Traditional Irish Folk Music 11 Song Styles 2

Instrumental or dancing styles.
Much of traditional Irish folk music is based around dancing sometimes with vocals but quite often just instrumental. 

After looking at many sources of the styles I came to the conclusion that the following extract best explained the different styles and also gave excellent examples. (Haigh) 

TUNE TYPES IN IRISH MUSIC

The repertoire of Irish traditional music is huge. In his book Pete Cooper suggests that there are around 6000 tunes currently in circulation. They fall into a number of distinct categories, based on their rhythm and structure:

Reels are fast tunes in 4/4 time (or more accurately, in cut time). Reels are the staple diet of Irish traditional sessions the world over, usually outnumbering all other tune types by a large margin. They were imported from Scotland in the late 18th C, but have now developed their own style in Ireland, and make up a large part of the repertoire. They are made up mostly of  eighth notes (quavers) which may be played straight, or given a swing a bit like hornpipes.The pulse of a reel can either be on the first of each four quavers (the on beat), or on the third (the off beat or backbeat) The latter approach, similar to the American Georgia shuffle, is frequently used by Kevin Burke. Patterns in which the bow rocks across two strings are common in reels. Most reels have repeated eight-bar sections, making 32 bars (eg. the Star of Munster, the Merry Blacksmith,) Less common are 3-part (48 bar) reels such as the Flogging Reel or the Moving Cloud. Single reels are those in which the 8-bar sections are not repeated. Examples of two-part single reels include The Wind that Shakes the Barley, the Monaghan Twig, and Drowsy Maggie. Single reels can also be three-part (The Flogging Reel, the Longford Spinster, Boys of Malin); four part; (Lord MacDonald’s), or five-part (Bucks of Oranmore).

Reels are usually fast and flashy, showing the fiddler's technique to good effect, though Martin Hayes is known for playing reels in a very slow and expressive fashion.

Hornpipes were introduced from England. They are similar to reels, but with a bouncy, "humpty dumpty" rhythm created by lengthening the first of each pair of quavers, and shortening the second.. They tend to be played slower than reels, particularly when played for dancing. A hornpipe can be reliably identified if the 8 bar line ends with three even crotchets, as for example in the sailor’s hornpipe. Hornpipes tend to be more melodic than reels, and with more harmonic interest, and frequent triplets are a common feature. Arpeggiated phrases, chromatic notes and implied non diatonic chords are all common in hornpipes. Examples include Harvest Home, Boys of Bluehill, Stack of Barley and Off to California. Listen to Frankie Gavin’s take on The Wonder Hornpipe, which more than lives up to its name.

Polkas are played faster than reels, but feel steadier as they have far fewer runs of quavers. They are in 2/4 time- ie two crotchets to the bar. They are used for a couple dance which originated, probably in Poland, in the 1830's. The polka was soon a popular throughout the ballrooms of Europe, before filtering down to the dances of ordinary people. Polkas are often very simple melodies, and a particularly prevalent in the Sliabh Luachra rogion of Cork, Kerry and Limerick. Among the leading exponents were Julia Clifford and Denis Murphy, a brother and sister from county Kerry, and more recently the fiddler Matt Cranitch from the band Sliabh Notes.

Examples of well known polkas include Maggie in the Wood, The £42 cheque, Farewell to Whiskey, and Denis Murphy's Polka. Britches full of Stitches is a particulalry easy tune to learn, as it is based on a pentatonic (five note) scale.

Jigs, among the oldest form of Irish dance tune,, have a bouncy 6/8 rhythm, with a stress at the beginning of each three notes (rashers and sausages) Examples would be Haste to the Wedding or Lannigan's Ball. You may sometimes hear the term double jig; this is in fact the normal form. The term “double” in reference to jigs refers to the “double battering” step used by dancers.

Jigs are occasionally three-part (such as Dingle Regatta) or four-part (The Lark), but like most Irish tunes are usually 2-part.A single jig  has a simpler rhythm (boil the eggs and cook the bacon), and is sometimes notated in 12/8 time. The best known examples include Smash the Windows, Hag at the Churn and Off She Goes.

Slip jigs. Far less common than ordinary jigs, these have a similar feel but are in 9/8 (cooking my rashers and sausages). The slip jig is used for a graceful soft shoe stepdance, usually danced by women only, and also for the ceili dance Strip the Willow. Among the best known are The Butterfly (a composition by Dublin fiddler Tommy Potts), Rocky Road to Dublin, Drops of Brandy, the Kid on the Mountain and the Foxhunter’s Jig.

Slides; similar to jigs again, but in a brisk 12/8 time; found only in the south west of Ireland. They can be distinguished from jigs by the long melodic phrases which would not fit into a bar of 6/8 (cooking my taters and rashers and sausages) Examples include Star above the Garter, Hare in the Corn, and Kilfenora Jig.

Mazurkas. Like Polkas, Mazurkas originated as couple dances in Poland (a Mazur being an inhabitant of the province of Mazovia). They are in 3/4 time, but unlike the waltz, the accent is usually on the second beat of the bar. Examples include Johnny Doherty's, Charlie Lennon's, and Sonny's Mazurka. They are played somewhat faster then waltzes. They have become particulalry associated with Donegal music.

Slow airs, derived in part from the sean-nos (old style) gaelic singing, are only occasionally played at sessions, and make more demands on tone and intonation than do the dance tunes. They are played rubato, and with a great deal of expression. Examples of well-known slow airs include An Chúilfhionn (The Coolin), Bean Dubh a’Gleanna (Dark women of the Glen), Sliabh Geal Gcua (Fare you well), and The Wounded Hussar. Slow airs are an important feature of fiddle contests at the fleadh; in the adult category the playing of one is compulsory. It is said that to perform one properly, you need to be familiar with the gaelic lyrics, otherwise the phrasing will make no sense.

 [Used by kind permission of Chris Haigh from his website http://www.fiddlingaround.co.uk/ireland/]

A Little bit about Chris Haigh

Chris is a professional fiddle player based in London, both as a session musician and live player. He has worked with artists such as: Alison Moyet, Michael Ball, The Quireboys, Steps, Morcheeba, All About Eve, Rolf Harris, David Soul and James Galway. As well as TV shows such as 'Billy Connolly-Journey to the edge of the World','Wild Shepherdess' with Kate Humble, and on the 2013 Hairy Bikers series.

Chris also writes books and articles on fiddle playing including: 
Fiddling Around the World
The Fiddle Handbook
Any Fool Can Write Fiddle Tunes!
Exploring Jazz Violin
Discovering Rock Violin
Hungarian Fiddle Tunes
To give an idea of the versitility and knowledge Chris has the following is a list of the styles he covers his books and on his web site http://www.fiddlingaround.co.uk/ :

BRITAIN AND IRELAND

  IRELAND  

  ENGLAND  

  SCOTLAND  

  WALES

   

EUROPE

  SCANDINAVIA 

  EASTERN EUROPE/GYPSY FIDDLE

  KLEZMER

  BALTIC

  POLAND

  BALKAN

  HUNGARY

  MIDDLE EAST AND MEDITERRANEAN

     

AMERICA

  OLD TIME 

  CAJUN 

  BLUEGRASS 

  WESTERN SWING 

  TEXAS SWING 

  CANADIAN  

        BLUES 

  MEXICAN 

  CUBAN

   

OTHERS

  INDIAN 

  CHINESE 

  JAZZ 

  ROCK

For each style Chris goes into detail about the history and techniques and his web site is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in none classical violin.

   
Reference:
Haigh Chris,  'Irish Fiddle' fiddlingaround (no date) (article) [online]Available at:<http://www.fiddlingaround.co.uk/ireland/> (accessed 5 October 2013)