Traditional music

Irish traditional music, like most traditional music, is characterized by slow-moving change, which usually occurs along accepted principles. Songs and tunes believed to be ancient in origin are respected (though, in reality, many are less than two hundred years old). It is, however, difficult or impossible to know the age of most tunes due to their tremendous variation across Ireland and through the years; some generalization is possible, however -- for example, only modern songs are written in English, with few exceptions, the rest being in Irish. Most of the oldest songs, tunes, and methods are rural in origin, though more modern songs and tunes often come from cities and towns.

Music and lyrics are passed aurally/orally, and were rarely written down until recently (depending upon your definition of "recently", there are many examples of written music previous to 1800). Of major importance to the transcribing of melodies belonging to both the instrumental traditions and the song traditions were the collectors. These included 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 always been a part of Irish music since at least the mid-19th century, although this is a point of much contention among ethnomusicologists.

For instance, guitars and bouzoukis 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 nineteenth century. Céilidh bands of the 1940s often included a drum set and stand-up bass as well as saxophones. (The band At The Racket continues the "tradition" of the saxophone in Irish music.) As of current writing, the first three instruments are now generally accepted in traditional Irish music circles (although perhaps not in the most purist of venues), while the latter three are generally not. (The Pogues received much criticism for their use of a drum kit, for instance.)

Furthermore, such "unimpeachable" instruments as button accordion and concertina made their appearances in Irish traditional music only late in the nineteenth century. There is little evidence for the flute having played much part in traditional music before art musicians abandoned the wooden simple-system instrument still preferred by trad fluters for the Boehm-system of the modern orchestra, and the tin whistle is another mass-produced product of the Industrial Revolution. A good case can be made that the Irish traditional music of the year 2005 has much more in common with that of the year 1905 than that of the year 1905 had in common with the music of the year 1805.

More recently, traditional Irish music has been "expanded" to include new styles, arrangements, and variations performed by bands, although arguments run rife as to whether you may then call this music "traditional." However, the greater part of the community has accepted that the music played by such bands as Planxty and the Bothy Band and their numerous spiritual descendants is indeed traditional.

Musicians from non-Irish styles (bluegrass, oldtime, folk) have discovered the appeal of Irish traditional music. However, the rhythmic pulse and melodic flow of Irish traditional music are quite distinct to the rhythmic and melodic structures that govern other musical forms, even in the case of the few tunes shared between these musical genres. Also, Irish sessions and bluegrass and old time jams carry completely different sets of etiquette and expectations, and these do not, for the most part, integrate well; this has led to many misunderstandings and outright confrontations.

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. Structural units are symmetrical and include decorations, in many cases imaginative and elaborate, of the rhythm, text, melody and phrasing, though not usually of dynamics.

Unaccompanied vocals ar sean-nós ("in the old style") are considered the ultimate expression of traditional singing, usually performed solo, but sometimes as a duet. Sean-nós singing is highly ornamented and the voice is placed towards the top of the range; to the first-time listener, accustomed to pop and classical singers, sean-nós often sounds more "Arabic" or "Indian" than "Western". 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. Non-sean-nós traditional singing, even when accompaniment is used, uses patterns of ornamentation and melodic freedom derived from sean-nós, and, generally, a similar voice placement.

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.

Music for Dancing

Irish traditional music was largely meant (to the best of our current knowledge) for dancing at celebrations for weddings, saint's days or other observances. Tunes (songs have words, tunes do not) 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), hornpipes (4/4 with swung eighth notes), and jigs (the common double jig is in 6/8 time), as well as imported mazurkas, polkas, and highlands (a sort of Irished version of the Scottish strathspey). Jigs come in various other forms for dancing -- the slip jig and hop jig are commonly written in 9/8 time, the single jig in 12/8. (The dance the hop jig is no longer performed under the auspices of An Coimisiun.) The form 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 jig danced in ghillies/pomps/slippers are known as light jigs.

Polkas 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. 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 within 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.

Set dancing

Main article: Set dancing

Set dancing, generally danced in "sets" of four couples (eight hands; a "half set" is two couples or four hands), is one of the most popular forms of the Irish traditional dances. After almost having died out, the recreational dance form was revived in the 1980s in counties Clare and Kerry. Venues for set dancing are often pubs, which might reserve one evening of the week for dancing, and céilís, which almost always feature live céilí bands. It is not uncommon for young people in Ireland's cities (and other large cities around the world) these days to "go set-dancing", as others of their contemporaries go "clubbing".

Most sets consist of a series of figures. Each figure is danced to a different type of tune with a pause between each figure for the dancers to catch their breath (and perhaps to quickly review the next figure); a reel, jig, hornpipe, and a polka, for instance. Each figure calls for a certain amount of measures of music, and the musicians will often be given a list of the music required for each set ahead of time so the figure and the music will end at the same time.

A caller will sometimes call a set, especially when there are many beginners, but set dancers strive to memorize their sets in order not to need a caller. Attendees will generally see a few of the easier sets at the beginning of the night called for new dancers and visitors, and then the rest of the sets tend to be for "those who know".

Another feature of set dancing is "battering", where the dancers tap/stamp out a rhythm on the floor as they move through the set. At one point in time, this was mainly the province of the "head couple" at the top of the set, as this was generally the most experienced pair of dancers in the set. However, it has become much more common for many if not all of the dancers in a set to batter throughout the set. (This provides either a great deal of energy or simply an overwhelming conglomerate of noise, depending on one's personal viewpoint of the matter.)

Stepdancing

Main article: Irish dance

Stepdancing, in the Munster or southern style form, is the most widespread of the Irish dance forms, although there are many others (including the Connemara style, a few scattered remnants of other regional forms of stepdancing, and other forms of Southern style dancing not under the auspices of An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha). Modern stepdancing is connected to the Irish cultural revivals of the nineteenth century in one long line. Modern stepdancers are athletes as well as dancers; champions train for competition in a manner similar to ballet dancers, ice skaters, and gymnasts. It is largely a solo dance form, although group dances or figures exist in a set curriculum of ceili (or, in Scottish Gaelic, ceilidh), or party, dances. Stepdancing was hugely popularized after the success of the Broadway-style musical Riverdance in 1994.

The litmus test of the solo stepdancer is the non-traditional set dance (not related to set dancing, where groups of dancers form figures) which is generally choreographed by a dancer's teacher for that dancer or for the teacher's dancing school.

An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha has long instituted a certification system for teachers and adjudicators through scrúdaithe (examinations/tests). An Coimisiún was established by Conradh na Gaeilge – The Gaelic League – in the late twenties as a commission for the purpose of examining the organisation of Irish dancing as it existed at that time and to make recommendations as to how it might be better organised in the future. The body first met in 1930.

Those who pass the teachers examination receive the TCRG (Teasgicoir Coimisiún Le Rinci Gaelacha) certification as certified instructors. After ten years of holding the TCRG certificate, teachers may then test for the ADCRG (Ard Diploma Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha) in order to adjudicate dance competitions (feis; plural, feisianna). Both tests involve considerable practical, oral, and written demonstration of Irish stepdancing, including the ability to sing certain tunes and identify snippets of the traditional and non-traditional sets -- a formidable task for (often) non-musicians.

Sean Nós Dancing

Modern step dancing evolved from sean-nós ("old style") dancing. Sean-nós dancing has a large element of improvisation, but at its best is more than a mere frenetic jumping about; the performance of a skilled sean-nós dancer should convey both restraint and wildness packaged in an unpretentious dignity. The upper body and arms are loose and relaxed, rather than held erect and still as in modern stepdancing, and the footwork is low, hard, and percussive, without the high kicks (over the knee height) of stepdancing. Props are occasionally employed - for example, in "The Brush Dance" the dancer uses a sweeping brush (broom) as a prop.

Sean-nós dancing continues to maintain itself as a living tradition despite the popularity and flash of the more athletic modern stepdancing forms and theatrical spectacles