Traditional Irish Folk Music

Traditional Irish Folk Music

A small bit about Irish Folk Music
Irish Folk Music, though it is a genuine tradition, it could be considered less professional than other types of Music because of the nature of the way that Irish Folk Music performers perform their music. With an example in the video link below, The performers are not stood on a stage with spotlights, any kind of electrical PA systems or anything you would usually see in a small venue/pub environment performance. Instead, the performers are sat around a pub table just like the the others in the venue, they blend in with the crowd rather than standing out like your typical performers aspire to do. This is a common thing for Irish Folk musicians but this does not mean to say that Irish Folk musicians do not perform on stages using electrical equipment in a spotlight environment. It will all depend on the venue, occasion and the actual consumers of the music at that one time.

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Traditional Irish Folk Music (Shooter McNally, 2010)

Instruments used
Traditional instruments used in Irish Folk Music are the likes of the Fiddle, Tin Whistles, the Harp, the Banjo, the Irish Flute, the Bodhran, Accordian, Irish Bouzouki, the Uilleann Pipe and the Mondolian.

Instruments in detail
The Fiddle is also known as the violin. Which name is used is determined by the way the player holds the Instrument and which style of music the player is performing. It uses a standard Violin/Fiddle tuning and is considered one of the most important instruments in Irish Folk Music.

Welcome to IrishFiddler (2013)

 Tin Whistles were cheap to own, commonly the poor musicians of Ireland would be the ones playing the Tin Whistles. They vary in size, from a few inches, to a foot plus, which also make the Tin Whistles vary in pitch with the smallest being the highest pitched and the largest being the lowest pitch. Most Tin Whistes are made in the scale of D major, so if on a piece of music the Tin Whistlist starts first, this will usually be an indication that the piece is written in the key of D.

Introwood (2013)

The Harp, in sizes really small and really large, were played generally by the more rich Irish musicians because the Harp was not and still isn't a cheap instrument to get your hands on as an Irish Folk Musician. It was played in the Kings Courts between the 10th and 12th century which expresses how much of a superb privilege it was to be a harp player in those days. Your average lower class Irish musician whom performs in small local venues with the community would rarely, if ever, get the opportunity to play a Harp. Harps are far more accessible now. However, they are still a superbly crafted instrument and not cheap to purchase but with the nature of the modern markets selling second hand instruments, and independent sellers, it isn't unlikely that someone who has set out to buy a harp could bag a bargain! This is a perk that citizens of Ireland in the 10th - 12th century had never had.

Celtic Harp (2013)

The Bodhran is a percussive instrument which is made of a wooden barrel with a genuine skin and cross bars
at the back of the drum. the cross bars are optional in the crafting of the drum and modern Bodhrans are made with a synthetic skin. The skin of the drum can be played by beating with either a stick or a bone.

World Beat Bohdran (2013)

Uilleann Pipes are a complex form of Bag Pipes capable of playing harmonies with multiple reeds and keys worked by the players forearm with a range of 2 octaves.

Pipes3 (2013)

Irish Music In Culture

 Somewhere in your mind, when you hear the words "Irish Music", you can just picture Irish musicians performing with dancers, dancing in local Irish venue drinking Guinness. This just goes to show that music and dance in Irish Folk music are very closely associated. Dances such as Rough Guides (2013) the House Dance, River Dance and Crossroads Dance were once solid partnership to music in Ireland. Due to the nature of the common venue for Irish musicians which is usually a pub if you didn't know. Drinking is definitely involved in the performance and consumption of the music. Guinness is the most popular drink in Irish pubs says Irelands Top Ten Drinks Of Choice (2013) and there are certain myths that Guinness is brewed from the River Liffey.

Origins
The Harp has always been an Important part of Irish culture and civilization Alison Vardy (2013) Kings hired Harpists' to play in the court in the 10th - 12th century. The traditions of Harps in Ireland have been lost and recreated to a certain degree due to the fact that the music is handed down orally which unfortunately, for the Irish Folks, was a massive
short coming as in the late 17th century Stephen A. Brighton (2013) The English banned the Harp. This had lead to a near stop in the consumption and tuition of music in Ireland in the traditional oral fashion. This lead to some aspects of the traditions and style of Harp playing in Ireland to be lost which must mean that other foreign and more modern styles have taken its place in Ireland and lent a hand in crafting the traditions we see today like in the Reel style of Irish Folk music.  None of the 4 traditional styles of Irish Folk Music actually originated in Ireland. Instead they were migrated from neighbouring countries in the United Kingdom and possibly from France or Italy Andrew Potterton (2013). However, Rough Guides (2009, p. 231) states that Irish music can be traced back to medieval culture but the traditional Irish Folk music we hear today was composed in the last three hundred years which are in the styles of Reel and Slip Jig for example.

The main 4 styles of Irish Folk Music that are performed in Ireland now are as named, The Jig, Reel, The Slip Jig and Hornpipe. Each of which Andrew Potterton (2013) originated from parts of Europe as well as the United Kingdom. The word "Jig" may have came from the French word, "Giguer", which translates to Jigging or the Italian word "Giga" which translates to Jig according to (Google Translate, 2013). The Slip Jig migrated from England and derived from Englands version of the dance. Slip Jig is type of Jig where the dancers dance in a "Slipping" motion in which the dancers feet glide across the floor. The Reel migrated from Scotland in the 1750s shortly after Hornpipe which migrated in the 17th century from England's sailors abd stage actors which became ever more popular in the 18th century as the tradition had begun to spread.

The Contextual Influences That Shaped Modern Irish Folk music
Irish Folk music first gained its existence through ceremonial dances performed in communities of Irish culture. Instrumental music was used to accompany these ceremonial dances in synchronisation which may occur at weddings, Saint days or similar causes for celebration. Over time, the Lower class community musicians started to play music on single instruments, playing compositions that consisted only of melodic elements. Musicians started by playing the traditional dance music without a dance performance.  This is where Irish music and dance begin to emerge into two and are distinguished from each other as Irish folk music grows its own body and develops into what it is today. Now days, it is not uncommon for Irish music to be composed in ensembles unlike some of the first melodic compositions. Using all three elements (Melodic, Harmonic and Rhythmic) came about through the emergence of modern western music which uses all there three elements. Irish musicians began to form ensembles and introduced these other elements which moved Irish folk music into a different ere as the demands for music had changed, listeners in western Europe, the UK and also a growing number in Ireland at the time, wanted to hear music with a range of musical ingredients such as rhythm and harmony/chord sections. Irish musicians had introduced these changes as an act of survival for Irish folk music, keeping the genre at pace with the changes in time to suit modern western continental musical culture in an effort to keep the Irish folk traditions thriving. Evidently, these changes have had a substantial and efficient effect as Irish folk music has influenced music around the world and is at the same time very famous and well known. The composition of these typical ensembles were well in swing by the 1920s says Rough Guides (2009, p.236). However, it is a fact that Irish folk traditional music was not as well preserved as original composers and traditional musicians had hoped. Michael.B.Baker (2012, p.158) says the decline in Irish traditional music had took a complete dive in the 1930s despite he efforts that had been made to preserve the original traditions of Irish music. This had lead to musical events such as those on the Eurovision 1981, where Bill Whelan and Donal Lunny had composed the "river dance" to perform to the world. This is a good example of Irish music trying to keep with the times and demands of modern music consumption as the river dance is a descendant of a traditional Irish music called time dance. The difference is that in river dance, there are added musical sections such as rhythm guitar and bass sections with a pop timbre and a full drum kit. Neither of all are used in original Irish folk music which shows a good example of how Irish music had changed to suit what listeners had grown to want in these more modern times.

Irish people are well known for travelling. The official name for these groups of travelling Irish emigrants are Irish Diasporas whom had traveled all over the world, especially in areas such as he US and the United Kingdom. These Irish diaspora communities have allowed the traditions of Irish music to thrive among them within the communities. Because of  travelling Irish communities mixing with other cultures and communities all over the world, this made way for the traditions of Irish music to also be influenced by contextual factors like cultural collaboration which expanded the audience of traditional Irish folk music as well as allowing Irish folk music to be influenced by other parts of the world. This especially happened in America. In recent times, this cultural clash has lead to the birth of musicians such as the Irish-American Fiddle player Eileen Ivers. She is a fiddle player whom plays both traditional Irish music as well as performing and composing with musicians of other cultures and influences such as the Mick Mololey and The Green Fields Of America.
The Theory of It
Irish Folk Music uses a range of modes to compose their music instead of classical major and minor scale forms. The modes they use in composition are Aeolian, Mixolydian, Ionian and Dorian. they use a veriety of time signatures in the different types of traditions as Listed below:

• The Jig is written in 12/8 time which is simple to dance to

Traditional Irish Jig Medley (SonOfLabrodor, 2010)

The Jig usually has 2 sections that repeat, both lasting 8 bars. It follows an AABB form, also known as binary form (AB). The Jig has a fast tempo and the melody which can be played by the flute player uses regular 4 bar phrases and repeats its self.

• The Reel is written in 4/4 time which is simple to dance to. Though in some cases the musicians may create more complex rhythms in 4/4 time signature. In the video below, the Tin Whistle player is using a complicated rhythm in the 4/4 time signature.

IRISH DANCING REEL MUSIC (Holly Wilson, 2010)

though Reel music follows binary form (AB) the melodies are complex using note values in a veriety of quavers, crotchets and triplets. The form is actually AABB as both sections repeat themselves. Irish Reel consists mainly of a solo melody performed by a uilleann pipe player whom often uses a musical element and technuque called "regulater chords" to compliment the timbre of the uilleann pipes in a turn around section.

• Hornpipe is written in 4/4 with a swung rhythmic pattern, which is simple to dance to

Hornpipe Irish Dancing Music (Adrea Faherty, 2012)

• The Slip Jig is written in 9/8 time which is more musically involved and requires a good rhythem to dance to

Irish Dancing Music- Spil Jig (Emma R, 2013)

a lot Irish folk musical elements derived from Celtic influence such as the use of douple and quadrouple meter and the use of modes such as Mixolydian and Dorian which are largely used in both original traditional Irish music and more modern shaped Irish music traditions. The use of dance accompanied by music is also a Celtic trait says Michael B. Bakan (2012, p.169)

References

Alison Vardy. (2013). Harp History. Available: http://www.alisonvardy.com/harp-info/celtic-harp-history.htm. Last accessed 18/12/2013.

Andrea Faherty. (2012) Hornpipe Irish Dancing Music. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1__WO1oFdE (Accesed: 19th December 2013)

Andrew Potterton. (2013). Irish Folk Music. Available: http://tinyurl.com/o4gak28. Last accessed 18/12/2013.

Emma R (2013) Irish Dancing Music- Slip Jig. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzwtzJ925hc (Accessed 19th December 2013).

Google. (2013). Google Translate. Available: http://translate.google.com/#fr/en/Giguer.(Last accessed 19/12/2013).

Holly Wilson (2010) IRISH DANCING REEL MUSIC. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMWjN3o5gok (accessed: 19th December 2013).

Jennifer. (2013). Celtic Harp. Available: http://www.last.fm/music/Omnia+%5B2001+-+Beltaine+%5BCeltic+Harp,+by+Jennifer%5D%5D.(Last accessed 19/12/2013).

Michael B. Bakan (2012). World Music Traditions And Transformations. 2nd ed. Avenue of the Americas, New York: McGraw-Hill. 169.

Rough Guides. (2009) The Rough Guide To World Music. 3rd edn. London: Rough Guides Ltd.

Shooter McNally. (July 9th 2010) Traditional Irish Music - Brogan's bar Ennis, Ireland. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z_TheGgFWI (Accessed: 28th September 2013).

SonOfLabroror (2010) Traditional Irish Jig Medley: Greese In The Bog/ The Wind That Shakes The Barley. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL2XC-RyL7Y (Accessed: 19th December 2013)

Stephen A. Brighton (2013) Historical Archaeology of the Irish Diaspora: A Transnational Approach Publisher: Unknown

Unknown Photographer. (2013). World Beat Bodhran. Available: http://artdrum.com/BODHRAN_WORLD_BEAT.htm. Last accessed 19/12/2013.

Unknown Photographer. (2013). Pipes3. Available: http://www.dupg.net/?page_id=27. Last accessed 19/12/2013.

Unknown Photographer. (2013). Introwood. Available: http://www.hobgoblin.com/local/sgroup/3/Whistles/. Last accessed 2013.

Unknown Photographer. (2013). Welcome To IrishFiddler. Available: http://irishfiddler.us/IF_home.html. Last accessed 19/12/2013.