Download Basic Principles of Irish Traditional Music

PASIC 2013- Basic Principles of Irish Traditional Music
Basic Principles of Irish Traditional Music:
Musical Materials
Irish Traditional Music (and indeed, music of all Celtic traditions) is Modally-based, primarily melodic
music. The melody may be modally ambiguous if it uses a major or minor pentatonic scale or
possesses some other gap in scale degree usage.
Major Modes:
Ionian (Major Scale)
Mixolydian (Major w/ b7)
Minor Modes:
Aeolian (natural minor scale)
Dorian (nat. minor w/ #6)
The most commonly occurring keys are mostly based on and related to the natural/open keys of the
common instruments:
D, A, G, C, E major and minor modes
Other specialty instruments (F whistles, “flat” pipes, etc.) and modifications (guitar capos) allow music
to be played in keys such as B, F, Bb, and Eb. Select regional variants and the preferences of
individual players might also give rise to unusual keys.
Melody Instruments
Not every instrument can/will be found in every context!
Fiddle (standard tuning, GDAE)
Wooden Flute (key of D)
Tin Whistle (D, octave above flute)
Low Whistles (D, F, or Bb)
Banjo (4-string, same tuning as fiddle)
Mandolin (same tuning as fiddle, octave above banjo)
Box (1- or 2-row button accordion, keyboard accordion)
Concertina
Uilleann Pipes (usually key of D)
Celtic Harp
Lilting (Voice)
Kyle Forsthoff ([email protected])
Andy Kruspe ([email protected])
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PASIC 2013- Basic Principles of Irish Traditional Music
Harmony/Accomp. Instruments
Guitar- most common
Bouzouki (De Dannan, Planxty)
Celtic Harp (Chieftains)
Tiompan (Irish hammered dulcimer- Chieftains)
String Bass (Lunasa)
Keyboard (Beoga, Planxty, any Ceili Band)
Percussion- Bodhran, Bones or Spoons, Snare
Drum/Woodblock (in Ceili Band)
Irish Traditional Music:
Basic Instrumental Genres
Song- Music with words, either in English or Irish (Gaeilge)
Slow Air- Slow instrumental piece without words, played very freely
and usually without specific meter.
Very often an instrumental setting of a song melody
from the Sean Nos (old style) tradition which is the
basis for all vocal and instrumental listening music
(ex: The Wounded Hussar, Port na bPucai, Loch na gCaor)
Piece- Instrumental composition with meter
but not used for dancing
(ex: The Last Pint, Carolan’s Farewell to Music, The Foxhunt)
Dance Tunes- Short instrumental composition in fixed meter used
for accompanying social dance.
Kyle Forsthoff ([email protected])
Andy Kruspe ([email protected])
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PASIC 2013- Basic Principles of Irish Traditional Music
Dance Tunes: Common Tune Types
Duple Meter
Reel- 2/2 (cut time) – most common tune type
March- 2/4
Polka- 2/4 – fastest tune type
Hornpipe- 2/4- most swung tune type
Triple Meter
Jig (single/double)- 6/8 – second most common tune type
Slip Jig- 9/8
Slide or Hop Jig- 12/8- feels like a jig, but faster
March- 6/8
Waltz- 3/4
Mazurka- 3/4
Additional Tune types including Highland Flings and Barn-dances may be
common only in specific geographic areas or else may be used only in very
specific circumstances (i.e., “Set Dances”).
Basics of Music Performance
One of the most common musical performance
situations in the modern era is called a
Session (from the Irish seisun). A session is
typically a regularly-occurring informal
gathering of musicians where tunes are
played, songs are sung, pints are consumed,
and musical knowledge is shared. It is
primarily here where musicians hone their
ensemble skills, experiment with performing
newly-learned tunes, and pick up previouslyunknown tunes.
Kyle Forsthoff ([email protected])
Andy Kruspe ([email protected])
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PASIC 2013- Basic Principles of Irish Traditional Music
A “Typical” Irish Dance Tune
With literally thousands of tunes in the repertoire (well over 10,000), there is no such
thing as a “typical” tune, but a few general characteristics may be observed:
-- Most dance tunes are comprised of two differing sections, an A section and a B section,
each usually 4, 8, or 16 bars long depending on meter. There are also many tunes with
3 parts and a number that have 4 parts. Very rarely a tune may have 5 or 6 parts.
-- Each section often has a first ending and a slightly different second ending that
transitions into the next section
-- The B section might have a different tonal center than the A section and is often in a
higher register. If the A section of a tune is modally ambiguous, perhaps due to the
use of a pentatonic scale, the ambiguity might be clarified in the B section, if at all.
--Sometimes the B section will contain melodic material from the A section, often at the
end of the phrase to transition back into the beginning of the tune, but this is not a
requirement.
Playing “a tune through ” once usually means playing each section twice:
|: A :|: B :| or AABB
Tunes in a Session
--Tunes are generally played in groups called Sets, so named because they might
accompany specific sets of dances. A set usually comprises three tunes, each
played three times, but sets can certainly consist of more or fewer tunes and have
more or fewer repetitions.
--If a tune is particularly short (such as Hag At the Churn or Drowsy Maggie, where
each section is only 4 bars long), convention may dictate playing it more than 3
times (6 would be typical, or three times thru 2x the tune). A tune may also be
played more than three times for dramatic effect to close out a set.
--In a session situation, a set will usually comprise tunes of the same tune type that
are in closely-related keys. Tunes may be ordered and grouped according to a
variety of different factors including key, melodic resemblance, or other agreed
upon convention.
--Players in a session will often create sets based on popular recordings, but will often
eschew most details of arrangement and orchestration in order to allow the most
number of players to participate without requiring specific knowledge beyond the
basic tune or harmonies.
Kyle Forsthoff ([email protected])
Andy Kruspe ([email protected])
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PASIC 2013- Basic Principles of Irish Traditional Music
Sessions vs. Recordings
--It must be stated here that performing replications of recorded arrangements in a
session setting is neither the ideal nor the norm and is contrary to the spirit of
session playing. Likewise, the creation of "band" arrangements and their replication
in session settings is to be avoided. Sessions are not "performances" and should not
be treated as opportunities for “performance ego”.
--Recording groups typically play sets of varying lengths but might only repeat each tune
twice in order to save time and maintain listener interest by eliminating redundancy.
--Recording groups often create complex arrangements of tune sets to highlight the
abilities of the particular players in that group, including regional stylistic variations
or repertoire, unusual instrumentations, and intricate orchestrations.
--Groups such as The Chieftains and The Bothy Band are famous (or infamous) for
combining different tune types in a single set, but they are the exception rather than
the rule.
--Irish music played at the highest level is highly ornamented and melodically variated.
While the mechanics of melodic and rhythmic articulation are generally
standardized, where and when they occur is usually subject to the whim of the
player based on quite sophisticated aesthetics and idiomatic understandings.
Kyle Forsthoff ([email protected])
Andy Kruspe ([email protected])
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