Download Ireland

Ireland
SET SONGS
JC COURSE B
M. MATTHEWS 2013
JUNIOR CERT MUSIC
Set Songs are part of the core curriculum for the
Irish Junior Cert Music Course.
Students are required have listened and analysed
each song in depth.
Students must learn all key features studied as
detailed in each category and chapter.
• CHAPTER 1 •
IRISH FOLK SONGS
AMHRAN NA CUIGINNE
Task 1: Use the internet to find out three pieces of interesting information about the piece.
Task 2: Write the piece into your manuscript. Label all of the notes.
Task 4: Find two different versions of the song. Listen to both and write five sentences comparing
• Section 1 •
Irish Folk Songs: Amhran Na Cuiginne
Characteristics of Irish
Music
Wide Range: The distance from the lowest note
to the topmost note is usually fairly wide.
Lack of
Traditional
Simple Form
Flattened 7th Dynamics in
Instruments
performance
Modal: Modes were the old system of keys
before major and minor were invented. As Irish
Music is an old tradition much of the music was
composed in modes.
Free Rhythm
Repeated last
Ornamentation
Wide Range
(unless a
note
dance)
Traditional Instruments:
Modal
Sean Nos
Style
Variation of
a Tune
It is important that you can recognise these by
ear and listen to famous performers.
No Harmony
(except a
drone)
Irish Music has many features of music and
performance that help to give it its characteristic
sound.
Melody & Acc
Simple Form: The music is generally in a verse
chorus, or ternary or binary form.
Accordion/Melodeon
Sharon Shannon
Uilleann Pipes
Liam O Floinn
Harp
3
Performer
Máire Ní Chathasaigh
Melodic
Performer
Flute
Matt Molloy
Sean Nos Style
Tin Whistle
Sean Potts
Fiddle
Frankie Gavin
Concertina
Edel Fox
Sean Nos Style involves features of Sean Nos
Singing. This includes nasal singing, vibrato,
ornamentation, emphasis on words, mixture of
Irish and Engligh.
Accompaniment
Performer
Flattened 7th
Bodhran
Mel Mercier
Bones & Spoons
Mel Mercier
This is related to when the music was written.
The music tends to follow a standard tonality
with the exception of Ti the 7th note of the scale
which is flattened.
Free Rhythm
This is particularly relevant to the Sean Nos
Song tradition but also to unaccompanied
singing.
Repeated Last Note
The last note of a song or phrase is often
repeated. This is often used for emphasis of the
words.
It refers to the way a performer can speed up or
slow down a section of the song in their
performance. It is often used to emphasise words
in a piece or to signal the end of a piece.
Variation of the Melody
4
Uses rhythm and melodic variation to change the
melody. This is often in the form of
ornamentation and varies from region to region.
Lack of Dynamics
Dynamics are not a major feature of Irish music,
unlike classical music.
Amhran na Cuiginne
Ornamentation
Key Signature: Modal Mixolydian
There are many types of ornamentation in Irish
Music. It can be rhythmic or melodic variation.
Tonality: Modal Mixolydian
Metre: 2
Range: Octave
No Harmony
Time Signature: 6
Harmony is seldom used in Irish Music,
particularly in the song tradition. Songs were
generally unaccompanied. Sometimes a drone
may have been used as an accompaniment
(uilleann pipes for example)
8
Melodic Features: Flattened 7th, Step
Movement, Ornamentation
Rhythmic Features: Quaver Movement
Form: Verse Chorus
5
• Section 2 •
Review
Review 1.1 Irish Music
Review 1.2 Amhran Na Cuiginne
Question 1 of 5
Question 1 of 5
The composer of Amhran Na Cuiginne is:
How many strings does a fiddle have?
A. 1
A. Jerome Kern
B. 3
B. Unknown
C. 4
C. Fr. Tom Egan
D. 6
6
• CHAPTER 2 •
FOLK SONGS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
Task 1: Use Google to search for the lyrics and
meaning of any words you do not understand.
Task 2: Study the music provided. Write down five
musical points that you can see.
Task 3: Listen to two different versions of the song
on youtube. Complete a listening profile on each.
Country of Origin
Key Signature
Time Signature
Metre
Melodic Features
Rhythmic Features
Form
Tempo
• Section 1 •
Click Go The Shears
Click Go The Shears is a very famous Australian folk song. Like
Irish Folk Songs we do not know the original author of the song
and many different versions of the words and lyrics exist.
Country of Origin: Australia
Key Signature: C Major
Time Signature: Common Time or 4
4
Metre: 4
Melodic Features: Wide Range, Descending Scale and Octave
Leap, repeated notes at end of phrase
Rhythmic Features: Dotted Rhythms
Form: Simple Form (verse/chorus)
Tonality: Major
8
• Section 2 •
Review
Review 2.1 Click Go The Shears Review
Question 1 of 5
What key is the piece in?
A. Modal
B. C Major
C. F Major
D. D Major
Check Answer
9
• CHAPTER 3 •
HISTORICAL & MODERN BALLADS
Task 1: Find two different versions of the lyrics using
google. Why are there different versions?
Country of Origin
Key Signature
Task 2: Listen to any version of the song on youtube.
Does the version match the music above? Explain.
Time Signature
Metre
Melodic Features
Rhythmic Features
Form
Tempo
Task 3: This song is a ballad. Research and write 5
sentences on ballads in your copy.
• Section 1 •
The Verdent Braes of Screen
The Verdent Braes of Screen
Melodic Features: Wide Range, ornamentation, Several
flattened 7ths
Although this is studied under the ballad section of the course, it is
also an Irish Traditional piece. Many of the Irish Traditional Music
features from Chapter 1 are relevant here. This Ballad is a love
story.
Rhythmic Features: Upbeat, syncopation
Form: ABCA1D, strophic
Tonality: Major
A Ballad is a song that tells a story. Like traditional music,
historical ballads are handed down orally. They may be about a
significant historical event. More modern ballads are often about
love or society. As they are from the more recent past we know the
composer of modern ballads. This is not the case for traditional
ballads.
Country of Origin: Ireland
Key Signature: F Major
Time Signature: 3
4
Metre: 3
11
• Section 2 •
Review
Review 3.1 Verdent Braes of Screen
Review
Question 1 of 5
What key is the piece in?
A. Modal
B. C Major
C. F Major
D. D Major
Check Answer
12
• CHAPTER 4 •
ART SONGS
Task 1: Define all dynamics and
markings on the music above.
Task 2: Use google to find a translation of the lyrics.
What is the song about?
Task 3: What is an Art song? Create a poster
explaining the term with examples.
Country of Origin
Key Signature
Time Signature
Metre
Melodic Features
Rhythmic Features
Form
Tonality