What is Celtic Music

- Celtic Music is traditional folk music that is usually found in ​Ireland, Scotland, Wales,
Brittany, and Galicia. It has a large spread across Europe but has recently gained
attention that has spread it further across the world with many fusion styles associated
with it.
- The music is ensemble-based and similar to other European classical music in the way
but differs in that it focuses less on harmony and more on unison. The music is played in
different octaves to create different tonalities. It is repetitive and has some cultural
connections with that with things like Celtic knots.
- It has many familiar tones and sounds but is presented in different ways like instruments
with distinctive sounds. The sounds that are in Celtic music are also heard all over the
world like Latin American and Arab countries. Celtic music is an important world music
because of these elements that are shared.
History
- Since Celtic music is a world music that has been around since the 1600’s it is very
difficult to find its origin. It takes lots of inspiration from Arabic music but finding those
origins is difficult. It is largely disputed and each region comes with its own history, style
of Celtic music and historical claims.
- It was spread all over the world largely because of immigration and the popularity of the
styles. Many countries with Celtic music colonized and were spread that way. While
other countries like Ireland had people leaving for historical reasons, fleeing because of
religious persecution or the potato famine.
- Many communities have issues within Celtic music because they all want to make the
origin claims or claims of specific elements in Celtic music. This results in many disputes
and discrepancies of what Celtic music is and why it sounds the way that it does.
Ireland
Ireland is the most commonly thought of country when Celtic music comes to mind.
- The music in the U.S. is largely influenced the Irish because of immigrants from Ireland
- Although many music genres are lost with time or drop overall in popularity this is not
true for traditional Irish music and Celtic fusions that help keep the genre alive today
- There are many ancient Irish songs that are held in high regard, but due to the complex
history, it is difficult to know the time they were written and who wrote them. Many of
these songs have rural origins passed down through generations
- Stylistic differences remain a very important thing for both old and new Irish bands.
Regional styles are common and making one's own style while maintaining some sort of
honor to the old ones and the ones that were inspiring to the new music is culturally
important.
What musical instrument is used is not so important to Celtic music and is more of an indicator
of what region the music originates from than anything else.
- The fiddle or the violin is one of the most common instruments seen in Celtic music. It is
frequently seen in ensemble bands and is in pretty much every type of Celtic music that
there is out therefrom, jigs to ballads. Fiddlers are especially important to Scottish Celtic
music
- The flute is a much more modern addition to Celtic music but it is still important to
mention music because it is seen as important for larger ensembles which is common in
Celtic music. The flute was more or less a modern replacement for the tin whistle.
- The harp is an instrument that people usually think of immediately when it comes to
Celtic music and is also an important instrument to the music. It has been around for a
 long time and has always been apart of Celtic music. The popularity of the harp used to
be huge but has gone down in use since the 19th century. The harp is heard in many
styles of Celtic music but is especially prominent in ballads.
- The bagpipes, there is no way to do a section on Celtic instruments without mentioning
them. Bagpipes are a hugely popular instrument in Ireland and Scotland. There are
many Celtic songs and styles that only feature the bagpipes, many of which are
traditional. The bagpipes have a start in the Scottish military and are still seen as
important today. The bagpipe makes a drowning sound that usually builds simple
harmonies throughout a song.
Dance - Celtic dances are very common because the music plays in rounds, have similar
structure and strong beats. This has lead to many different styles of dance across many
different regions to develop.
- The styles of Celtic dance include jigs, ​strathspeys, waltzes, cushion dance, and reel.
The dances are usually performed by women but there are still many that include men.
There are also many partnering dances in Celtic music.
- Even though this may sound like an odd addition at first it is totally true. All types of
Celtic dance feature the feet and they feature them more than most dance types. They
are characterized by quick feet movement and large jumps.
- Celtic dances or dances with Celtic music are seen across many Celtic regions and
could definitely have a presentation all to itself. The dances are frequently traditional and
have steps that have been passed on for many many years. The dances are performed
both casually and in more concert-like settings.
Time: Listening Focus:
0’00” Guitars and ​bouzouki enter the beat is established
0’10” Strum pattern on the guitar picks up
0’17” Vocals enter soft and high pitched voice with sliding tones almost a whispery
sound
0’25” Long single note held by vocalist
0’28” Song picks up again but faster with additional vocals
0’40” Tone changes from the whispery tone to a more open sounding one
0’47” Another long single note held by vocalist
0’52” Beat and tone pick up again, this is a common pattern in Celtic music with the
rounds
1’02” Clear lyric change brighter and lighter tone
1’10 ” Another long single note held by vocalist
1’15” Other vocalists join in, a more full and greater overall tone
1’26” Return to the single female vocalist still in the light and bright tone
1’38” Other vocalists join in, louder this time with a more full and greater overall tone
1’48” Little flute playing is highlighted and a musical interlude starts
2’08” Full chorus enters once again will a full sound and mmmmmm sound at the end
of the phrase
2’20” Return to female vocalist
2’31” Full chorus enters once again will a full sound and mmmmmm sound at the end
of the phrase
2’43” Return to female vocalist
2’53” Full chorus enters once again will a full sound and mmmmmm sound at the end
of the phrase
3’04” Return to female vocalist with extra loudness at the end of phrase
3’16” Full chorus enters again stronger and mmmmmm sound at the end of the phrase
2’27” Instrumental until end of song
Altan
- The current members include Mairead NÍ Mhaonaigh the vocalist and fiddler, Ciaran
Curran woodwind instruments, ​Dáithí Sproule the guitarist, Mark Kelly the second
guitarist, and Máirtín Tourish the accordionist.
- The group was first formed in ​1987 by the lead vocalist and her husband Frankie Kennedy
who passed away from cancer. Thee band slowly added its members through the years. It
began to receive worldwide recognition right before Kennedy's death. The band is still
developing music today and performs all around the world.
- Altan is the first traditional Irish folk band to ever sign to a major record. They brought many
people to Celtic music and had major collaborations with people such as Dolly Parton and
Alison Krauss a large folk and bluegrass musician.
Time: Listening Focus:
0’00” The drums, other percussions, ​bouzouki ​and gular start playing softly with an
accented beat
0’23: The main female vocalist enters with a higher-pitched singing that moves along
the notes quickly echoed by a male ensemble that mimics in a much lower tone
0’56” Music return to the ensemble of instruments playing and the vocals stop, the beat
also picks up
1’03” Bagpipes eber making the music sound even more up-beat
1’33” The little musical interlude ends and the main vocalist enters back in at a faster
pace with the men echoing behind at a higher pitch as well
2’18” Bagpipes and musical interlude again but the drum stops and clapping and
stomping take its place
2’32” A new melody line picks up with a brighter tone
3’00” Panpipe enters and joins the bagpipes
3’13” Melody comes to a resolution and picks up again faster, fiddle sound is
prominent
3’37” An explosion of fun is the best way for me to describe how this part sounds
4’09” Music calms down and the beat from the drums simplifies
4’22” The song begins to reach its climax with a second bigger “explosion of fun” Beat
picks up again

Capercaillie
- The band is a primarily traditional Scottish ensemble and so it had a large number of
band members that had changed over time. The founding members are Donald Shaw
and Karen Matheson. The current members of the band are Karen Matheson, Charlie
McKerron, Michael McGoldrick, Manus Lunny, Donald Shaw, Ewen Vernal, Che
Beresford, and David Robertson.
- The band was formed in a town in Scotland and has a sort of fusion style where it takes
traditional Scottish music and plays it both with traditional and not so traditional
instruments like the electric guitar and keyboard. As the band has aged they have gotten
further away from the fusion style and are much more focused on traditional music even
though you can still hear hints of less traditional elements in their songs.
- Traditional folk bands, especially ensemble ones, have some difficulty with finding
success especially world wide but as the log-lasting legacy of Capercaillie shows there is
room for them on the global stage. There are known for spreading Scottish Celtic Music
to a larger audience.