Ceol agus Amhrain

BAIDIN FHEILIMI Báidín Fheilimí d'imigh go Gabhla, Báidín Fheilimí's, Feilimí ann Báidín Fheilimí d'imigh go Gabhla, Báidín Fheilimí's, Feilimí ann
CURFÁ Báidín bídeach, báidín beosach, Báidín bóideach, báidín Fheilimí. Báidín direach, báidín deontach Báidín Fheilimí's, Feilimí ann Báidín Fheilimí d'imigh go Toraigh, Báidín Fheilimí's, Feilimí ann Báidín Fheilimí d'imigh go Toraigh, Báidín Fheilimí's, Feilimí ann
CURFA Báidín Fheilimí briseadh i d'Toraigh, Báidín Fheilimí's, Feilimí ann Báidín Fheilimí briseadh i d'Toraigh, Báidín Fheilimí's, Feilimí ann
CURFA


Fiddle The fiddle is the mainstay of most Scottish and Irish music. The instrument is exactly the same as a violin; fiddle is simply the term used in traditional music. Despite it's popularity, there's not much information on the net about fiddles or fiddling.


Flute Flutes of one sort or another have been played in the celtic countries for over a thousand years. The kind in use today is mainly the 'simple-system' flute with six holes and up to eight keys. This became popular in Ireland during the nineteenth century, when classical musicians were abandoning them for the new Boehm-system flute. Modern traditional flutes are usually copies of these early instruments, and almost always made of wood. Their cylindrical bore and wooden construction give a hollow, airy tone, softer than the classical flutes and much smoother than the tin whistle. More information:


Tin whistle The simplest and cheapest of traditional instruments, yet not so simple to master. The tin whistle is a simple metal tube, with six holes and a mouthpiece like a recorder, and a range of about two octaves. The cheapest ones cost about $5, though more highly-crafted ones run into the hundreds. Some of today's best players still play nothing but the cheaper brands, and make great music.


Bagpipes/Uilleann pipes Several forms of bagpipe are used in celtic music. The basic instrument has a bag of air, inflated by blowing through a blowpipe. Arm pressure on the bag sends air through a reed on a fingered chanter which makes the sound. The usual range is about two octaves. The Scottish highland pipes are the loudest, played standing, usually in pipe bands. The chanter has eight holes and plays a distinctive 'pipe scale'. There are two tenor drones, tuned an octave below the chanter and a bass drone a further octave down. The Irish Warpipes are similar, but have only one tenor drone. More popular in Ireland, and a lot quieter are the bellows-powered uilleann pipes. The chanter has a range of two octaves (in the key of D), often has keys, and in addition to drones (three or four), the uilleann pipes have regulators, extra pipes which can play certain chords. A 'practice set' is often used, which has a chanter but no drones or regulators. In Northumberland (England), the Northumbrian small pipes are similar, with a variable number of keys and up to five drones. They are unique in having being able to cut off air to the chanter; all other pipes have to play continuously. In Brittany they play the binou, which has seven-holed chanter and a single drone. In the celtic regions of Spain, Asturias and Galicia, the local bagpipe is the gaita, similar to the Scottish pipes, with a 1-3 drones (usually 2; tuning is 2 octaves below the chanter, one octave below and the same octave). The usual key is C, with about a two octave range.

Banjo The American five-string banjo came to Ireland in the nineteenth century, losing one string along the way. It became popular in ceili bands and in ballad groups such as the Dubliners and recent recordings by American based Seamus Egan and Mick Moloney are furthering it's spread. The banjo most used in Irish music is a 4-string tenor banjo, with the standard strings replaced by heavier ones, tunes to GDAE. Mandolins, citterns, bouzoukis, guitars These fretted instruments are mostly used in accompaniment and for rhythmic backing. The guitar comes in from the folk boom of the sixties, and is usually a standard acoustic six-string model, though a variety of tunings can be used. A wide variety of instruments come under the general umbrella of the mandolin family. These have a rounded back and usually four pairs of strings (courses) tuned in unison. The mandolin is usually tuned like a fiddle. Larger versions include the mandola (tuned a fifth below) and the mandocello (an octave below). The mandocello is also known as the octave mandolin and is similar to what is known as the Irish bouzouki - a much modified version of the Greek bouzouki, introduced to Irish music by Johnny Moynihan, in his Sweeney's men days in the late sixties, and now almost a standard in Irish groups. Bouzouki tuning is usually GDAD or GDAE. There are several other variants, including the five course citterns developed by Stefan Sobell (with the name borrowed from a medieval family of instruments) and various hybrids such as Andy Irvine's 'bizarre' (bouzouki-guitar).

Harp There have been harping traditions in the celtic countries of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany for hundreds of years and in Ireland at least it was closely tied to the old aristocracy and 'high' culture. Most celtic harps are small, and can be played on the knee. The Scottish harp is called a clarsach, and the Welsh harp is the triple-harp, a form once popular in art music until superseded by the pedal harp. The triple has three rows of strings, tuned a semitone apart to give a chromatic scale. Most modern players use nylon or gut strings, but some have gone back to the original wire-strung harp, with it's bell-like sound.


Bodhran This is a goatskin drum used widely in Irish music and also becoming popular in other celtic areas


Button Accordion The Button Accordion is often played in traditional music. It usually has two rows of buttons on the right side and 8 bass buttons on the left It was first invented in the early nineteenth century and became widely used in traditional music in the 1920's and 1930's. When a button is pressed, air is blown across a set of paired metal reeds, causing them to vibrate and produce a particular note. The bellows are pulled out and pushed in by the arms, so it also became known as the 'squeeze box'. Usually on a button accordion you get a different note when you pull (draw) out or push in (press) the bellows while pressing the same key. There are also 8 bass keys to be played with the left hand but they are not always used.