an introduction to celtic music
DESCRIPTION
With St. Patrick's Day fast approaching, playlists will soon be filling up with "diddly-i-o's," "mush-a ring dum-a do dum-a da's," and "no-nay-never no more's." And while it's easy for even the most musically illiterate person to hear a Dubliners', Clancy Brothers', Chieftains', or Pogues' song and say definitively, "THAT's Celtic music!" - getting that person to explain WHY it's Celtic is a totally different story. About a year ago, I sought to explain those distinctive aspects of Celtic music that make it so...errrr, "Celtic-sounding." In addition to using several online resources, I found the textbook Focus: Irish Traditional Music by Sean Williams (available in the Kindle Store) incredibly helpful. My research complete, I presented my findings to my office in one of our weekly "Lunch & Learn" presentations. Here are the slides from that presentation, which was originally titled "An Interactive Introduction to Celtic Music." The interactive parts included having my coworkers identify different instruments and having them write a Celtic song using a Mad Lib-style approach. I also gave a live demonstration of some of the instruments that are common to Celtic music (namely, guitar, Irish bouzouki, mandolin, and bodhrán). Sláinte! (Cheers!)TRANSCRIPT
An Introduction to:
Presented by: Erik Alan Devaney
Music
Celtic(Pronounced “Keltic”)
“that was how Walter Brown wanted it pronounced when
he founded the team in 1946.”
Why do the Boston Celtics pronounce it “Seltics?”
What is Celtic music?
• Record companies invented the term
• Common link: all places that retained Celtic culture/language
• It refers to traditional music from a bunch of different places
Where does Celtic music come from?
• Ireland• Scotland• Isle of Man• Wales• Cornwall• Brittany• Galicia• Asturias• Cantabria
Common Characteristics of
Celtic Music
• Time signatures: 4/4, 3/4, 6/8 (jig), 9/8 (slip jig)
• Single, distinct melody lines
• The 3rd is often left out
• Instrumentation
Common Celtic Music Instruments
Irish bouzouki
Guitar
Mandolin
Fiddle Tin whistle
Flute
Bagpipes & uilleann pipes
Harp
Accordion
Bodhrán
Banjo Hammered dulcimer
Dude. Why do you like
this crappy music?
And why don’t you have boat shoes?That’s my
pal Jack, music “aficionado”
• Located in the most Irish county in the U.S(350,000 Irish Americans live in Middlesex Co.)
Welcome to the Wu
• 36% of Woburn residents have Irish ancestry
• Fun stat: In 1865, 181 children were born in Woburn 110 had fathers who were born in Ireland
Progression of a Pub Musician
Play for your family Play for your friends
Play at a bunch of open mics
Get a job as a singing busboy
Convince the pub to give you some gigs
Put the band together
• Mikey
Mikey Emlyn Alison Nikita me Noelle
Devaney’ Goats
The EndThanks for checking out my presentation on Celtic music!
Keep in touch:• Twitter: @BardOfBoston• Website: ErikDevaney.com• Old website (lots of Celtic music stuff):
TheBardOfBoston.com