Style

Pat O'Meara, the keyboard player, along with senior members of the band carefully pick out tunes with a regular meter. Pat who comes from a family of traditional musicians and who has studied harmony and music theory with the Army School of Music selects tunes, which have a decisive harmonic structure.

The band decided in more recent years to move away from the usual keys of D and G major to the more mellow keys of D minor, F major, G minor, B flat major and C major. Some of these keys can be very difficult on simple system flutes and therefore a greater effort is required on behalf of the two flautists to maintain proper intonation.

From day one the band had a policy of changing the key for every tune played in tandem. Critics welcomed this procedure when the band won its first All-Ireland title in 1970. Specific mention was made of the key change in both the reel selection and jig selection. Key change is a hallmark of the band as it rests the ear and makes a long selection of tunes interesting for both listener and dancer.