Irish Traditional Music Archives

I wish I could spend more time here...
The WEALTH of information is unbelievable! They had an entire volume of books on Irish fiddling bowing techniques! AH! In heaven I tell you! But I did some general research on stuff I was really interested in - like the different kinds of music and the different instruments used in Irish trad music and where they come from. It's also interesting seeing the different types of music from the different counties. Click below to read my notes (though they are a bit long, and perhaps sporadic, I was there for 4 hours! Gimme a break!)

I also learned today, that looking for a good place to eat cannot only be judged by the menus posted outside - one must also look for places WITHOUT CHILDREN. Or least ones with mothers who know how to discipline. 3 yr olds throwing a temper tantrum in a cafe because they don't serve pizza is ok. Having that temper tantrum last more than ten minutes, or even more so before the mother decides "Oh hey, people are angry. I'll bring you outside and try to talk you out of it" is NOT OKAY. Ah!
Also, I now have a pair of shoes I will NEVER wear again. I have blisters all over my feet :( One HUGE one on my pinky two (think the size of a nickel,and the height of about a quarter inch) and another on the back of my heel (size of a quarter, height of a half inch). GROSS. And painful. And annoying. Flip flops it is! I don't care what anyone says, they're comfy!



The Companion to Irish Traditional Music
Vallely, Fintan
New York University Press, 1999

John Doherty (d. 1980) Born in Adara. Fiddle player from Donegal. "Folklore" is that he is known for his bowing style "when in good playing form the bow moved so quickly that the tip whistled."

Cairdeas na bhFidléirí: development organization fromed in teh early 1980s aiming to promote Donegal fiddling traditions.

Fiddle: styles of playing - the way in which one musician plays, as distinct from another, or the distinguishing features
elements of style - traditional music is essentially melodic and relies on ornamentation for character achieved by a combination of fingering and bow ornamentation.
fingering ornamentation: the 'roll' the most used (essentially a mordent)
bowing ornamentation: 'trebling' is a triplet of three notes of the same pitch in place of a quarter note. Bowed separately with very short bow strokes, creating a rhythmic effect.
regional styles:


Donegal: distinctive is the use of single note bowings, with short bow-strokes. Ornamentation is primarily in the bow hand. Tempo is generally fast . EG John Doherty.

Sligo: still fast paced, playing is rhythmic but the bowing is smoother. Rolls and trebles are both equally part of this style. EGs Michael Coleman, Paddy Killoran, James Morrison

Clare: slower tempo and concentrates more on the melodic aspects. Bowing is more fluid with more ornamentation in the left hand by use of rolls. EG Bobby Casey. Junior Crehan, John Kelly, Patrick Kelly, Joe Ryan, Paddy Canny.

Sliabh Luachra: Cork/Kerry border. Renowned for slides and polkas. Played mostly as dance tunes - lively and exuberant. Ornamentation is achieved mainly with the left hand, while the bow hand provides the characteristic rhythm. Particular feature is the use of open strings as a drone-type rhythmic effect. Also tends to include a number of slow airs than most other regions. EGs Pádraig O'Keeffe, Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford.

Donegal Fiddle: Scottish influence, strong volume, bright ringing tone, staccato bowing with one note for note bow-direction changes and crisp triplets rather than rolls. The notions of one Donegal styles is no longer excepted by many, if any, Donegal players. There are a number of sub-areas. Inishowen, East Donegal, Rosses and Glencolmcille, Ballyshannon and Bundoran.


Soundscapes: A Coursebook for Leaving Certificate Music
Irish Music and Aural Awareness
Long, Harry; Sealy, Arthur
Waltons Publishing 2006

The Instruments

Harp [Cláirseach or Cruit]
Bardic Harp: triangular frame, played on the lap and plucked by curved fingernails - oldest harp is the Brian Boru Harp, at Trinity College, Dublin.
Neo-Irish Harp: more slender and less robust in construction, with a round sound box. Played with fingertips as opposed to fingernails.

Uilleann Pipes (Píb Uilleann)
"Irish bagpipes" played with bellow instead of mouthpiece.
Chanter - double reed fingered pipe
Bag - into which the top of the chanter is fitted - made of leather, plastic or rubber.
Main Stock - through which the drones and regulators are supplied with air is attached to the bag
Three drones: tenor, baritone and bass - tenor is tuned to same note as the bottom note of the chanter, baritone is the octave below that, and the bass a further octave below the baritone. The sound continuously once switched on. Wooden pipes with a single reed.
Three regulators: tenor, baritone and bass - double reeds, each with four or five metal keys which allows the player to sound simple dominant or tonic chords with the heel of the hand or wrist [as such they are set up in a more convenient way]. As with most other whistles and flutes, uilleann pipes pitched in D are the most common.

Tin Whistle (Feadóg) and Low Whistle (Feadóg Mhór)
Tin Whistle - Whistles were probably played in Ireland since prehistoric times and are mentioned in early Irish myths and legends. A typical tin whistle sounds sweet but high-pitched and even quite piercing in the higher octaves. All whistles have a range of two octaves and most are tuned in D.
Low Whistle - like a large tin whistle, pitched in D, simply a full octave below the tin whistle. It sounds more like a flute than a tin whistle and uses the same fingering system and forms of ornamentation as both the tin whistle and the flute.

Flute (Fliúit)
Most common type of flute is the "simple system" or "open holed" wooden flute. This is usually tuned in D. A few more advanced of these flutes have up to 8 metal keys. They usually have a range of two octaves.

Accordion (Caridín or Bosca Ceoil)
Single action - when pushed the instrument sounds one note, when pulled it sounds another, either a semitone higher or lower
Double action - sounds the same note when pushed or pulled
Single action is usually easier for articulation in face paced reels and such
Melodeon - single-action button accordion with one row of then buttons on the right-hand side and two spoon-shaped keys to provide bass on the left-hand side. Usually played at traditional dances
Button Accordion - single-action similar to the melodeon. It has a second outer row of keys pitched a semitone above the original notes, thus making it fully chromatic.
Piano Accordion - been popular with céilí bands for several decades. Double action instrument and is therefore harder to articulate. It is also difficult to get from one end of the keyboard to the other with accidentally hitting two notes at once. It is also large and cumbersome and recommended only to those who are masters of their instrument to play traditional tunes.

Concertina (Consairtín)
A free-reed instrument, like the accordion, smaller and hexagonal. It's keyboard of notes are on the casings on both sides of the bellows. The English concertina has double action, and the more common German concertina has single action. It is smaller and more portable. the finger position remains unchanged and the bellows are relatively easy to work. The tone is light and sweet an it blends well with other instruments such as the uilleann pipes and fiddle.

Harmonica (Armónach or Orgán Béil)
Diatonic Harmonica - flat metal box containing pairs of free reeds, single action, come in certain keys.
Tremolo, Octave and Chromatic Harmonicas - similar to diatonic but double pair of reeds for each note. In Tremelo the second set is tuned slightly above the pitch of the main set, while in the octave the double reeds are pitched an octave apart. The chromatic harmonica has a slider stop which gives access to a second set of reeds a half step apart from the main set.

Banjo (Bainseó)
5-String Banjo - American instrument used for accompaniment of songs or dance tunes.
Tenor Banjo - now tuned in fifths, with four strings, and use a plectrum, and like the 5-string had 22 frets. With only 4 strings and a shorter neck it is more suited to playing fast Irish dance tunes.

Mandolin, Mandola, Bouzouki and Related Instruments
The Mandolin Family - came into Irish music in the late 19th or early 20th century and originated from Italy. Tuned and stringed the same as the fiddle except plucked or strummed.
The Bouzouki - Greek in origin and only used in Irish music since the 1960s. The 6 string round back Bouzouki is still played by former De Dannan player Alec Finn. An Irish flat back version is now what most players prefer.

Guitar
In the 1950s the spanish descendant guitar finally became popular on both sides of the Atlantic (originally only used in America). The Guitar is more commonly used as an accompanying instrument. Many different tunings are used in accompaniment: Standard E-A-D-G-B-E, Drop D, Open D D-A-F#-D'-A-D, or D-A-D'-G-A-D, the latter are more suited to the modal nature of some Irish tunes.

Piano
In the 18th century the declining Harp was replaced with the rise in popularity of the piano. Piano is mostly an accompaniment instrument.

Bodhrán
A shallow drum consisting of animal skin (usually goat) stretch over a round wooden frame. Held vertically between the body and the elbow. One hand presses against the skin changing pitch and timbre while the other beats the instrument with a small stick called a cipín (literally meaning "little stick"). Before the late 1950s the bodhrán was little used in traditional music, although the instrument itself dates back to medieval times and has ancestors from Bronze age Ireland. Seán Ó Riada reintroduced this historic instrument and since then it has become highly complex and subtle in its playing style and also has become quite popular and a symbol of traditional Irish music.


The Forms of Dance Music

1) Reel - the most popular type of dance tune. In 4/4 time and usually has two groups of four eighth notes in most bars with an emphasis on the start of each group of eight notes. It is normally played in a fast flowing style.

2) Jig and Slide -
Double Jig - in 6/8 time and is predominantly made up of bars that have two groups of three eight notes. The emphasis on the rhythm is usually on the start of each group of eight notes. Usually played at a lively tempo. Most jigs were composed in the 18th and 19th centuries by pipers and fiddle players.
Single Jig - in 6/8 or 12/8 and differs from the double jig in having as its dominant pattern a quarter note followed by a eighth note as opposed to three eighth notes. Single jigs are still played for dancers but the are rarely heard in sessions or concerts today.
Slide - is like a fast version of the single jig and is popular in the Sliabh Luachra and Dingle, Co. Kerry where it is strongly associated with set dancing. Breandán Breathnach distinguished jigs from slides by their endings: 'a three-eighth note group followed by a quarter note or dotted quarter note marked a tune as a jig, while an ending of two dotted quarter notes indicated that it was a slide.' While single jigs can often have this ending the slides are played much faster.
Slip Jig - in 9/8 time and usually take the form of three groups of three eighth notes with quarter/eighth or dotted quarters breaking up the rhythm in places.
Hornpipe - like a reel is in 4/4 time but the rhythm is more broken than that of the flowing reel and it is generally played at a slower tempo. There is a strong accent on the first and third beats of every bar. The rhythm is usually dotted quarter/sixteenth.

3) Slow Airs - some derived from songs in Irish (Róisín Dubh), some from songs in English (CarrickFergus), and some, especially laments, which appear to be from independent melodies with no words. The can be in a variety of time signatures, and although they are sometimes they are played in a regular rhythm, more often than not they are best played free-form.

4) March - among the oldest forms of traditional music - some date from the 16th and 17th centuries. Irish marches are in a variety of time signatures - 2/4, 4/4, and 6/8 are the most common, but some are found in 3/4 and 9/8. A number of Irish marches were adapted as dance tunes.

(Less Popular)
5) Highland Flings (or Schottisches) and Germans - very similar to a hornpipe and are popular with musicians in Donegal and other parts of the more northernly regions of Ireland. They are influenced by Scottish music and often incorporate the 'Scot's snap' where a sixteenth is played right before a longer note (usually a dotted eighth).

6) Strathspeys - close to a reel but normally played with a combination of heavily accented beats, Scots snaps, and long runs of triplets.

7) Polka - originated in Bohemia. It became popular in Irish ballrooms in the 1840s and gradually spread to the countryside. It is in 2/4 time, played with a fast driving rhythm and, as with the slide, is particularly popular in Cork and Kerry.

8) Waltz and Mazurka - similar forms of dance tunes (both in 3/4 time). Came to Ireland via ballroom (like the Polka) in the 19th century. In a waltz the emphasis is on the first beat while in the Mazurka it is on the second.