Ireland

Ireland


The Celtics originated from Ireland and some other places, such as Scotland and Whales, and information will be given on both the Celtics and the Irish. There is no one word to describe Celtic music, but it can be called orally-transmitted traditional music, and it can be thought of as easy listening music. Like the Scottish, the Irish also use bagpipes in their music, and have lots of folk tales, and the music is usually happy and cheery, and love songs seem to be the most numerous of the folk songs. Sadly, the music of the Celtic Church was lost, but some words of a few hymns survived. This shows that overtime, some types of music may be forgotten, which is why it was a bit hard to obtain some traditional music. There are also some lullabies, merry and festive songs, and songs about drinking that are also sung merrily. They were mostly for dancing at celebrations, weddings, Saint's Day, and others of this sort. It was fast, lively, and they seemed to favor B-flat, but the basic key of traditional music was D.

 The main instruments in Irish music are: different types of harps (small and big), the tabor (snare drum), timpan (string instrument played with a bow), feadan (fife, high pitched flute), buinne (oboe/flute), guthbuinne (bassoon type horn), hornpipes, bagpipes, stoc and sturgan (clarion and trumpet), castanets, and perhaps, even the fiddle.

Song called: Will Ye Go Lassie Go: Irish Celtic bagpipe song: Paddy's Green Shamrock
media type="file" key="Will Ye Go Lassie Go.mp3" width="240" height="20"



media type="file" key="Irish Celtic Bagpipes - Paddy's Green Shamrock.mp3" width="240" height="20"
Soloists were preferred for folk tradition, and are considered the ultimate expression of traditional singing, but there are also groups. There is also the type of songs call caoineadh, which stress sorrow and pain. This song was traditionally had lyrics about the singer being forced to emigrate. It was also sung for the loss of a loved one, and the roots of these songs came from Northern Ireland.

There also seems to be something called an Irish music session, and it is a typical traditional event, even though some authorities thought that the traditional Irish music should be played solo. In some of the most conservative Gaelic music, it was unheard of until recently that there was more than 1 fiddler playing at a time. The only reason there would be more than 1 player at a time, would be at a dance, and that wasn't until the 18th-19th century. Musicians also feared that their tunes would be stolen from them by others, and knowing a tune others didn’t had its advantages. Many old musicians even got jealous of one another, and would rather carry special tunes to brag and show off, rather than to teach anyone other than their son, or an extremely loved pupil. However, in the early 19th century, to be a professional musician, it would be similar to being a professional beggar. Song: Gaelic Lullaby: Song: Gaelic Lullaby: media type="file" key="Gaelic Lullaby.mp3" width="240" height="20"

Form: Strophic forms (repeating verses), especially in vocal music. There are different forms and variations in instrumental music, especially harp and bagpipes.

Use of characteristic modes: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Pentatonic modes: 4th and 5th pentatonic most common. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Hexatonic modes <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Heptatonic modes: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Dorian <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Aeolian <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Mixolydian <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Ionian <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Phrygian <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Harmonic Minor <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">The Lydian and Locrian (both rare but not unheard of)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Tonal center: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Usuall when there are 2 chords, and it sounds like there are two tonics.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Melodic and harmonic structure : <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Usage of octaves. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Different inversions of chords, mostly the second inversion. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Wide intervals.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Rhythm: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">There is a lot of use of compround rhythms. Such as 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, 15/8... <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">There isn't always a single time signature.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Verses or sections sometimes end with pauses/fermatas. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Rhythmic or melodic extras added onto the main melody. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">"Sprung" rhythms such as the "Scots snap." When performed, it isn't like how it is written, and this is usually when people interpret the music and change it.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Performance context: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">There are specific songs for different puroses, like lullabies and work songs.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Performance: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Heterophonic texture - When musicians or singers play/sing the same melody, but add little things to it, so it is different silightly. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Performers sometimes change a tune, even if it is learned from another performer or a written source. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">The use of vocables (so-called "nonsense syllables"), most commonly in places where there are repeates. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Sometimes,the words alternate between English and Celtic. There might not even be any relationship between the English word, and the Celtic one.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Different varitions and interpretations of a song vary every performance, even if it is presented by the same person or group. This might me an extra verse that they composed, that would be appriate the the current setting or audience.

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">By: Veronica