Traditional Irish music refers to the national music of Ireland. This type of music can best be describe as folk music.
The most important aspect of any music is the instruments that make the actual sound of music. Traditional instruments, that have been used for centuries, are use in the national music of Ireland. Traditional Irish music usually involves a fiddle; a bodhran, which is a small, circular drum that is believe to be a relative of the Celtic war drum; wooden flute; tin whistle; uillean pipes, a cousin of the bagpipes; and the Irish harp.
These instruments are used in a variety of styles. Irish styles include jigs, reel, hornpipe, polkas, maurkas and waltzes.
In modern times, music as a whole, have incorporated lyrics with the instruments. In traditional Irish music, the music is mostly done by itself with no lyrics added. The main purpose of the traditional Irish music is for dancing. Each different style of music has its own dance.
However, in modern times, lyrics have crept into the music. When lyrics are added, it is called "sean no", which in Gaelic means "old style". This refers to singing that is sung solo and acappela. The lyrics are usually sung in Gaelic, but in more recent times, more English is being used. When singing is involve, there is no dancing.
The traditional Irish music has always been a large part of the culture of Ireland, but went through a revival in the 1800's, when people were sick of being controlled by England and started to look more towards their tradition for encouragement. There was another revival of the music during the 1960's.
The concert that I went to was put on by Steeple Sessions (www.steeplesessions.com). My friend, Lisa, works for the company and every Tuesday and Thursday they put on traditional Irish music concerts in a Unitarian Church near St. Stephen's Green; on the southeast side of Dublin.
The performers today were the O'Mongain Brothers. They are a group of brothers that have been playing traditional Irish music for over twenty years. The family is from country Mayo, which is in the northwest of Ireland. Their passion for the traditional music of Ireland is so profound that they all each traditional music to students. They are well known in Ireland and also travel to the United Kingdom and Europe to give concerts.
The concert was amazing! It was in the evening and it was the perfect way to end a busy work day. The music was very upbeat and you could not help but tap your foot along with the music. It is definitely dancing music! It made me want to get up and dance!
What was very nice was that all the brothers spoke Gaelic. They would introduce a song in Gaelic and then in English. It was nice to hear what Gaelic sounded like and to see that people understood it! This was nice because it showed that Ireland has tried to remain faithful to its roots.
Without a doubt, no one can be sad while listening to traditional Irish music! I highly recommend anyone visiting Ireland to check out a traditional Irish music concert! It is a real treat!
Below, you can see some video that I took at the concert. It will give you an idea what traditional Irish music sounds like!
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