teacher was the Irish fiddler Martin Mulvihill. She toured with Mick Moloney's band The...
.
Flute and whistle
The flute has been an integral part of Irish traditional music since roughly the middle of the 19th century, when art musicians largely abandoned the wooden simple-system flute (having a conical bore, and fewer keys) for the metal Boehm system
Boehm System
The Boehm system is a system of keywork for the flute, created by inventor and flautist Theobald Boehm between 1831 and 1847.Prior to the development of the Boehm system, flutes were most commonly made of wood, with an inverse conical bore, eight keys, and tone holes that were small in size, and...
flutes of present-day classical music.
Although the choice of the Albert-system, wooden flute over the metal was initially driven by the fact that, being "outdated" castoffs, the old flutes were available cheaply second-hand, the wooden instrument has a distinct sound and continues to be commonly preferred by traditional musicians to this day. A number of excellent players—Joanie Madden
Joanie Madden
Joanie Madden is an Irish-American flute and whistle player of Irish Traditional Music. She is best known as leader of the all-female group Cherish the Ladies, but has also recorded and performed with numerous other musicians, and as a solo artist. She also teaches master classes and...
being perhaps the best known—use the Western concert flute
Western concert flute
The Western concert flute is a transverse woodwind instrument made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist, flutist, or flute player....
, but many others find that the simple system flute best suits traditional fluting. Original flutes from the pre-Boehm era continue in use, but since the 1960s a number of craftsmen have revived the art of wooden flute making. Some flutes are even made of PVC
Polyvinyl chloride
Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...
; these are especially popular with new learners and as travelling instruments, being both less expensive than wooden instruments and far more resistant to changes in humidity.
The tin whistle
Tin whistle
The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
or metal whistle, which with its nearly identical fingering might be called a cousin of the simple-system flute, is also popular. It was mass-produced in 19th century Manchester England, as an inexpensive instrument. Clarke whistles almost identical to the first ones made by that company are still available, although the original version, pitched in C, has mostly been replaced for traditional music by that pitched in D, the "basic key" of traditional music. The other common design consists of a barrel
Barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of vertical wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a standard size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. A small barrel is called a keg.For example, a...
made of seamless tubing fitted into a plastic or wooden mouthpiece
Mouthpiece (woodwind)
The mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument is that part of the instrument which is placed partly in the player's mouth. Single-reed instruments, capped double-reed instruments, and fipple flutes have mouthpieces while exposed double-reed instruments and open flutes do not.-Single-reed instruments:On...
.
Skilled craftsmen make fine custom whistles from a range of materials including not only aluminium, brass, and steel tubing but synthetic materials and tropical hardwoods; despite this, more than a few longtime professionals stick with ordinary factory made whistles.
Irish schoolchildren are generally taught the rudiments of playing on the tin whistle, just as school children in many other countries are taught the soprano recorder. At one time the whistle was thought of by many traditional musicians as merely a sort of "beginner's flute," but that attitude has disappeared in the face of talented whistlers such as Mary Bergin
Mary Bergin
Mary Bergin is an Irish folk musician who is widely acknowledged as one of the great masters of the tin whistle. She plays in both the Irish Traditional and Baroque styles.- Biography :...
, whose classic early seventies recording Feadóga Stáin (with bouzouki accompaniment by Alec Finn
Alec Finn
Alec Finn is an English-born Irish traditional musician who is famous for his unique style of accompaniment on the bouzouki. He is best known for founding De Dannan with Frankie Gavin, Ringo MacDonagh and Charlie Piggott after a series of music sessions at Tigh Hughes, An Spidéal, Co. Galway in...
) is often credited with revolutionising the whistle's place in the tradition.
The low whistle
Low whistle
The low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of modern Irish musicians and groups such as Riverdance and Davy Spillane, and is increasingly...
, a derivative of the common tin whistle, is also popular, although some musicians find it less agile for session playing than the flute or the ordinary D whistle.
Notable present-day flute-players (sometimes called 'flautists' or 'fluters') include Matt Molloy
Matt Molloy
Matt Molloy is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at only seventeen years old...
, Kevin Crawford
Kevin Crawford
Kevin Crawford is a flute, tin whistle and bodhrán player. Born on 6 December 1967 in Birmingham, Englandto Irish parents who emigrated from Miltown Malbay, County Clare...
, Peter Horan
Peter Horan
Peter Horan is an Irish flute and fiddle player who is known for having developed a unique style influenced by the local irish fiddling tradition. He was called "one of the country's best known flute and fiddle players" when he died.For nearly 30 years performed as a duet with the famous fiddler...
, Michael McGoldrick
Michael McGoldrick
Michael McGoldrick is a flute and tin whistle player. He also plays the Uilleann pipes and low whistle. He is well known for his ability to skate switch and regular with the same level of ability.-Bands:...
, Desi Wilkinson, Conal O'Grada, James Reilly
James Reilly
James Reilly is the name of:*James Bernard Reilly , U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania*James E. Reilly , American television script writer*James F. Reilly , American astronaut...
, Emer Mayock, Joanie Madden
Joanie Madden
Joanie Madden is an Irish-American flute and whistle player of Irish Traditional Music. She is best known as leader of the all-female group Cherish the Ladies, but has also recorded and performed with numerous other musicians, and as a solo artist. She also teaches master classes and...
, and James Galway
James Galway
- External links : IMGArtists.com 15 September 2008. AllAboutJazz.com 5 August 2008.*...
, while whistlers include Paddy Moloney
Paddy Moloney
Paddy Moloney is one of the founders of the Irish musical group The Chieftains and has played on every one of their albums.He was born in Donnycarney in Dublin. His mother bought him a tin whistle when he was six and at the age of eight he started to learn the Uilleann pipes. He also plays button...
, Carmel Gunning
Carmel Gunning
Carmel Gunning is an Irish composer and musician, from Sligo, Ireland. Gunning is one of Ireland's most accomplished tin whistle players who is also known for her singing and flute playing. Gunning's rich stylised form of whistle playing and tradition stems from her homeland of Geevagh in South...
, Paddy Keenan
Paddy Keenan
Paddy Keenan is an Irish player of the uilleann pipes who first gained fame as a founding member of The Bothy Band. Since that group's dissolution in the late 1970s, Keenan has released a number of solo and collaborative recordings, and continues to tour both as a soloist, and with...
, Seán Ryan
Seán Ryan (Irish fiddler)
Seán Ryan was a famous Irish master fiddler and whistler.Ryan was born at Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland. He won the Oireachtas in 1954, the Senior All Ireland Fiddle Championship in 1955 and 1956, and the All Ireland Duet Championship title with P.J. Moloney in 1956. Sean had 3 sisters and 6...
, Andrea Corr
Andrea Corr
Andrea Jane Corr is an Irish musician, songwriter and actress. Corr debuted in 1990 as the lead singer of the Celtic folk rock and pop rock group The Corrs along with her three elder siblings Caroline, Sharon, and Jim...
, Mary Bergin
Mary Bergin
Mary Bergin is an Irish folk musician who is widely acknowledged as one of the great masters of the tin whistle. She plays in both the Irish Traditional and Baroque styles.- Biography :...
, Packie Byrne, and Cormac Breatnach.
Uilleann pipes
Uilleann pipes are complex and said to take years to learn to play. It was common to have learning to play the pipes said to be 7 years learning, 7 years practising and 7 years playing before a piper could be said to have mastered his instrument. The uilleann pipes developed around the beginning of the 18th century, the history of which is depicted in carvings and pictures from contemporary sources. Its modern form had arrived by the 1890s, and was played by gentlemen pipers like Seamus EnnisSéamus Ennis
Séamus Ennis was an Irish piper, singer and folk-song collector.- Early years :In 1908 James Ennis, Séamus's father, was in a pawn-shop in London. Ennis bought a bag of small pieces of Uilleann pipes. They were made in the early nineteenth century by Coyne of Thomas Street in Dublin. James worked...
, Leo Rowsome
Leo Rowsome
Leo Rowsome was the third generation of an unbroken line of uilleann pipers. He was performer, manufacturer and teacher of the uilleann pipes - the complete master of his instrument...
and Willie Clancy
Willie Clancy
Willie Clancy was an Irish uilleann piper.Clancy was born into a musical family at Islandbawn near Miltown Malbay, County Clare. His parents both sang and played concertina, and his father also played the flute...
, in refined and ornate pieces, as well as showy, ornamented forms played by travelling pipers like John Cash and Johnny Doran
Johnny Doran
Johnny Doran was an Irish uilleann piper.- Life :Johnny Doran was born in 1907 in Rathnew, Co. Wicklow...
. The uilleann piping tradition had nearly died before being re-popularized by the likes of Paddy Moloney
Paddy Moloney
Paddy Moloney is one of the founders of the Irish musical group The Chieftains and has played on every one of their albums.He was born in Donnycarney in Dublin. His mother bought him a tin whistle when he was six and at the age of eight he started to learn the Uilleann pipes. He also plays button...
(of the Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
), and the formation of Na Píobairí Uilleann
Na Píobairí Uilleann
Na Píobairí Uilleann is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of the Irish Uilleann pipes and its music.-Organisation:...
, an organization open to pipers that included such legends as Rowsome and Ennis, as well as researcher and collector Breandán Breathnach
Breandán Breathnach
Breandán Breathnach was an Irish music collector and Uilleann piper.Breathnach worked as a civil servant with the Department of Education and was responsible for collecting music from around Ireland. By the time of his death he had collected over 7,000 tunes published from 1963...
. Liam O'Flynn
Liam O'Flynn
Liam O'Flynn is a master uilleann piper and prominent Irish folk musician. In addition to an impressive solo career and his work with the Irish traditional group Planxty, O'Flynn has recorded with many prominent international musical artists, including Mark Knopfler, the Everly Brothers, Enya,...
is one of the most popular of modern performers along with Paddy Keenan
Paddy Keenan
Paddy Keenan is an Irish player of the uilleann pipes who first gained fame as a founding member of The Bothy Band. Since that group's dissolution in the late 1970s, Keenan has released a number of solo and collaborative recordings, and continues to tour both as a soloist, and with...
, John McSherry
John McSherry (musician)
John McSherry is an Irish musician who plays the Uilleann pipes and tin whistle. He is known for being a founding member of Lunasa and Coolfin and has performed on recordings by a number of well-known artists in Irish traditional music.-Biography:...
, Davy Spillane
Davy Spillane
Davy Spillane is a songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle.early yearsDavy was born in Dublin in 1959 . At the age of 12 he started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him and inspired him with his love of all music genres...
, Jerry O'Sullivan
Jerry O'Sullivan
Jerry O'Sullivan is a contemporary Irish-American musician.Jerry was born in New York. As a youngster he learned Scottish highland bagpipes. Following a visit to his cousins in Dublin he took up uilleann pipes....
, Mick O'Brien
Mick O'Brien (musician)
-Life:Born in Dublin, Ireland, Mick began his musical education on the Uilleann pipes in the renowned Thomas Street Pipers Club in Dublin. His father Dinny O'Brien, a traditional "box" player, was also a constant source of tunes and inspiration....
and many more. Many Pavee (Traveller) families, such as the Fureys and Dorans and Keenans, are famous for the pipers among them.
Uilleann pipes
Uilleann pipes
The uilleann pipes or //; ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland, their current name, earlier known in English as "union pipes", is a part translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann , from their method of inflation.The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a...
are among the most complex forms of bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
; they possess a chanter
Chanter
The chanter is the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody. It consists of a number of finger-holes, and in its simpler forms looks similar to a recorder...
with a double reed and a two-octave range, three single-reed drones, and, in the complete version known as a full set, a trio of (regulators) all with double reeds and keys worked by the piper's forearm, capable of providing harmonic support for the melody. (Virtually all uilleann pipers begin playing with a half set, lacking the regulators and consisting of only bellows, bag, chanter, and drones. Some choose never to play the full set, and many make little use of the regulators.) The bag is filled with air by a bellows
Bellows
A bellows is a device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location.Basically, a bellows is a deformable container which has an outlet nozzle. When the volume of the bellows is decreased, the air escapes through the outlet...
held between the piper's elbow and side, rather than by the performer's lungs as in the highland pipes and almost all other forms of bagpipe, aside from the Scottish smallpipes
Scottish smallpipes
The Scottish smallpipe, in its modern form, is a bellows-blown bagpipe developed by Colin Ross and others, to be playable according to the Great Highland Bagpipe fingering system. There are surviving examples of similar historical instruments such as the mouth-blown Montgomery smallpipes in E,...
, the Northumbrian pipes of northern England, and the Border pipes
Border pipes
The border pipes are a type of bagpipe related to the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe. It is perhaps confusable with the Scottish smallpipe, although it is a quite different and much older instrument...
found in both parts of the Anglo-Scottish Border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
country.
The uilleann pipes play a prominent part in a form of instrumental music called Fonn Mall, closely related to unaccompanied singing an sean nós
Sean-nós song
Sean-nós is a highly ornamented style of unaccompanied traditional Irish singing. It is a sean-nós activity, which also includes sean-nós dancing...
("in the old style"). Willie Clancy
Willie Clancy
Willie Clancy was an Irish uilleann piper.Clancy was born into a musical family at Islandbawn near Miltown Malbay, County Clare. His parents both sang and played concertina, and his father also played the flute...
, Leo Rowsome
Leo Rowsome
Leo Rowsome was the third generation of an unbroken line of uilleann pipers. He was performer, manufacturer and teacher of the uilleann pipes - the complete master of his instrument...
, and Garret Barry
Garret Barry
Garret Barry was an Irish soldier of the 17th century who served in the Eighty Years' War and the Irish Confederate Wars.He came from an old landed Hiberno-Norman family, the De Barry family, in County Cork in southern Ireland. Like many Irish Catholic gentlemen of his generation, particularly...
were among the many pipers famous in their day; Paddy Keenan
Paddy Keenan
Paddy Keenan is an Irish player of the uilleann pipes who first gained fame as a founding member of The Bothy Band. Since that group's dissolution in the late 1970s, Keenan has released a number of solo and collaborative recordings, and continues to tour both as a soloist, and with...
, Davy Spillane
Davy Spillane
Davy Spillane is a songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle.early yearsDavy was born in Dublin in 1959 . At the age of 12 he started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him and inspired him with his love of all music genres...
and Robbie Hannon play these traditional airs today, among many others.
Harp
The harp is among the chief symbols of Ireland. The Celtic harp, seen on Irish coinage and used by Guinness, was played as long ago as the 10th century. In ancient times, the harpers were greatly respected, considered to have near-magical powers and assigned a high place amongst the most significant retainers of the Irish lords and chieftains. Perhaps the best known representative of this tradition of harping today is Turlough Ó Carolan, a blind 18th century harper who is often considered the unofficial national composer of Ireland. Thomas Connellan
Thomas Connellan
Thomas Connellan was an Irish composer.Connellan was born about 1640/1645 at Cloonmahon, County Sligo. Both he and his brother, William Connellan became harpers...
, a slightly earlier Sligo harper, composed such well known airs as "The Dawning of the Day
The Dawning of the Day
The Dawning of the Day is an old Irish air composed by the blind harpist Thomas Connellan in the 17th Century. An Irish-language song with this name was published by Edward Walsh in 1847 in Irish Popular Songs and later translated into English as The Dawning of the Day...
"/"Raglan Road" and "Carolan's Dream".
The native Irish harping tradition was an aristocratic art music with its own canon and rules for arrangement and compositional structure, only tangentially associated with the folkloric music of the common people, the ancestor of present day Irish traditional music. Some of the late exponents of the harping tradition, such as O'Carolan, were influenced by the Italian Baroque art music of such composers as Vivaldi, which could be heard in the theatres and concert halls of Dublin. The harping tradition did not long outlast the native Gaelic aristocracy which supported it. By the early 19th century, the Irish harp and its music were for all intents and purposes dead. Tunes from the harping tradition survived only as unharmonised melodies which had been picked up by the folkloric tradition, or were preserved as notated in collections such as Edward Bunting
Edward Bunting
Edward Bunting was an Irish musician and folk music collector.-Life:Bunting was born in County Armagh, Ireland. At the age of seven he was sent to study music at Drogheda and at eleven he was apprenticed to William Ware, organist at St. Anne's church in Belfast and lived with the family of Henry...
's, (he attended the Belfast Harp Festival
Belfast Harp Festival
The Belfast Harp Festival, 11-14th July 1792, was a four-day event organised by Dr.James McDonnell, Robert Bradshaw and Henry Joy McCracken, following a six year lapse from the last Granard harp festival...
in 1792) in which the tunes were most often modified to make them fit for the drawing room pianofortes of the Anglicised middle and upper classes.
The first generations of 20th century revivalists, mostly playing the gut-strung (frequently replaced with nylon after the Second World War) neo-Celtic harp with the pads of their fingers rather than the old brass-strung harp plucked with long fingernails, tended to take the dance tunes and song airs of Irish traditional music, along with such old harp tunes as they could find, and applied to them techniques derived from the orchestral (pedal) harp and an approach to rhythm, arrangement, and tempo that often had more in common with mainstream classical music than with either the old harping tradition or the living tradition of Irish music. A separate Belfast tradition of harp-accompanied folk-singing was preserved by the McPeake Family. Over the past thirty years a revival of the early Irish harp has been growing, with replicas of the medieval instruments being played, using strings of brass, silver, and even gold. This revival grew through the work of a number of musicians including Arnold Dolmetsch
Arnold Dolmetsch
Arnold Dolmetsch , was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey...
in 1930s England, Alan Stivell
Alan Stivell
Alan Stivell is a Breton musician and singer, recording artist and master of the celtic harp who from the early 1970s revived global interest in the Celtic harp and Celtic music as part of world music.- Background: learning Breton music and culture :Alan was born in the Auvergnat town of Riom...
in 1960s Brittany, and most importantly Ann Heymann in the USA from the 1970s to the present.
Notable players of the modern harp include Derek Bell
Derek Bell (musician)
George Derek Fleetwood Bell, MBE was an Northern Irish harpist, pianist, oboist, musicologist, and composer, best known for his accompaniment work on various instruments with The Chieftains....
(of The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
), Laoise Kelly (of The Bumblebees), Grainne Hambly, Máire Ní Chathasaigh
Máire Ní Chathasaigh
Máire Ní Chathasaigh is an Irish harpist and singer. She began playing at only eleven years old, inspired by her family, many of whom are noted musicians from West Cork. She drew heavily on traditional styles, but also created new techniques of ornamentation...
, Mary O'Hara
Mary O'Hara
Mary O'Hara is an Irish soprano and harpist from County Sligo. O'Hara achieved fame on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Her recordings of that period influenced a generation of Irish female singers who credit O'Hara with influencing their style, among them Carmel...
, Antoinette McKenna
Antoinette McKenna
Antoinette McKenna is a singer and harp player who accompanies her husband, Joe McKenna, a piper. They are both from Dublin, Ireland where husband Joe learned to play pipes from Leo Rowsome and other members of the famed Pipers Club.-References:...
, Michael Rooney, Aine Minogue
Áine Minogue
Áine Minogue is a harpist born in Borrisokane, County Tipperary, Ireland, now living in New England in the U.S.A. She began playing the harp at age twelve.- Discography :*Were You at the Ro *The Mysts of Time...
, Patrick Ball
Patrick Ball
Patrick Ball is a scientist, technologist, computer programmer, and an important figure in the global human rights movement. According to the New York Times Magazine, he is "one of the most admired figures in the field." He leads the Human Rights Program at Benetech, the Silicon Valley nonprofit...
and Bonnie Shaljean. The best of these have a solid background in genuine Irish traditional music, often having strong competency on another instrument more common in the living tradition, such as the fiddle or concertina, and work very hard at adapting the harp to traditional music, as well as reconstructing what they can of the old harpers' music on the basis of the few manuscript sources which exist. However, the harp continues to occupy a place on the fringe of Irish traditional music.
Accordion and concertina
The accordion plays a major part in modern Irish music. The accordion spread to Ireland late in the 19th century. In its ten-key form (melodeonMelodeon (organ)
A melodeon is a type of 19th century reed organ with a foot-operated vacuum bellows, and a piano keyboard. It differs from the related harmonium, which uses a pressure bellows. Melodeons were manufactured in the United States sometime after 1812 until the Civil War era...
), it is claimed that it was popular across the island. It was recorded in the U.S. by John Kimmel, The Flanagan Brothers, Eddie Herborn and Peter Conlon. While uncommon, the melodeon is still played in some parts of Ireland, in particular in Connemara
Connemara
Connemara is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.-Overview:...
by Johnny Connolly.
Modern Irish accordion players generally prefer the 2 row button accordion. Unlike similar accordions used in other European and American music traditions, the rows are tuned a semi-tone apart. This allows the instrument to be played chromatically in melody. Currently accordions tuned to the keys of B/C and C#/D are by far the most popular systems.
The B/C accordion lends itself to a flowing style; it was popularized by Paddy O'Brien of Tipperary
Tipperary
Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam....
in the late 1940s and 1950s, Joe Burke and Sonny Brogan
Sonny Brogan
Sonny Brogan was an Irish accordion player from the 1930s to the 1960s, and was one of Ireland's most popular traditional musicians. He was one of the earliest advocates of the two-row B/C button accordion in traditional music, and popularised it the 1950s and 60s...
in the 1950s and 60s. Dublin native James Keane
James Keane (musician)
James Keane is an Irish traditional musician and accordion player. The Italian Castagnari company issued and continues a line of signature instruments called keanebox in his honor....
brought the instrument to New York where he maintained an influential recording and performing career from the 1970s to the present. Other famous B/C players include Paddy O'Brien of County Offaly, Bobby Gardiner
Bobby Gardiner
Bobby Gardiner is an Irish accordionist and lilter.-Biography:Irish Accordion Master Bobby Gardiner was born in Aughdarra, Lisdoonvarna, the Burren area of Co. Clare. He began playing at the age of eight, on his mother, Delia's, old melodeon with the likes of Micho Russell and Micleen Conlon.At...
, Finbarr Dwyer
Finbarr Dwyer
Finbarr Dwyer is a traditional Irish accordion player from the famed Dwyer musical family. He was born in Castletownbere, Co. Cork on 20 September 1946, began playing accordion at the age of three, and began composing at the age of nine. Both of his parents played accordion and his father also...
, John Nolan and James Keane
James Keane
James Keane may refer to:*James Keane , American actor*James Keane , Catholic prelate*James Keane , Australian ice hockey player*James Keane , Irish accordionist...
.
The C#/D accordion lends itself to a punchier style and is particularly popular in the slides and polkas of Kerry Music. Notable players include Tony MacMahon
Tony MacMahon
Tony MacMahon is an Irish button accordion player and broadcaster. Among his influences were accordionists Joe Cooley and Sonny Brogan, as well as piper Willie Clancy, fiddler Bobby Casey, and singer and piper Seamus Ennis....
, Máirtín O'Connor
Máirtín O'Connor
Máirtín O'Connor is an Irish button accordionist who began playing the accordion at the age of nine, and his career has seen him as a member of many traditional music groups including, Midnight Well, De Dannan, The Boys of the Lough, and Skylark....
, Sharon Shannon
Sharon Shannon
Sharon Shannon is an Irish musician. She is best known for her work with the accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 album Sharon Shannon is the best selling album of traditional Irish music ever released there...
, Jackie Daly
Jackie Daly
Jackie Daly is an Irish button accordion and concertina player. He has been a member of a number of prominent Irish traditional-music bands, including De Dannan, Patrick Street, Arcady, and Buttons & Bows.-Biography:...
, Joe Cooley
Joe Cooley
Joe Cooley was an Irish musician known for his traditional accordion music.Cooley was born in Peterswell, Co. Galway in 1924. Both his parents were melodeon players, and Joe began playing accordion at age 10. As a teen, Joe played in the Midlands area and eventually found himself in Dublin in...
.
The piano accordion became highly popular during the 1950s and has flourished to the present day in céilí bands and for old time Irish dance music. Their greater range, ease of changing key, more fluent action, along with their strong musette tuning blended seamlessly with the other instruments and were highly valued during this period. They are the mainstay of the top Irish and Scottish ceilidh bands, including the Haste to the Wedding Celidh Band, the Gallowglass Céilí Band, the Fitzgerald Céilí Band, the McStocker Céilí Band. Dermot O'Brien
Dermot O'Brien
Dermot O'Brien was an Irish sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club St. Mary's and was a member of the Louth senior inter-county team from the 1950s until the 1960s. O'Brien captained Louth to the All-Ireland title in 1957. O'Brien was also a renowned musician and singer and...
, Malachy Doris, Sean Quinn and Mick Foster are well known Irish solo masters of this instrument and were well recorded. The latest revival of traditional music from the late 1970s also revived the interest in this versatile instrument. Like the button key accordion, a new playing style has emerged with a dry tuning, lighter style of playing and a more rhythmically varied bass. The most notable players of this modern style are Karen Tweed
Karen Tweed
Karen Tweed is a piano accordionist from London, England.-Biography:Tweed began to play the piano accordion at the age of 11, studying from button and piano accordion virtuoso John Whelan, and went on to win the first of 5 all-Ireland championships in 1977...
(England) and Alan Kelly
Alan Kelly
Alan Kelly is an English-born former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Preston North End, Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers along with short loan spells at Stockport County and Birmingham City. He also represented the Republic of Ireland internationally wining 24 caps for...
(Roscommon).
Concertinas are manufactured in several types, the most common in Irish traditional music being the Anglo system with a few musicians now playing the English system. Each differs from the other in construction and playing technique. The most distinctive characteristic of the Anglo system is that each button sounds a different note, depending on whether the bellows are compressed or expanded. Anglo concertinas typically have either two or three rows of buttons that sound notes, plus an "air button" located near the right thumb that allows the player to fill or empty the bellows without sounding a note.
Two-row Anglo concertinas usually have 20 buttons that sound notes. Each row of 10 buttons comprises notes within a common key. The two primary rows thus contain the notes of two musical keys, such as C and G. Each row is divided in two with five buttons playing lower-pitched notes of the given key on the left-hand end of the instrument and five buttons playing the higher pitched notes on the right-hand end. The row of buttons in the higher key is closer to the wrist of each hand. 20 key concertinas have a limited use for Irish traditional music due to the limited range of accidentals available.
Three-row concertinas add a third row of accidentals (i.e., sharps and flats not included in the keys represented by the two main rows) and redundant notes (i.e., notes that duplicate those in the main keys but are located in the third, outermost row) that enable the instrument to be played in virtually any key. A series of sequential notes can be played in the home-key rows by depressing a button, compressing the bellows, depressing the same button and extending the bellows, moving to the next button and repeating the process, and so on. A consequence of this arrangement is that the player often encounters occasions requiring a change in bellows direction, which produces a clear separation between the sounds of the two adjacent notes. This tends to give the music a more punctuated, bouncy sound that can be especially well suited to hornpipes or jigs.
English concertinas, by contrast, sound the same note for any given button, irrespective of the direction of bellows travel. Thus, any note can be played while the bellows is either expanded or compressed. As a consequence, sequential notes can be played without altering the bellows direction. This allows sequences of notes to be played in a smooth, continuous stream without the interruption of changing bellows direction.
Despite the inherent bounciness of the Anglo and the inherent smoothness of the English concertina systems, skilled players of Irish traditional music can achieve either effect on each type of instrument by adapting the playing style. On the Anglo, for example, the notes on various rows partially overlap and the third row contains additional redundant notes, so that the same note can be sounded with more than one button. Often, whereas one button will sound a given note on bellows compression, an alternative button in a different row will sound the same note on bellows expansion. Thus, by playing across the rows, the player can avoid changes in bellows direction from note to note where the musical objective is a smoother sound. Likewise, the English system accommodates playing styles that counteract its inherent smoothness and continuity between notes. Specifically, when the music calls for it, the player can choose to reverse bellows direction, causing sequential notes to be more distinctly articulated.
Popular concertina players include Niall Vallely
Niall Vallely
Niall Vallely is an Irish musician, born about 1970 in Armagh, Northern Ireland. In 1966 his parents, Brian and Eithne Vallely had founded the Armagh Piper's Club, but he chose to learn the concertina instead, from the age of seven. His brother Cillian plays the uillean pipes and low whistle,...
, Kitty Hayes
Kitty Hayes
Kitty Hayes was a well-known concertina-player in Shanaway, Milltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland.Kitty Smith was born in the townland of Fahanlunaghta, close to Lahinch. She was the daughter of Peter Smith, a locally well-known concertina player. Kitty started playing at a young age, attracted...
, Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh, Tim Collins, Gearoid O hAllmhurain, Mary MacNamara, Noel Hill and Padraig Rynne.
Banjo
The four-string tenor banjo is played as a melody instrument by Irish traditional players, and is commonly tuned GDAE, an octave below the fiddle. It was brought to Ireland by returned emigrants from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where it had been developed by Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. It is seldom strummed in Irish music (although older recordings will sometimes feature the banjo used as a backing instrument), instead being played as a melody instrument using either a plectrum
Plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
or a "thimble".
While the instrument's percussive sound can add greatly to the "lift" of a session
Irish traditional music session
Irish traditional music sessions are mostly informal gatherings at which people play Irish traditional music. The Irish language word for "session" is seisiún...
, a poorly played or overly loud banjo can be disruptive. Skilled and sensitive players will generally find themselves welcomed in "open" sessions
Irish traditional music session
Irish traditional music sessions are mostly informal gatherings at which people play Irish traditional music. The Irish language word for "session" is seisiún...
. Barney McKenna
Barney McKenna
Bernard Noël "Barney" McKenna or Banjo Barney as he is known amongst his fellow musicians, is an Irish musician who plays the tenor banjo, mandolin, and melodeon. He is most renowned as a banjo player...
of The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
is often credited with paving the way for the banjo's current popularity, and is still actively playing. Notable players include Kieran Hanrahan
Kieran Hanrahan
Kieran Hanrahan is an Irish radio host and musician, born in Ennis, Co. Clare in 1957. He began playing traditional Irish music on the tenor banjo at the age of fourteen, and had won the All-Ireland banjo championship by the time he was eighteen...
, John Carty
John Carty (musician)
John Carty is an Irish traditional musician. He plays fiddle, tenor banjo, tenor guitar and occasionally the flute. He is very interested in the North Connacht traditional music style.He was born in London, Carty now lives in Boyle, County Roscommon....
, Angelina Carberry, Gerry O'Connor, and Kevin Griffin.
With a few exceptions, for example Tom Hanway
Tom Hanway
Tom Hanway was born on August 20, 1961 in Cleveland, Ohio, grew up in Larchmont, Westchester County, New York, and attended Hampshire College. He is an American 5-string banjoist, composer, author, and an originator of "Celtic fingerstyle" banjo...
, the five-string banjo has had little role in Irish traditional music as a melody instrument. It has been used for accompaniment by the singers Margaret Barry
Margaret Barry
Margaret Barry was a traditional Irish singer and banjo player.Born in Cork into a family of Travellers and street singers, she taught herself how to play the zither banjo and the fiddle at a young age. At the age of sixteen, after a family disagreement, Margaret left home and started performing...
, Pecker Dunne
Pecker Dunne
Patrick "Pecker" Dunne is an Irish musician. He was born in his parents' horse-drawn caravan.His family were Irish Travellers originally from County Wexford, where his father was a fiddle player...
, Luke Kelly
Luke Kelly
Luke Kelly was an Irish singer and folk musician from Dublin, Ireland, notable as a founding member of the band The Dubliners.-Early life:...
, Al O'Donnell, Bobby Clancy
Bobby Clancy
Bobby Clancy was born in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland. He was the twin brother of Joan Clancy, and a member of the Irish folk group, the Clancy Brothers...
and Tommy Makem
Tommy Makem
Thomas "Tommy" Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, guitar, tin whistle, and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone...
.
Mandolin
Although almost any variety of acoustic mandolin might be adequate for Irish traditional music, virtually all Irish players prefer flat-backed instruments with oval sound holes to the Italian-style bowl-back mandolins or the carved-top mandolins with f-holes favoured by bluegrass mandolinists. The former are often too soft-toned to hold their own in a session (as well as having a tendency to not stay in place on the player's lap), whilst the latter tend to sound harsh and overbearing to the traditional ear. The f-hole mandolin, however, does come into its own in a traditional session, where its brighter tone cuts through the sonic clutter of a pub. Greatly preferred for formal performance and recording are flat-topped "Irish-style" mandolins (reminiscent of the WWI-era Martin Army-Navy mandolin) and carved (arch) top mandolins with oval soundholes, such as the Gibson A-style of the 1920s. Noteworthy Irish mandolinists include Andy Irvine (who almost always tunes the E down to D), Mick Moloney
Mick Moloney
Michael "Mick" Moloney is a traditional Irish musician and scholar. Born in Limerick, County Limerick, he was an important figure on the Dublin folk-song revival in the 1960s. In 1973, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, Paul Kelly, and Claudine Langille. John Sheahan
John Sheahan
John Sheahan is a notable Irish violinist, folk musician, composer and member of the folk band The Dubliners. Sheahan was born in Dublin and lives in Mulhuddart, County Dublin, though his family are natives of Glin, County Limerick...
and Barney McKenna
Barney McKenna
Bernard Noël "Barney" McKenna or Banjo Barney as he is known amongst his fellow musicians, is an Irish musician who plays the tenor banjo, mandolin, and melodeon. He is most renowned as a banjo player...
, fiddle player and tenor banjo player respectively, with The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
are also accomplished Irish mandolin players. The Dubliners "Live at the Gaiety" DVD features an extensive mandolin duet of a three-tune "set," two hornpipes and a reel. The instruments used are flat-backed, oval hole examples as described above: in this case made by UK luthier Roger Bucknell of Fylde Guitars.
Guitar
The guitar is not traditional in Irish music but has become commonplace in modern sessionIrish traditional music session
Irish traditional music sessions are mostly informal gatherings at which people play Irish traditional music. The Irish language word for "session" is seisiún...
s. These are usually strummed with a plectrum (pick) to provide backing for the melody players or, sometimes, a singer. Irish backing tends to use chord voicings up and down the neck, rather than basic first or second position "cowboy chords"; unlike those used in jazz, these chord voicings seldom involve barre fingerings and often employ one or more open strings in combination with strings stopped at the fifth or higher frets. Modal (root and fifth without the third, neither major nor minor) chords are used extensively alongside the usual major and minor chords, as are suspended and sometimes more exotic augmented chords; however, the major and minor seventh chords are less employed than in many other styles of music. Players usually strum only two to four strings at a time, rather than across all six at once; the strings are often slightly muted with the palm of the plectrum (picking) hand.
The guitarist follows the leading melody player or singer precisely rather than trying to control the rhythm and tempo. Many players agree that the guitar part should take inspiration and direction from the melody.
Many of the earliest notable guitarists working in traditional music, such as Dáithí Sproule
Dáithí Sproule
Dáithí Sproule is a guitarist and singer of traditional Irish music from Derry, Northern Ireland. His niece is the singer songwriter Claire Sproule.-Biography:...
and the Bothy Band
Bothy band
A bothy band is a musical group which comes from the farming culture of nineteenth century Scotland. At that time agriculture was relatively labour-intensive. As a result large farms often had a small community associated with them, the farm toun. This was made up of married couples who lived in...
's Mícheál Ó Domhnaill
Mícheál Ó Domhnaill
Mícheál Ó Domhnaill was an Irish singer, guitarist, and composer, who was a major influence on Irish traditional music in the second half of the twentieth century...
, tuned their instruments in "DADGAD" tuning, although many players use the standard "EADGBE" and "DADGBE" tunings: among others, Steve Cooney, Arty McGlynn
Arty McGlynn
Arty McGlynn is an Irish guitarist born in Omagh, County Tyrone. In addition to his solo work, he has collaborated with different notable groups such as Patrick Street, Planxty, Four Men and a Dog, De Dannan and the Van Morrison Band. He played guitar on the critically acclaimed 1989 Van Morrison...
and John Doyle
John Doyle (musician)
John Doyle is an Irish musician and songwriter. For four years he served as acoustic guitarist with the Irish/American band Solas. He is now an active solo artist...
. A host of other altered tunings are also used by some players.
Guitarists and Bouzouki players sometimes play melody instead of accompaniment, but this playing tends to be drowned out in anything but small sessions.
Bouzouki
Johnny Moynihan
John "Johnny" Moynihan , is a folk singer based in Dublin, Ireland. He is often credited as being responsible for introducing the bouzouki and the Irish bouzouki into Irish music in the mid 1960s. Known as "The Bard of Dalymount", as a young man he played in the band Sweeney's Men with Andy Irvine,...
and then popularized by Donal Lunny
Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician. Lunny has been at the forefront of the evolution of traditional Irish music for more than thirty-five years and has participated within the renaissance of traditional Irish music in that time period...
, Andy Irvine
Andy Irvine (musician)
Andrew Kennedy 'Andy' Irvine is a folk musician, singer, and songwriter, and a founding member of the popular band Planxty. He is an accomplished player of the mandolin, bouzouki, mandola, guitar-bouzouki, harmonica and hurdy-gurdy....
, and Alec Finn
Alec Finn
Alec Finn is an English-born Irish traditional musician who is famous for his unique style of accompaniment on the bouzouki. He is best known for founding De Dannan with Frankie Gavin, Ringo MacDonagh and Charlie Piggott after a series of music sessions at Tigh Hughes, An Spidéal, Co. Galway in...
. Today's Irish bouzouki (usually) has four courses of two strings (usually) tuned G2D3A3D4. The bass courses are most often tuned in unisons, one feature that distinguishes the Irish bouzouki from its Greek antecedent, although octaves in the bass are favored by some players. Instead of the staved round back of the Greek bouzouki, Irish bouzoukis usually have a flat or lightly arched back. Peter Abnett, the first instrument maker to build an Irish bouzouki (for Dónal Lunny in 1970) makes a three piece staved back. The top is either flat or carved like that of an arch top guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
or mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, although some builders carve both the back and the top. Alec Finn
Alec Finn
Alec Finn is an English-born Irish traditional musician who is famous for his unique style of accompaniment on the bouzouki. He is best known for founding De Dannan with Frankie Gavin, Ringo MacDonagh and Charlie Piggott after a series of music sessions at Tigh Hughes, An Spidéal, Co. Galway in...
and Mick Conneely are the only notable players still using a Greek bouzouki, one of the older style trixordo three course (six string) instruments tuned DAD.
Bodhrán
Frame drum
A frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead width greater than its depth. Usually the single drumhead is made of rawhide or man-made materials. Shells are traditionally constructed of bent wood scarf jointed together; plywood and man-made materials are also used. Some frame drums have mechanical...
, usually of bent wood and goatskin, the bodhrán is considered a relatively modern addition to traditional dance music. Some musicologists suggest its use was originally confined to the wrenboys on St. Stephen's Day
St. Stephen's Day
St. Stephen's Day, or the Feast of St. Stephen, is a Christian saint's day celebrated on 26 December in the Western Church and 27 December in the Eastern Church. Many Eastern Orthodox churches adhere to the Julian calendar and mark St. Stephen's Day on 27 December according to that calendar, which...
and other quasi-ritual processions. It was introduced/popularized in the 1960s by Seán Ó Riada
Seán Ó Riada
Seán Ó Riada , was a composer and perhaps the single most influential figure in the revival of Irish traditional music during the 1960s...
(although there are mentions of "tambourines" without zils being played as early as the mid 19th century), and quickly became popular. Notable players include Liam O'Maonlai (Hothouse Flowers) Johnny 'Ringo' McDonagh, Tommy Hayes
Tommy Hayes
Tommy Hayes is a Cook Island rugby union player. He plays as a fly-half.Cook Islands international, joined Moseley RFC for the second half of the 2006/07 season after spending seasons with Bristol, Worcester Warriors, and six seasons with Glasgow, and has also...
, Eamon Murray of Beoga, Colm Murphy, John Joe Kelly of Flook and Caroline Corr
Caroline Corr
Caroline Corr is an Irish singer and drummer for the Celtic folk rock band The Corrs. In addition to the drums, Caroline also plays the bodhrán and piano...
of The Corrs
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...
.
Mention should also be made here of the "bones" - two slender, curved pieces of bone or wood - and "spoons". Pairs of either are held together in one hand and shaken rhythmically to make a percussive, clacking sound.
Occasionally, at pub sessions, there are some non-traditional hand drum
Hand drum
A hand drum is any type of drum that is typically played with the bare hand rather than a stick, mallet, hammer, or other type of beater. The simplest type of hand drum is the frame drum, which consists of a shallow, cylindrical shell with a drumhead attached to one of the open ends.-Types:The...
s used, such as the West African Djembe
Djembe
A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....
drum - which can produce a low booming bass note, as well as a high pitched tone - and the Caribbean Bongo drum
Bongo drum
Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
. These drums are used as a variation to, or combined with, the bodhrán during sessions.
Harmonica
Although not as well-documented within the tradition as other free-reed instruments, the Irish harmonica tradition is represented by Rick EppingRick Epping
Rick Epping is a California-born musician who has immersed himself in American old-time and Irish traditional music since the 1960s. He is an accomplished player of the harmonica, concertina, banjo and jaw harp....
, Mick Kinsella, Paul Moran, the Murphy family from County Wexford, Eddie Clarke and Brendan Power (the latter being of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
).
Late 19th century revival and the 20th century
The revival of interest in Irish traditional culture was closely linked to Nationalist calls for independence and was catalysed by the foundation of the Gaelic League in 1893. This sought to encourage the rediscovery and affirmation of Irish traditional arts by focusing upon the Irish language, but also established an annual competition, the Feis Cheoil, in 1903 as a focus for its activities.The Gaelic League was often accused of being a largely middle-class organization and of taking little heed of the interests or enjoyments of those living in rural areas of Ireland; most of the League's meetings were in fact held in London.
Religion also played a role in the re-development of Irish culture. The actual achievement of independence from Britain tallied closely with a new Irish establishment desire to separate Irish culture from the European mainstream, but the new Irish government also paid heed to clerical calls to curtail 'jazz dancing' and other suggestions of a dereliction in Irish morality—though it was not until 1935 that the Public Dance Halls Act curtailed the right of anyone to hold their own events; from then on, no public musical or dancing events could be held in a public space without a license and most of those were usually only granted to 'suitable' persons - often the parish priest.
Combined with continued emigration, and the priesthood's inevitable zeal in closing down un-licensed events, the upshot was to drive traditional music and dancing back into the cottage where it remained until returning migrants persuaded pub owners to host sessions in the early 1960s.
Second revival in the 1960s and 70s
Seán Ó RiadaSeán Ó Riada
Seán Ó Riada , was a composer and perhaps the single most influential figure in the revival of Irish traditional music during the 1960s...
's The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
, The Clancy Brothers
The Clancy Brothers
The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music singing group, most popular in the 1960s, they were famed for their woolly Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. The brothers were Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, Tom Clancy, Bobby Clancy...
, The Irish Rovers
The Irish Rovers
The Irish Rovers is a Canadian Irish folk group created in 1963 and named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover". The group is best known for their international television series, and renditions of traditional Irish drinking songs, as well as early hits, Shel Silverstein's "The Unicorn",...
, The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
and Sweeney's Men
Sweeney's Men
Sweeney's Men was an Irish traditional band. They emerged from the late 1960s Irish roots revival, along with groups such as The Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers. The founding line-up in May 1966 was 'Galway Joe' Dolan, Johnny Moynihan and Andy Irvine....
were in large part responsible for a second wave of revitalization of Irish folk music in the 1960s, followed by Planxty
Planxty
Planxty is an Irish folk music band formed in the 1970s, consisting initially of Christy Moore , Dónal Lunny , Andy Irvine , and Liam O'Flynn...
, The Bothy Band
The Bothy Band
The Bothy Band was an Irish traditional band active during the late 1970s. It quickly gained a reputation as one of the most influential bands playing Irish traditional music...
and Clannad in the 70s. This revival was aided in part by a loose movement of musicians founded in 1951 with the aim of preserving traditional music, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the primary Irish organisation dedicated to the promotion of the music, song, dance and the language of Ireland. The name of the organisation is often abbreviated to Comhaltas or CCÉ...
.
The 1960s saw a number of innovative performers. Christy Moore
Christy Moore
Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...
and Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician. Lunny has been at the forefront of the evolution of traditional Irish music for more than thirty-five years and has participated within the renaissance of traditional Irish music in that time period...
, for example, first performing as a duo, and later creating two of the best-known bands of the era, Planxty and Moving Hearts
Moving Hearts
Moving Hearts is an Irish folk-rock band formed in 1981. They followed in the footsteps of Horslips in combining Irish traditional music with rock and roll, and also added elements of jazz to their sound.-Career:...
(in the 1980s). The Clancys broke open the field in the US in the early part of the decade, which inspired vocal groups like The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
, while Ceoltóirí Chualann
Ceoltóirí Chualann
Ceoltóirí Chualann was an Irish traditional band, led by Seán Ó Riada, which included many of the founding members of The Chieftains. Ceoltóirí is the Irish word for musicians, and Cualann is the name of an area just outside Dublin where Ó Riada lived...
's instrumental music spawned perhaps the best-known Irish traditional band, The Chieftains, which formed in 1963.
By the 70s, Planxty
Planxty
Planxty is an Irish folk music band formed in the 1970s, consisting initially of Christy Moore , Dónal Lunny , Andy Irvine , and Liam O'Flynn...
and Clannad set the stage for a major popular blossoming of Irish music. Formed in 1974, The Bothy Band became the spearcarriers of that movement; their début album, 1975 (1975), inspired a legion of fans. New groups that appeared in their wake included Moving Hearts formed by Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny is an Irish folk musician. Lunny has been at the forefront of the evolution of traditional Irish music for more than thirty-five years and has participated within the renaissance of traditional Irish music in that time period...
and Christy Moore and featuring Davy Spillane on uilleann pipes - the first time this had effectively happened in a rock setting.
Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
is also renowned from the trad-rock scene, and is known for incorporating soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and R&B.
Celtic rock
Celtic rock is a genre of folk rockFolk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
and a form of Celtic fusion
Celtic Fusion
Celtic fusion is an umbrella term for modern music which incorporates influences considered "Celtic," or Celtic music which incorporates modern music. It is a syncretic musical tradition which borrows freely from the perceived "Celtic" musical traditions of all the Celtic nations, as well as from...
pioneered in Ireland which incorporates Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
, instrumentation and themes into a rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
context. It can be seen as a key foundation of the development of highly successful mainstream Celtic bands and popular musical performers, as well as creating important derivatives through further fusions. Perhaps the most successful product of this scene was the band Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
. Formed in 1969 their first two albums were recognizably influenced by traditional Irish music and their first hit single ‘Whisky in the Jar’ in 1972, was a rock version of a traditional Irish song. From this point they began to move towards the hard rock that allowed them to gain a series of hit singles and albums, but retained some occasional elements of Celtic rock on later albums such as Jailbreak
Jailbreak
Jailbreak or jailbreaking may refer to:*A prison escape*74 Jailbreak, an album by the rock band AC/DC*"Jailbreak" , a song by the rock band AC/DC*Jailbreak , a 1976 album by the rock band Thin Lizzy...
(1976). Formed in 1970 Horslips
Horslips
Horslips are an Irish Celtic rock band that compose, arrange and perform songs based on traditional Irish jigs and reels. The group are regarded as 'founding fathers of Celtic rock' for their fusion of traditional Irish music with rock music and went on to inspire many local and international acts....
were the first Irish group to have the terms ‘Celtic rock’ applied to them, produced work that included traditional Irish/Celtic music and instrumentation, Celtic themes and imagery, concept albums based on Irish mythology
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
in a way that entered the territory of progressive rock all powered by a hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
sound. Horslips are considered important in the history of Irish rock as they were the first major band to enjoy success without having to leave their native country and can be seen as providing a template for Celtic rock in Ireland and elsewhere.
Late 20th century: Folk-rock and more...
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Hothouse Flowers
Hothouse Flowers
The Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock group that combines traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel and rock.-Career:The group first formed in 1985 when Liam Ó Maonlaí and Fiachna Ó Braonáin began performing as street musicians, or buskers, on the streets of Dublin,Ireland as "The...
and Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
using traditional elements in popular songs. Enya
Enya
Enya is an Irish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter. Enya is an approximate transliteration of how Eithne is pronounced in the Donegal dialect of the Irish language, her native tongue.She began her musical career in 1980, when she briefly joined her family band Clannad before leaving to...
achieved enormous international success with New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
/Celtic fusions. The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
, led by Shane MacGowan
Shane MacGowan
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...
, helped fuse Irish folk with punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
. This resulted in top ten hits in Ireland, the UK and the USA. Afro-Celt Sound System combined Celtic instrumentals with West African influences and drum n bass in the 1990s.
In the 1980s, major folk bands included De Dannan
De Dannan
De Dannan was an Irish folk music group. They were formed by Frankie Gavin , Alec Finn , Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh and Charlie Piggott as a result of sessions in Hughes's Pub in An Spidéal, County Galway, subsequently inviting Dolores Keane to join the band...
, Altan, Arcady, Dervish
Dervish (band)
Dervish are a traditional Irish music group from County Sligo, Ireland. They were formed in 1989 by Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, Martin McGinley, Brian McDonagh and Michael Holmes. The band was originally formed to record an album of local music which was later released as “The Boys of Sligo”. They...
and Patrick Street
Patrick Street
Patrick Street is an Irish folk group.The band was formed in Dublin in 1986 with Kevin Burke on fiddle, Jackie Daly on button accordion, Andy Irvine on bouzouki and vocals, and Arty McGlynn on guitar...
. A growing interest in Irish music at this time helped many artistes gain more recognition abroad, including Mary Black
Mary Black
Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....
, and Sharon Shannon
Sharon Shannon
Sharon Shannon is an Irish musician. She is best known for her work with the accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 album Sharon Shannon is the best selling album of traditional Irish music ever released there...
. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
screened a documentary series about the influence of Irish music called Bringing it all Back Home (a reference to both the Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
album and the way in which Irish traditional music has travelled, especially in the New World following the Irish diaspora
Irish diaspora
thumb|Night Train with Reaper by London Irish artist [[Brian Whelan]] from the book Myth of Return, 2007The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa,...
, which in turn has come back to influence modern Irish rock music). This series also helped to raise the profile of many artistes relatively little known outside Ireland.
In the 2000s Beoga, Gráda
Gráda
Gráda is a traditional Irish music band, founded in 2001, whose members are a mix of Irish and New Zealand musicians. Gráda are based in Dublin and Galway, Ireland, but spend much of their time touring internationally...
, Danú
Danú
Danú is an Irish traditional music band.The members of Danú met in Waterford in Southeastern Ireland in 1994. After performing in the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in 2005, the then thrown-together group decided to consolidate as a band....
and Teada
Téada
Téada is a traditional Irish music group from Ireland. The band comprises five members. The members are Oisín Mac Diarmada who plays the Téada is a traditional [[Irish music]] group from [[Ireland]]. The band comprises five members. The members are [[Oisín Mac Diarmada]] who plays the Téada is a...
are among the youngest major instrumental bands of a largely traditional bent.
There are many other Irish bands developing fusions of local and Irish music such as Flook, Kíla
Kíla
Kíla are an Irish folk music/World music group, originally formed in 1987 in the Irish Language secondary school, Coláiste Eoin in Co. Dublin. Kila's blend of Irish traditional music and World Music with a modern rock sensibility is generally credited with breathing new life into contemporary Irish...
, Gráda and The Dave Munnelly Band.
Pub sessions
Pub sessions are now the home for much of Irish traditional music, which takes place at informal gatherings in country and urban pubs. The first known of these modern pub sessions took place in 1947 in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Camden Town
Camden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...
at a bar called the Devonshire Arms
Devonshire Arms
The Devonshire Arms is a public house in London, UK, said to be "London's most famous alternative venue " It serves a clientele drawn from a variety of alternative subcultures including Industrial, Metal, Punk and Cyber, although its décor is gothic and this is the subculture with which it is...
(although some ethnomusicologists believe that Irish immigrants in the United States may have held sessions before this); the practice was only later introduced to Ireland. By the 1960s pubs like O'Donoghues in Dublin were holding their own pub sessions.
Audio samples
See also
- List of Irish musicians
- Comhaltas Ceoltóirí ÉireannComhaltas Ceoltóirí ÉireannComhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is the primary Irish organisation dedicated to the promotion of the music, song, dance and the language of Ireland. The name of the organisation is often abbreviated to Comhaltas or CCÉ...
- Sean NósSean-nós songSean-nós is a highly ornamented style of unaccompanied traditional Irish singing. It is a sean-nós activity, which also includes sean-nós dancing...
- List of All-Ireland Champions
- List of Irish music collectors
- Traditional Irish SingersTraditional Irish SingersSome of the traditional Irish singers alphabetically listed below are known to have sung in both the Irish and English language and if so are listed in both sections below as well known singers of macaronic Irish songs.-Mainly English language songs:...
- Traditional Gaelic musicTraditional Gaelic musicThe traditional music of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, with the reel and jig synonymous with these traditions. The emigration of Gaels to Cape Breton has also resulted in a unique strain of Gaelic music evolving there....
- Celtic musicCeltic musicCeltic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
- Irish rockIrish rockRock and roll has been a part of the music of Ireland since the 1960s, when the British Invasion brought British blues, psychedelic rock and other styles to the island...
- Irish Recorded Music AssociationIrish Recorded Music AssociationIrish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:...
- Irish topics
- Irish Rebel musicIrish rebel musicIrish rebel music is a subgenre of Irish folk music, with much the same instrumentation, but with lyrics predominantly concerned with Irish republicanism.-History:...
- Irish traditional music sessionIrish traditional music sessionIrish traditional music sessions are mostly informal gatherings at which people play Irish traditional music. The Irish language word for "session" is seisiún...
External links
- Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann A global movement promoting Irish traditional music and culture
- Irish Traditional Music Archive National public reference archive and resource centre for traditional song, instrumental music and dance of Ireland
- The Irish Traditional Music Tune Index A searchable database of traditional dance tunes which identifies sources for tunes on commercial recordings and in tune books
- TheSession.org an online tune database and discussion site for adherents of Irish Traditional Music
- TradTune.com is another database of traditional folk music from Ireland and elsewhere
- Martin Dardis Web Site Irish folk and ballad song lyrics and guitar chords with videos
- Liam's Irish Traditional Music
- Historical Notes about Irish Melodies
- Ceól Ólta News and actual information on Folk Music, with an accent on Irish/Celtic Music
- Contemporary Music Centre, Dublin Ireland's national resource and archive centre for contemporary Irish classical music.
- A History of Irish Music, by W. H. Flood
- CCUSA-Northeast Region The listing for Scottish, Irish,and Celtic concerts and tours for the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada
- Historical Harp Society of Ireland
- Clarsach.net
- Irish Folk & Celtic Music in Germany