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What do you think about when you are asked about Irish instruments? Do you know any traditional musical instruments that come from Ireland?
I will show you three of the most important ones.
One of them is, for example, the Irish flute. It is a musical instrument of the woodwind group. It produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening and it has just six holes to be covered with fingers.
Another typical Irish instrument is the fiddle. It is a bowed string musical instrument, identical to a violin but it is played in very varying regional styles. In modern Irish it is called fidil or veidhlín and it’s one of the most important instruments in the Irish repertoire of music. Because of its low-cost, low maintenance and how easy it is to learn it is very popular in Ireland. The first reports of bowed instruments similar to the violin was in Ireland in 1160.
This is an ancient instrument that isn’t played nowadays anymore. The crwth is a small harp and is also called a crowd or crote. Only five exemplars have survived and are to be found in some Irish museums like in the St Fagans National Museum of History or in the National Library of Wales.
After all, I am sure you are more informed about Irish dances. At least you’ve got a picture in your mind when you think about that.
Irish dances include a lot of different folk dances that can be danced alone, in a group or as a pair. The history tells about three main dances. The „Rince fada“ where two rows of partners face each other, “The Irish Hey”, probably a round or figure dance, and “The Trenchmores” which is described as a country dance.
A big influence on the Irish dance style had the appearance of the “Dance Masters” in the 18th century. Those where intinerate dance teachers who were travelling from one village to another and teaching people how to dance. Each master had his own area and no dance master was allowed to cross the border to the area of another master.
The modern period of Irish dances began 1893 when the “Gaelic League” was founded. This group encouraged the reawakening of Irish culture, a culture that the British had suppressed for centuries.
written by Julika
Now I will introduce you to the world of Irish bands and singers.
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin, formed in 1976. The group consists of Bono, he is the lead singer and rhythm guitar player, the Edge who plays the lead guitar, keyboards, and sings backing vocals, Adam Clayton with the bass guitar, and Larry Mullen Jr. plays drums.
The band formed as teenagers while attending Mount Temple Comprehensive School, when they had limited musical proficiency. Their first number one album was „War“ and they performed live at the Live Aid concert in the Wembley stadium.
Some important songs you might know are: “One”, “Beautiful Day” or “Bloody Sunday”
And last but not least is the Irish singer and songwriter Andrew John Hozier-Byrne.
Hozier was born in 17 March 1990. He had his international breakthrough after releasing his debut single “Take Me to Church”, which had been certified multi-platinum in several countries. „Take me to Church“ is what most of us now him for. The songs he wrote after that number one hit aren’t as popular as his first one.
written by Nico