Irish Music: Structure and Ornamentation

Traditional Irish music usually consists of several instruments playing the same melody in unison without a harmony, in exception for the guitar which provides rhythm and bass. Traditionally it's just several instruments such as the fiddle, Irish flute, etc. playing the melody without a chordal instrument such as the guitar. Here's a video of several different jigs and reels.

seriglerom (2012) The Music of Ireland: Jigs and Reels. Available at - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3xeTpgLP5o (Accessed on 12th October 2013).

Reels are in 4/4 and consist of similar structures of two parts (A & B) in most reels it's repeated as AABB not ABAB. Sometime's it's AABBCC and each part usually consists of eight bars. It's like a question and answer format and also consists largely of eighth notes. Because of each part consisting of eight bars it can have four bar or two bar phrases. This is also the case for other types of Irish music.

An example of the structure:

Figure 1.1

                                           

Another example with part C:

Figure 1.2

                                             

Jigs are in 6/8 which gives it a kind of swing beat, this makes it perfect for dancing. Which is what it's used for to this day, being played in a pub for people to dance and have a good time. The music sounds very traditional and is the symbol for Irish music it's very old fashioned because they use gapped scales which are scales which use less than seven notes.

Ugur Bekas (2011) Live Irish Pub Music / Ireland Temple Bar / HD Quality. Available at - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY11m0d3Bjs (Accessed 12th October 2013).

Ornamentation:

Figure 2.1

 The Cut

Figure 2.2

The Casadh

Figure 2.3

The Short Roll

Figure 2.4

The Tap








This is the Salamanca Reel. You can hear and see some of the different ornamentation used.

Figure 2.5

mrleedra (2011) The Bothy Band: Salamanca Reel/The Banshee/The Sailor's Bonnet. Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taN_I4CRv9E (Accessed 12th October 2013).

They're many other different types of Irish music with various time signatures:

• Hornpipes 4/4
• Polkas 2/4
• Slip jigs 9/8
• Slides 12/8
• Waltz 3/4
• Mazurkas 4/4
• Highlands 4/4

Bibliography

Figure 1.1/1.2 - http://www.firepowr.com/structure.html

Figure 2.1/2.2/2.3/2.4  - http://www.tradschool.com/en/tunes/ornamentation-in-irish-music

Figure 2.5  - http://www.celticorbis.co.uk/tunesala.htm