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Irish traditional music (also known asIrish trad,Irish folk music, and other variants) is agenre offolk music that developed inIreland.
InA History of Irish Music (1905),W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, inGaelic Ireland, there were at least ten instruments in general use. These were thecrwth (a small rubbed strings harp) andcláirseach (a bigger harp with typically 30 strings), thetiompán (a smallstring instrument played with abow orplectrum), thefeadán (afife), thebuinne (anoboe orflute), theguthbuinne (abassoon-typehorn), thebeannbhuabhal andcorn (hornpipes), thecuislenna (bagpipes – seeGreat Irish warpipes), thestoc andstorgán (clarions or trumpets), and thecnámha (bones).[1] There is also evidence of thefiddle being used in the 8th century.[1]
There are severalcollections 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 includeColm Ó Lochlainn,George Petrie,Edward Bunting,Francis O'Neill,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.
Irishtraditional music has endured more strongly against the forces of cinema, radio and the mass media than the indigenous folk music of most countries in the west of Europe. 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 theFleadh Cheoil (music festival) helped lead the revival of the music. Following the success ofthe Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the US in 1959, Irish folk music became fashionable again. The lush sentimental style of singers such asDelia Murphy was replaced by guitar-driven male groups such asthe Dubliners.Irish showbands presented a mixture of pop music and folk dance tunes, though these died out during the seventies. The international success ofthe Chieftains and subsequent musicians and groups has made Irish folk music a global brand.
Historically muchold-time music of the US grew out of the music of Ireland, England and Scotland, as a result ofcultural diffusion. By the 1970s Irish traditional music was again influencing music in the US and further afield in Australia and Europe. It has occasionally been fused withrock and roll,punk rock and other genres.
Irishdance music isisometric and is built around patterns of bar-long melodic phrases akin tocall and response. A common pattern is A Phrase, B Phrase, A Phrase, Partial Resolution, A Phrase, B Phrase, A Phrase, Final Resolution, though this is not universal; mazurkas, for example, tend to feature a C Phrase instead of a repeated A Phrase before the Partial and Final Resolutions, for example. Many tunes havepickup notes which lead in to the beginning of the A or B parts. Mazurkas and hornpipes have aswing feel, while other tunes have straight feels.[2]
Tunes are typicallybinary in form, divided into two (or sometimes more) parts, each with four to eight bars. The parts are referred to as the A-part, B-part, and so on. Each part is played twice, and the entire tune is played three times; AABB, AABB, AABB. Many tunes have similar ending phrases for both A and B parts; it is common for hornpipes to have the second half of each part be identical. Additionally, hornpipes often have three quavers or quarternotes at the end of each part, followed by pickup notes to lead back to the beginning of the A part of onto the B part. Manyairs have anAABA form.[3]
While airs are usually played singly, dance tunes are usually played inmedleys of 2-4 tunes calledsets.[3]
Irish music generally ismodal, usingIonian,Aeolian,Dorian, andMixolydian modes, as well ashexatonic andpentatonic versions of those scales. Some tunes do featureaccidentals.[4]
Singers and instrumentalists often embellish melodies throughornamentation, usinggrace notes, rolls, cuts, crans, orslides.[3][4]
Whileuilleann pipes may use their drones and regulators to provide harmonic backup, and fiddlers often usedouble stops in their playing, due to the importance placed on the melody in Irish music,harmony is typically kept simple or absent.[4] Usually, instruments are played in strictunison, always following the leading player. Truecounterpoint is mostly unknown to traditional music, although a form of improvised "countermelody" is often used in the accompaniments ofbouzouki and guitar players. In contrast to many kinds of western folk music, there are no setchord progressions to tunes; many accompanists usepower chords to let the melody define the tonality or use partial chords in combination with ringing drone strings to emphasize thetonal center. Many guitarists useDADGAD tuning because it offers flexibility in using these approaches, as does the GDAD tuning for bouzouki.[5]
Like alltraditional music, Irish folk music has changed slowly. Most folk songs are less than 200 years old. One measure of its age is the language used. Modern Irish songs are written in English andIrish. 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, Irish songs went from the Irish language to the English language.[citation needed] In the late 1900sFrank Harte composed more ribald songs for the urban pub scene; the genre moved effortlessly from the countryside to the town.
Unaccompanied vocals are calledsean nós ("in the old style") and 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 truesean-nós singer, such asTom Lenihan, 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.
Sean-nós can includenon-lexical vocables, calledlilting, also referred to by the sounds, such as "diddly die-dely".
Non-sean-nós traditional singing, even when accompaniment is used, uses patterns of ornamentation and melodic freedom derived fromsean-nós singing, and, generally, a similar voice placement.
Caoineadh (Irish:[kˠiːnʲə(w)]) isIrish for alament, a song which is typified by lyrics which stress sorrow and pain. The word is Anglicised as "keening". Traditionally, theCaoineadh song contained lyrics in which the singer lamented for Ireland after having been forced to emigrate due to political or financial reasons. The song may also lament the death of a family member or the lack of news from loved ones. In Irish music, the Caoineadh tradition was once widespread, but began to decline from the 18th century onwards and becoming almost completely extinct by the middle of the 20th century. Examples ofCaoineadh songs include:Far Away in Australia,The Town I Loved So Well,Going Back to Donegal andFour Green Fields.[6] Caoineadh singers were originally paid to lament for the departed at funerals, according to a number of Irish sources.[who?]
Irish traditional music and dance has seen a variety of settings, from house parties, country dances,ceili dances, stage performances and competitions, weddings,saint's days or other observances. The most common setting for Irish dance music is theseisiún, which very often features no dancing at all.
Traditional dance music includesreels (2
2 or4
4),hornpipes (4
4 withswung eighth notes), andjigs (double and single jigs are in6
8 time). Jigs come in various other forms for dancing – theslip jig and hop jig are commonly written in9
8 time.[3][4]
Later additions to the repertoire include thewaltz (3
4 with a heavyaccent on thedown beat) and, inCounty Donegal,mazurkas in the same time signature, though with an accent on the 2nd beat. Donegal is also notable for its "highland", a sort of Irish version of the Scottishstrathspey, but with a feel closer to a reel with the occasionalscots snap.[3]
Polkas are a type of2
4 tune mostly found in theSliabh Luachra area, at the border of CountiesCork andKerry, in the south of Ireland. Another distinctiveMunster rhythm is theSlide in12
8 time.[3]
The concept of "style" is of large importance to Irish traditional musicians. At the start of the 19th century, distinct variation in regional styles of performance existed. With the release of American recordings of Irish traditional musicians (e.g. Michael Coleman 1927) and increased communications and travel opportunities, regional styles have become more standardised. Regional playing styles remain nonetheless, as evidenced by the very different playing styles of musicians from Donegal (e.g. Tommy Peoples), Clare (e.g. brothers John & James Kelly) and Sliabh Luachra (e.g. Jacky Daly). Donegal fiddle playing is characterised by fast, energetic bowing, with the bow generating the majority of the ornamentation; Clare fiddle playing is characterised by slower bowing, with the fingering generating most of the ornamentation. While bowed triplets (three individual notes with the bow reversed between each) are more common in Donegal, fingered triplets and fingered rolls (five individual notes fingered with a single bow stroke) are very common in Clare.
Stage performers from the 1970s and 1980s (groups such asThe Bothy Band, or soloists such asKevin Burke) have used the repertoire of traditional music to create their own groups of tunes, without regard to the conventional 'sets' or the constraint of playing for dancers. Burke's playing is an example of an individual, unique, distinctive style, a hybrid of his classical training, the traditional Sligo fiddle style and various other influences.[citation needed]
The most common instruments used in Irish traditional dance music, whose history goes back several hundred years, are the fiddle, tin whistle,flute andUilleann pipes. Instruments such as buttonaccordion andconcertina made their appearances in Irish traditional music late in the 19th century. The 4-string tenorbanjo, first used by Irish musicians in the US in the 1920s, is now fully accepted. The guitar was used as far back as the 1930s first appearing on some of the recordings of Michael Coleman and his contemporaries. Thebouzouki only entered the traditional Irish music world in the late 1960s.
The wordbodhrán, indicating a drum, is first mentioned in a translated English document in the 17th century.[7] The saxophone featured in recordings from the early 20th century most notably in Paddy Killoran's Pride of Erin Orchestra.Cèilidh bands of the 1940s often included a drum set and stand-up bass as well as saxophones. 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 dance music.
The piano is commonly used for accompaniment. In the early 20th century piano accompaniment was prevalent on the 78rpm records featuring Michael Coleman, James Morrison, John McKenna, PJ Conlon and many more. On many of these recordings the piano accompaniment was woeful because the backers were unfamiliar with Irish music. However, Morrison avoided using the studio piano players and hand-picked his own. The vamping style used by these piano backers has largely remained. There has been a few recent innovators such as Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Brian McGrath, Liam Bradley, Josephine Keegan, Ryan Molloy and others.
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.[8]It uses the standard GDAE tuning. The best-known regional fiddling traditions are from CountiesDonegal,Sligo,Clare as well asSliabh Luachra.
The fiddle has ancient roots in Ireland, The earliest reference to the fiddle in Ireland was during the 7th century by O'Curry.[9] In 1674Richard Head wrote in reference to Ireland 'On Sundays: In every field a fiddle, and the girls footing until they foam up'. suggesting the modern fiddle was already present in Ireland. Reference to the Irish fiddle can also be found in John Dunton'sTeague Land: or A Merry Ramble to the Wild Irish (1698) he says "on Sundays and Holydays, all the people resorted with the piper and fiddler to the village green"Thomas Dineley visited Ireland in 1680 he says in regards to music "with piper, harper, or fidler, revell and dance the night throughout"[10] There's a 17th-century reference to children in Cork being taught the Irish fiddle[11] When the fiddle was being mass-produced in Ireland, as opposed to more local makers, starting in Dublin, with the likes ofThomas Perry (luthier),Thomas Molineux (luthier) and John Neal they heavily based their craft on the English violin makers and most were imported into Dublin from England[12] An instrument was excavated during the 18th century in Dublin that was dated from the 11th century, it was made of dogwood with an animal carved on its tip, it was believed to have been the oldest bow in the world, however it's unclear what instrument the bow belonged too. There may also be a reference to the Irish fiddle in the book of Leinster (ca. 1160)[13]
The fiddling tradition of Sligo is perhaps most recognisable to outsiders, due to the popularity of American-based performers likeMichael Coleman,James Morrison andPaddy Killoran. These fiddlers did much to popularise Irish music in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. Other Sligo fiddlers included Martin Wynne andFred Finn.[citation needed]
Notable fiddlers from Clare[citation needed] includeMary Custy,Paddy Canny,Patrick Kelly,Peadar O'Loughlin, andMartin Hayes.[citation needed]
Donegal has producedJames Byrne,John Doherty, andTommy Peoples.[citation needed]
Sliabh Luachra, a small area between CountiesKerry andCork, is known forJulia Clifford, her brotherDenis Murphy,Sean McGuire,Paddy Cronin andPadraig O'Keeffe. Contemporary fiddlers from Sliabh Luachra includeMatt Cranitch and Connie O'Connell.[citation needed]
Modern performers includeKevin Burke,Máire Breatnach,Matt Cranitch,Paddy Cronin,Frankie Gavin,Paddy Glackin,Cathal Hayden,Martin Hayes,Peter Horan,Sean Keane,Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh,Máiréad Nesbitt,Gerry O'Connor,Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh,Dónal O'Connor andPaul O'Shaughnessy.[citation needed]
There have been many notable fiddlers from United States in recent years[when?] such asWinifred Horan,Brian Conway,[14]Liz Carroll, andEileen 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 metalBoehm system flutes of present-day classical music. Factory-made whistles started to be manufactured in Manchester in 1840, and the Feadóg Irish tin whistle was the most popular mass-produced model in Ireland.[15]
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 players—Joanie Madden being perhaps the best known—use theWestern 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 craftspeople have revived the art of wooden flute making. Some flutes are even made ofPVC; 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.
Thetin 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 abarrel made of seamless tubing fitted into a plastic or woodenmouthpiece.
Skilled craftspeople 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 asMary Bergin, whose classic early seventies recordingFeadóga Stáin (with bouzouki accompaniment byAlec Finn) is often credited with revolutionising the whistle's place in the tradition.
Thelow 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') includeMatt Molloy,Kevin Crawford,Peter Horan,Michael McGoldrick, Desi Wilkinson, Conal O'Grada, James Carty, Emer Mayock,Joanie Madden,Michael Tubridy andCatherine McEvoy, while whistlers includePaddy Moloney,Carmel Gunning,Paddy Keenan,Seán Ryan,Andrea Corr,Mary Bergin, Packie Byrne and Cormac Breatnach.[16][17][18]
Uilleann pipes (pronouncedill-in orill-yun) are a complex instrument. Tradition holds that seven years learning, seven years practising and seven years playing is required before a piper could be said to have mastered his instrument.[19] The uilleann pipes developed around the beginning of the 18th century, the history of which is depicted in carvings and pictures from contemporary sources in both Britain and Ireland aspastoral and union pipes.[20] Its modern form had arrived by the end of the 18th century, and was played bygentlemen pipers such as the mid-18th century piper Jackson from Limerick and theTandragee pipemaker William Kennedy, the Anglican clergymanCanon James Goodman (1828–1896) and his friend John Hingston fromSkibbereen. These were followed in the 20th century by the likes ofSéamus Ennis,Leo Rowsome andWillie Clancy, playing refined and ornate pieces, as well as showy, ornamented forms played by travelling pipers like John Cash andJohnny Doran.[21] The uilleann piping tradition had nearly died before being re-popularized by the likes ofPaddy Moloney (ofthe Chieftains), and the formation ofNa Píobairí Uilleann, an organisation open to pipers that included such players as Rowsome and Ennis, as well as researcher and collectorBreandán Breathnach.Liam O'Flynn is one of the most popular of modern performers along withPaddy Keenan,Davy Spillane,Jerry O'Sullivan, andMick O'Brien. ManyPavee (Traveller) families, such as the Fureys and Dorans and Keenans, are famous for the pipers among them.[citation needed]
Uilleann pipes are among the most complex forms ofbagpipes; they possess achanter with a doublereed 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 abellows held between the piper's elbow and side, rather than by the performer's lungs as in thehighland pipes and almost all other forms of bagpipe, aside from theScottish smallpipes,Pastoral pipes (which also plays with regulators), theNorthumbrian pipes of northern England, and theBorder 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 singingansean nós ("in the old style").Willie Clancy,Leo Rowsome, andGarret Barry were among the many pipers famous in their day;Paddy Keenan andDavy Spillane play these traditional airs today, among many others.[citation needed]
The harp is among the chief symbols of Ireland. The Celtic harp, seen on Irish coinage and used in Guinness advertising, was played as long ago as the 10th century. In ancient times, the harpers were greatly respected and, along with poets and scribes, assigned a high place amongst the most significant retainers of the old Gaelic order of lords and chieftains. Perhaps the best known representative of this tradition of harping today isTurlough Ó Carolan, a blind 18th century harper who is often considered the unofficial national composer of Ireland.Thomas Connellan, a slightly earlier County 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 which is 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 asEdward Bunting's (he attended theBelfast 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.[citation needed]
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. In present day, 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 includingArnold Dolmetsch in 1930s England,Alan Stivell in 1960s Brittany, and Ann Heymann in the US from the 1970s to the present.[citation needed]
Notable players of the modern harp includeDerek Bell (ofthe Chieftains),Laoise Kelly (of the Bumblebees),Gráinne Hambly,Máire Ní Chathasaigh,Mary O'Hara,Antoinette McKenna,Áine Minogue, andPatrick Ball.[citation needed]
However, the harp continues to occupy a niche in Irish traditional music, mainly for solo instrumental performance, or as the only accompaniment for an individual singer. Its melodic foreground role and background accompaniment role as a plucked or strummed string instrument has been subsumed byguitar,mandolin, andIrish bouzouki, etc., in ensemble performance.
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 (melodeon), it is claimed that it was popular across the island. It was recorded in the US byJohn Kimmel, The Flanagan Brothers, Eddie Herborn andPeter Conlon. While uncommon, the melodeon is still played in some parts of Ireland, in particular inConnemara byJohnny 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 popularised byPaddy O'Brien ofCounty Tipperary in the late 1940s and 1950s,Joe Burke andSonny Brogan in the 1950s and 60s. Dublin nativeJames 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 includePaddy O'Brien of County Offaly,Bobby Gardiner,Finbarr Dwyer, John Nolan,James Keane, and Billy McComiskey.[22]
The C#/D accordion lends itself to a punchier style and is particularly popular in the slides and polkas of Kerry Music. Notable players includeTony MacMahon,Máirtín O'Connor,Sharon Shannon,Charlie Piggott,Jackie Daly,Joe Cooley andJohnny O'Leary.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] They are a mainstay of the top Irish and Scottish ceilidh bands.[citation needed]Dermot O'Brien, Malachy Doris, Sean Quinn andMick Foster are well known Irish solo masters of this instrument and were well recorded.[citation needed] The latest revival of traditional music from the late 1970s also revived the interest in this versatile instrument.[citation needed] 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. Notable players of this modern style includeKaren Tweed (England) and Alan Kelly (Roscommon).[citation needed]
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.[23]
Popular[according to whom?] concertina players includeMohsen Amini,Niall Vallely,Kitty Hayes,Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin,Noel Hill and Padraig Rynne.Liam Clancy (of the Clancy Brothers andMakem and Clancy) also played the concertina until his death in 2009.[citation needed]
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 Africanslaves. 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 aplectrum or a "thimble".[24]
Barney McKenna ofthe Dubliners is often credited with paving the way for the banjo's current popularity, and was still actively playing until his death in 2012, aged 72. Notable players includeKieran Hanrahan,Charlie Piggott,John Carty, Angelina Carberry,Gerry O'Connor,Enda Scahill, Kevin Griffin and All Ireland Fleadh champion, Brian Scannell.[citation needed]
With a few exceptions, for exampleTom Hanway,[25] the five-string banjo has had little role in Irish traditional music as a melody instrument. It has been used for accompaniment by the singersMargaret Barry,Pecker Dunne,Luke Kelly, Al O'Donnell,Bobby Clancy andTommy Makem.
The mandolin has become a 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 bybluegrass 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. 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. Resonator mandolins such as the RM-1 from National Resophonic are beginning to show up in Irish sessions in the US because they are loud enough to easily be heard.[citation needed]
Noteworthy Irish mandolinists includeAndy Irvine (who, likeJohnny Moynihan, almost always tunes the E down to D),[26]: 38 Mick Moloney,Paul Kelly, Declan Corey and Claudine Langille.John Sheahan andBarney McKenna, fiddle player and tenor banjo player respectively, withthe Dubliners are also accomplished mandolin players.
The guitar is not traditional in Irish music but has become widely accepted in modernsessions. 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.
Ideally, the guitarist follows the leading melody player or singer precisely rather than trying to control the rhythm and tempo. Most guitar parts take inspiration and direction from the melody, rather than driving the melody as in other acoustic genres.[27]
Many of the earliest notable guitarists working in traditional music, such asDáithí Sproule andThe Bothy Band'sMícheál Ó Domhnaill, tuned their instruments in "DADGAD" tuning, although many players use the "standard" (EADGBE) and "drop D" (DADGBE) tunings: among others,Steve Cooney,Arty McGlynn and John Doyle.[citation needed] A host of other alternative tunings are also used by some players. The distinctive feature of these tunings is that one or more open strings played along with fingered chord shapings provide adrone note part of the chord.[citation needed]
Guitarists and bouzouki players may play single note melody instead of harmonizing accompaniment, but in live acoustic sessions with more than two or three players but it is difficult to produce sufficient volume to be heard over drumming and the piercing sound of fiddles and penny whistles.[citation needed]
Although not traditional, the Irish bouzouki[26] has found a home in the modern Irish traditional music scene. The Greek bouzouki was introduced to Irish traditional music in the late 1960s byJohnny Moynihan and then popularised byDónal Lunny,Andy Irvine, andAlec Finn.
Today's Irish bouzouki (usually) has four courses of two strings (usually) tuned G2−D3−A3−D4. 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 favoured 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-topguitar ormandolin, 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 styletrixordo three course (six string) instruments tuned D3−A3−D4.[citation needed]
Aframe 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 thewrenboys onSt. Stephen's Day and other quasi-ritual processions. It was introduced/popularised in the 1960s bySeán Ó Riada (although there are mentions of "tambourines" without zils being played as early as the mid 19th century), and quickly became popular.[citation needed] Notable players includeLiam Ó Maonlaí (of the Hothouse Flowers), Johnny 'Ringo' McDonagh, Tommy Hayes, Eamon Murray ofBeoga, Colm Murphy, John Joe Kelly ofFlook andCaroline Corr ofthe Corrs.[citation needed]
Mention should also be made here of theBones – two slender, curved pieces of bone or wood – and "spoons". Pairs of either are held together in one hand and struck-together rhythmically to make a percussive, clacking sound.
Occasionally, at pub sessions, there are some non-traditionalhand drums used, such as the West AfricanDjembe drum – which can produce a low booming bass note, as well as a high pitched tone – and the CaribbeanBongo drum. These drums are used as a variation to, or combined with, the bodhrán during sessions.[citation needed]
Although not as well-documented within the tradition as other free-reed instruments, the Irish harmonica tradition is represented byRick Epping, Mick Kinsella, Paul Moran, the Murphy family from County Wexford, Eddie Clarke andBrendan Power (the latter being of New Zealand).[28]Paddy Clancy became the first world-famous Irish folkharmonicist in the early 1960s as part of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.
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 Ceoil, in 1903 as a focus for its activities.
In the US, traditional musicians remained popular in Irish communities in large cities such asChicago.Francis O'Neill (1848–1936) was a collector and promoter of Irish traditional music whose work was a "huge influence on the evolution of Irish traditional dance music in the twentieth century".[29] As well as publishing large compendiums of tunes, O'Neill is credited with making some of the earliest recordings of Irish Musicians on Edison wax cylinders.[30] In the 1920s and 1930s the records of emigrant musicians such asEd Reavy, Michael Coleman, James Morrison andJohn McKenna breathed new life into music being played back in Ireland.[31]
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.
Seán Ó Riada'sthe Chieftains,the Clancy Brothers,the Irish Rovers,the Dubliners andSweeney's Men were in large part responsible for a second wave of revitalisation of Irish folk music in the 1960s, followed byPlanxty,the Bothy Band andClannad 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, which led to the popular Fleadh Cheoil (music festival).
The 1960s saw a number of innovative performers.Christy Moore andDónal Lunny, for example, first performing as a duo, and later creating two of the best-known bands of the era, Planxty andMoving 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, whileCeoltóirí Chualann's instrumental music spawned perhaps the best-known Irish traditional band, the Chieftains, which formed in 1963.
By the 1970s, Planxty and Clannad set the stage for a major popular blossoming of Irish music.[32] Formed in 1974, The Bothy Band became the spearcarriers of that movement; their début album,1975 (1975), inspired a legion of fans.[33] New groups that appeared in their wake included Moving Hearts formed by Dónal Lunny and Christy Moore and featuringDavy Spillane on uilleann pipes – the first time this had effectively happened in a rock setting.[34] TheFolk Music Society of Ireland was founded in 1971,[35] and theIrish Traditional Music Archive was set up in 1987.[36]
Van Morrison is also known from the trad-rock scene, and is known for incorporatingsoul andR&B.[citation needed]
Celtic rock is a genre offolk rock and a form ofCeltic fusion pioneered in Ireland which incorporatesCeltic 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.[37] Perhaps the most successful product of this scene was the bandThin Lizzy. Formed in 1969 their first two albums were recognisably influenced by traditional Irish music and their first hit single 'Whiskey in the Jar' in 1972, was a rock version of a traditional Irish song.[38] 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 asJailbreak (1976). Formed in 1970Horslips 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 onIrish mythology in a way that entered the territory of progressive rock all powered by ahard rock sound.[39] 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.[40]
Traditional music, especially sean nós singing, played a major part in Irish popular music later in the century, withVan Morrison,Hothouse Flowers andSinéad O'Connor using traditional elements in popular songs.Enya achieved enormous international success withNew Age/Celtic fusions.the Pogues, led byShane MacGowan, helped fuse Irish folk withpunk rock. This resulted in top ten hits in Ireland, the UK and the US.Afro-Celt Sound System combined Celtic instrumentals with West African influences anddrum and bass in the 1990s.
In the 1980s, notable folk bands includedDe Dannan,Altan,Dervish andPatrick Street. A growing interest in Irish music at this time helped many artistes gain more recognition abroad, includingMary Black, andSharon Shannon. TheBBC screened a documentary series about the influence of Irish music calledBringing it all Back Home (a reference to both theBob Dylan album and the way in which Irish traditional music has travelled, especially in the New World following theIrish diaspora, which in turn has come back to influence modern Irish rock music). This series also helped to raise the profile of many artists relatively little known outside Ireland.
In the 2000sBeoga,Gráda,Danú andTeada 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 asFlook,Kíla, Gráda and The Dave Munnelly Band.
Several organisations are involved in collecting and promoting traditional Irish music. These includeComhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, theFolk Music Society of Ireland,Irish Traditional Music Archive, and Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (University of Limerick).[41]
Regionally focused organisations include the Ionad Cultúrtha, a regional cultural centre for the traditional and contemporary arts, inBallyvourney, County Cork.[42] It also holds music and visual art events.[citation needed]
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 London'sCamden Town at a bar called theDevonshire 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 likeO'Donoghues inDublin were holding their own pub sessions.
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