Traditional Irish Music is known quite popularly all over the world. The prolific nature of the music has caught the attention of many people from different places. It has roughly been only two decades since Irish Music gained recognition on such a large scale. Irish music can be traced back to the Celts who arrived in Ireland almost two thousand years ago. The Celts were skilful, and they loved craft work and music. Having been in Eastern Europe for a long time, the Celts were influenced by the music of the East; many believe that the Irish Harp must have originated in Egypt.
The following are some of the fascinating facts about Irish music:
Harps in Euro Coins:
The Irish are pretty much involved in their music, and they value it so much that they have even pictured a harp in their Euro coins.
Intricate Footwork:
Irish are also quite famous for their dancing styles. They have various types of dance styles, and most of these dances are very entertaining. The dancers maintain a stiff upper body and at the same time perform some extraordinary dance moves with their legs.
Céilidh:
Most of the Irish dances are performed in a céilidh. It is pronounced as Kay-lee, and it is a social gathering, and people come together to celebrate their tradition by playing music, and they dance to the music that is being played. The music that is played is mostly Gaelic music.
John McCormack:
John was a famous Irish singer who usually performed both popular songs and operatic repertoire. John McCormack became quite popular during the first part of the 20th century, and he was one of the first artists to have his music spread widely through phonograph records.
Riverdance, 1994:
There was a Eurovision Song Contest that was conducted in the year 1994, and the Irish performed their music and dance in the contest, and many people were impressed by their performance that they built the entire show based on the music and dance of the Irish.
Popular Irish Bands:
We have some famous bands from Ireland, and they have made extraordinary music. Some of such music bands are Westlife, U2, Cranberries, Enya and Van Morrison.
Four-string tenor banjo:
The four-string tenor banjo originated among African slaves who were in the United States. The four-string tenor banjo was brought to Ireland by emigrants who were returning and is now accepted as Irish Folk music.
Tin whistle:
The tin whistle is quite popular in Ireland and the Clarke Company in Manchester, England had produced the instrument. It is not expensive, and many Irish schoolchildren are quite eager to learn the basics of the instrument.
Irish Harp:
The Irish Harp was there in their music from the 10th Century, but many people believe that the Celts who settled in Ireland must have got influenced by the Egyptians and learnt how to play the harp from them.