Welcome
to my weekly blog, SATURDAY SESSIONS!
In
this blog, for the perusal of all our students, past, present and future, I
include an extract from our interactive presentation Course, Ireland and its
Culture. We explore and discover Ireland
and its Culture - so that's why I call them 'Logs', as in a ship's (or Star
Ship Enterprise's J ) logbook!
Each
Saturday, I hope to post an extract from each of the Logs.
Below
each extract, we have a corresponding extract
from the Mining The Text
section which focuses on the use of English involved in creating the paragraph.
In
our Course, participants sit back and listen first to a recording of the
reading, then we read it together, look at how it was created and discuss the
content involved!
In
the afternoons and evenings, we go out, explore and discover!
If
you wish to ask me any question about the text, by the way, just send me an
e-mail at greg@bluefeather.ie
From Log 8, Irish Traditional Music
The
principal Irish traditional musical instruments are a) the uileann pipes, b)
the bodhrán; c) the fiddle; d) the tin
whistle; e) the accordion. You may also hear the flute and even the spoons
(like castanets). The Celtic harp is
also used but is not so common these days. Folk music would have other musical instruments such as
the banjo and the guitar.
Unlike
the Scottish bagpipes, which is a marching instrument played standing up, the
uileann pipes are played sitting down.
You blow into the Scottish bagpipes and the sound is sharp and arousing;
the uileann pipes sound more melancholic and the air is pumped into the pipes
with your elbow. Uileann is Irish for elbow. It takes a long time and lots and lots of
practice to master the uileann pipes!
Originally,
the bodhrán was made from the skin of a goat. Goose fat was rubbed into this
skin and each instrument had a different timbre.
The bodhrán is the pulse of Irish traditional music.
The
fiddle is a violin; it is hard to imagine Irish traditional music without it.
The
tin whistle is a little like the flute but with a thinner sound, almost like
the cry of a seabird.
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