Types Of Irish Musical Instruments

By Author: Nicola Jackson
Total Articles: 40
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Irish music is popular worldwide. The popularity of the music can be indebted, to a large extent, to the Irish instruments that play exciting, upbeat music that causes people to tap their feet. Many of the Irish musical instruments are famous and well known though there are some that are less known. Yet they are just as lively and indispensable for the creation of immortal music. Here is a list of Irish musical instruments that you would like to know:

Fiddle- The instrument is exactly the same as the violin. In Irish traditional music, violin is simple referred to as a fiddle. It is the main instrument of Scottish and Irish music.

Flute- Flute has been in use in the Celtic countries for over a thousand years. The kind that is used today is mainly the simple system flute with 6 holes and up to 8 keys. The flute became popular in Ireland in the 19th century. The modern flutes are quite similar to the traditional ones and are always made of wood. The wooden construction and the cylindrical bore is responsible for creating airy and hollow tone that are much smoother than the tin whistle and softer than the classical ...
... flutes.

Tin whistle- Tin whistle, also known as the pennywhistle, is the cheapest and simplest of Irish traditional instruments. Though simple, the instrument is not so easy to master. The tin whistle is a metal tube containing 6 holes and a mouth piece.

Bagpipes and uilleann pipes- Bagpipes of several forms are used in celtic music. The instrument is formed by a bag in which air is blown through a blowpipe. Pressure is exerted on the bag with the arms that pushes the air through the reed in the pipe. The Uilleann pipes that have small bellows are much more popular in Irealnd than the bagpipes. Both the instruments are played continuously, without pauses.

Bombarde- This is a small oboe- like instrument that has a penetrating sound. It is widely used in Breton music and is generally played in duet with the binou.

Banjo- The 5- string Banjo of America came to Ireland in the 19th century and lost one string on the way. It became popular in ballad groups and Celtic bands and is now one of the most popular instruments of Irish music.

Harp- Generally Celtic harps are small and are played on the knees. Harps are known different in different lands. For example, the Scottish harp is known as clarsach, the Welsh harp is the triple harp. The triple harp was once very popular in art music until it came to be dominated by the pedal harp.

Concertina- The Irish concertina is a free- reed musical instrument, like the harmonica and the accordions. On both it's ends it has buttons and bellows. Each button produces one note. The concertina was developed in Germany and England, while the English version of it was invented by Charles Wheatstone in 1829.