Irish fiddling
Encyclopedia
The Irish fiddle is one of the most important instruments in the traditional repertoire of Irish music
. The fiddle itself is identical to the violin
, however it is played differently in widely-varying regional styles.
Andy McGann,
Tommy Peoples,
Brian Conway,
Randal Bays,
Gerry O'Connor,
Martin Hayes
,
Kevin Burke,
Sean McGuire (fiddler)
Sean Smyth
,
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
,
Cathal Hayden
,
Paul Shaughnessy,
Matt Cranitch
,
Marie Reilly,
Bridget Regan
, and
Frankie Gavin.
Brendan Mulvihill
Sligo
fiddlers like Michael Coleman
did much to popularise Irish music in the States in the 1920s.
, and even then it is used relatively sparingly. Like the rest of Irish traditional music tradition, melodies are embellished through forms of ornamentation
, such as rolls, trebles, and cuts.
Irish fiddlers also use a vocabulary of bow slurs different from other fiddle traditions, at least in proportion of usage. Most notably, fiddlers often slur into the beat to produce a certain lilt, not unlike the Newcastle hornpipe style of bowing in England and Scotland, though the technique in Ireland is not restricted to hornpipes
. They may also slur over beats in such a pattern as to create a natural back-beat in reels
.
are seldom played, as such, but there are some tunes which amply utilized dotted rhythm. Some tunes are:
and Donegal fiddle tradition
s.
In Irish fiddling there are few known composers, as many tunes have been taught by ear and passed down from one generation to another. Also, many players adjusted tunes to suit their style and taste, so there can be many variations for a particular tune.
Donegal Fiddle
Scottish Fiddle
Canadian Fiddle
American Fiddle
Folk music of Ireland
The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland.-History:...
. The fiddle itself is identical to the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, however it is played differently in widely-varying regional styles.
Contemporary performers
Modern performers includeAndy McGann,
Tommy Peoples,
Brian Conway,
Randal Bays,
Gerry O'Connor,
Martin Hayes
Martin Hayes (musician)
Martin Hayes is a fiddler, born in Maghera in East County Clare, Ireland, and now living in West Hartford, Connecticut. He has been the All Ireland Fiddle Champion six times, and has won a National Entertainment Award, and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2000 award for Instrumentalist of the Year...
,
Kevin Burke,
Sean McGuire (fiddler)
Sean McGuire (fiddler)
Sean McGuire is a former All Ireland Fiddle Champion. He is from Belfast.McGuire was only fourteen when his violin playing was broadcast for the first time on BBC radio...
Sean Smyth
Seán Smyth
Seán Smyth is the fiddle player for the traditional Irish music group Lúnasa. Born in Straide, County Mayo, and now living in Galway, Seán is an All-Ireland champion on both fiddle and whistle....
,
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh is a fiddler, born in Dublin, Ireland. He is known for developing a drone-based fiddle style heavily influenced by the uilleann pipes and the music of Sliabh Luachra...
,
Cathal Hayden
Cathal Hayden
-Biography:Cathal Sean Hayden is an Irish fiddle and banjo player of note. He was born on 13 July 1963, in the village of the Rock, Co Tyrone outside Pomeroy, an area immersed in traditional music. The third in the family of eight, he was born into a deep musical background. His father played the...
,
Paul Shaughnessy,
Matt Cranitch
Matt Cranitch
Matt Cranitch is a well known Irish fiddle player.Dr. Cranitch is a founding member of Na Fili. He is a graduate in electrical engineering and music from University College Cork, lectures at the Cork Institute of Technology on subjects of electronic engineering and music technology...
,
Marie Reilly,
Bridget Regan
Bridget Regan
Bridget Catherine Regan is an American film, television and theater actress, best known for her portrayal of Kahlan Amnell in the television series Legend of the Seeker.-Career:...
, and
Frankie Gavin.
Brendan Mulvihill
Sligo
Sligo
Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
fiddlers like Michael Coleman
Michael Coleman (musician)
-Early years:Michael Coleman was born in Knockgrania, in the rural Killavil district, near Ballymote, County Sligo, Ireland. His father, James Coleman, was from Banada in County Roscommon, and a respected flute player...
did much to popularise Irish music in the States in the 1920s.
Style
Compared to classical violin, Irish fiddler tend to make little use of vibrato except for slow airsAir (music)
Air , a variant of the musical song form, is the name of various song-like vocal or instrumental compositions.-English lute ayres:...
, and even then it is used relatively sparingly. Like the rest of Irish traditional music tradition, melodies are embellished through forms of ornamentation
Ornament (music)
In music, ornaments or embellishments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody , but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central note...
, such as rolls, trebles, and cuts.
Irish fiddlers also use a vocabulary of bow slurs different from other fiddle traditions, at least in proportion of usage. Most notably, fiddlers often slur into the beat to produce a certain lilt, not unlike the Newcastle hornpipe style of bowing in England and Scotland, though the technique in Ireland is not restricted to hornpipes
Hornpipe
The term hornpipe refers to any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and elsewhere from the late 17th century until the present day. It is said that hornpipe as a dance began around the 16th century on English sailing vessels...
. They may also slur over beats in such a pattern as to create a natural back-beat in reels
Reel (dance)
The reel is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type. In Scottish country dancing, the reel is one of the four traditional dances, the others being the jig, the strathspey and the waltz, and is also the name of a dance figure ....
.
Repertoire
Slow airs are occasionally played upon the fiddle, but the style is best known for fast, snappy reels and jigs. Strathspeys, popular in Scottish FiddleScottish fiddling
Scottish fiddling, even to many an untrained ear, can be distinguished from other Celtic and folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery. The style has a very large repertoire consisting of a great variation of rhythms and key signatures, arguably more...
are seldom played, as such, but there are some tunes which amply utilized dotted rhythm. Some tunes are:
- The Wind That Shakes The Barley
- The Humours Of Lissadell
- The Maid Behind The Bar
Regional styles
Examples include the Sliabh LuachraSliabh Luachra
Sliabh Luachra is a region in Munster, Ireland, located around the River Blackwater, on the County Cork/County Kerry/County Limerick borderland.-Music and literature:...
and Donegal fiddle tradition
Donegal fiddle tradition
The Donegal fiddle tradition is a type of Irish traditional music, based on a two-hundred year-old tradition of playing the fiddle in County Donegal, Ireland...
s.
In Irish fiddling there are few known composers, as many tunes have been taught by ear and passed down from one generation to another. Also, many players adjusted tunes to suit their style and taste, so there can be many variations for a particular tune.
Bibliographic resources
- Vallely, Fintan (1999). The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. Cork University Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-8147-8802-5
- F. H. A. Aalen et al. (1997-07-19), Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape (Hardcover), University of Toronto, ISBN 978-0802042941
- a b Fintan Vallely (1999). The Companion to Irish Traditional Music. New York University Press. ISBN 0814788025.
- a b Between the Jigs and the Reels: The Donegal Fiddle Tradition C Mac Aoidh - 1994 - Drumlin Publications
- Donegal and Shetland Fiddle Music D McLaughlin, Irish Traditional Music Society - 1992 - Irish Traditional Music Society, University College, Cork
- a b c Changing cultural landscapes: the co-existence of musical genres in Irish culture and education. M McCarthy - Irish Studies Review, 2004 - Taylor & Francis
- a b c McCarthy, M. (2004). Changing cultural landscapes: the co-existence of musical genres in Irish culture and education. Irish Studies Review. p. 134
- a b Michael Robinson. "The Fiddle Music of Donegal". The Standing Stones.
- Ken Perlman. "Sean McGuire: Master of The Irish Violin". The Irish Fiddle.
- a b c MacAoidh, C. (1994). Between the Jigs and the Reels: The Donegal Fiddle Tradition. Drumlin Publications. p. 125
- Tim McCarrick. "Famous Fiddlers, General Knowledge and Where to Get It Part Three". Mel Bay Publications, Inc.. Retrieved 2008-03-08.[dead link]
- "Johnny Doherty". Rambling House. 2007-12-17.
- McLaughlin, D. (1992). Donegal and Shetland Fiddle Music. Irish Traditional Music Society. p. 58
- Larry Sanger. "The Donegal Fiddle Tradition". EFX Studio. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
- Feldman, Allen, and Eamonn O'Doherty. The Northern Fiddler: Music and Musicians of Donegal and Tyrone. Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1979.
- Paul Dromey. "Doctor Liz has many strings to her bow". The Living Tradition Ltd. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
- "Nuacht Vol. 8 No.4". County Donegal.
- Foy, Barry (March 1999). Field Guide to the Irish Music Session (Hardcover). Roberts Rinehart Publishers. p. 89. ISBN 978-1570982415
- "The Donegal Fiddle". Irish Music Review.
- "Summer 2006". Fiddler Magazine. Archived from the original on June 15,
See also
Folk music of IrelandFolk music of Ireland
The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland.-History:...
Donegal Fiddle
Scottish Fiddle
Scottish fiddling
Scottish fiddling, even to many an untrained ear, can be distinguished from other Celtic and folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery. The style has a very large repertoire consisting of a great variation of rhythms and key signatures, arguably more...
Canadian Fiddle
Canadian fiddle
Canadian fiddle is the aggregate body of tunes, styles and musicians engaging the traditional folk music of Canada on the fiddle. It is an integral extension of the Anglo-Celtic and Québécois Frenchfolk music tradition but has distinct features found only in the Western hemisphere Due to...
American Fiddle
American fiddle
This page is about fiddle music in the USA. For other North American styles, see Fiddle#Fiddling_styles.American fiddle playing began with the early settlers who found that the small viol family instruments were portable and rugged. According to Ron Yule, "John Utie, a 1620 immigrant, settled in...
External links
- Mac Aoidh, Caoimhín. "Regional Styles in Irish Fiddling - Part III". Retrieved September 6, 2005. The third (and final) part of this article lists the major fiddle styles of Ireland and describes them. (The first part covers the geography that helped separate different regions, and the second discusses exactly what makes a style distinct.)
- Recording of fiddler James Kelly performing "Wellington's Reel" at the 1992 Florida Folk Festival (made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida)