Celtic music is primarily associated with the folk traditions of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and Wales, as well as the popular styles derived from folk culture. In addition, a number of other areas of the world are known for the use of Celtic musical styles and techniques, including Newfoundland, and much of the folk music of Canada's Maritimes, especially on Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island.
There are very strong connections between Newfoundland folk music and Irish music, however elements of English folk music and French-Canadian and Acadian music can be heard within the style.
A very traditional strain of Irish music exists in Newfoundland, especially in the primarily Irish-Catholic communities along the southern shore.
The instrumentation in Newfoundland music includes the button accordion, guitar, violin, tin whistle and more recently the bodhrán. Many Newfoundland traditional bands also include bass guitar and drum kit. Other folk instruments such as the mandolin and bouzouki are common especially among Newfoundland bands with an Irish leaning.
Because Newfoundland is an island in the North Atlantic, many of the songs focus on the fishery and seafaring. Many songs chronicle the history of this unique people. Instrumental tune styles include jigs, reels, two steps, and polkas.
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Cape Breton Island, part of the province of Nova Scotia, is internationally known for its distinctive styles of Cape Breton fiddling, which are derived from Scottish techniques. The island has produced traditional music-based popular performers like John Allan Cameron, the Rankin Family, Natalie MacMaster, Buddy MacMaster, the Barra MacNeils, Rita MacNeil, Ashley MacIsaac and others.
In addition to the fiddle music, there is a parallel style of solo dance bagpiping and a rhythmic syncopated Celtic piano style. Recently, Highland style guitar has received some attention due to the work of Dave MacIsaac among others.
Mary Jane Lamond has attracted attention to the Island's Gaelic song traditions of Milling Frolics (waulking songs in Scotland), Piurt à Beul (mouth music), spinning songs and more.
Irish traditional music is also very popular on the island, particularly Irish folk songs. This is especially prevalent in the communities around North Sydney and Sydney Mines due to the influence of immigrants of Newfoundland Irish descent.
Prince Edward Island has long been associated with traditional Celtic music. Fiddle is the most popular instrument for traditional Celtic music in Prince Edward Island, and piano is the most popular accompaniment instrument. Celtic songs tend to be ballads or other popular songs, or new songs in the same tradition with contemporary backing. Where celidh dance is regular and popular in many rural communities, Irish or Celtic themed nightlife exists in both major cities of Charlottetown and Summerside. Organizations supporting traditional Celtic music include the PEI Fiddlers Association and the Benevolent Irish Society.
There are strong ties between traditional Québécois music and the music of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland and the Maritimes. The songs generally draw more from the French tradition, whereas the dance tunes are more closely related to Celtic traditions. Fiddle and accordion are the most common lead instruments, while piano and guitar often provide accompaniment. More recently, swing has significantly influenced accompaniment styles and techniques. La Bottine Souriante is one of the most well-recognized groups which exemplifies this tradition.
A number of popular Canadian Celtic rock bands are also influenced by Celtic folk traditions. The most important and influential such band was Vancouver's Spirit of the West, whose musical marriage of traditional Irish and Scottish jigs and reels with hard rock and Britpop influences paved the way for later acts such as Great Big Sea, Enter the Haggis, the Stoaters, Captain Tractor, the Mahones, Ashley MacIsaac, Jimmy George, Mudmen, Uisce Beatha, the Paperboys and the Clumsy Lovers.
Figgy Duff and the Rankin Family served much the same role in pop music, influencing later artists such as Leahy, Mary Jane Lamond, the Barra MacNeils and Natalie MacMaster. Loreena McKennitt fuses Celtic, world, and new-age music.
External Links: Celtic Music Base
Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerably to include everything from traditional music to a wide range of hybrids.
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based zydeco music. Both are from southwest Louisiana and share French and African origins. These French Louisiana sounds have influenced American popular music for many decades, especially country music, and have influenced pop culture through mass media, such as television commercials.
Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, which remained vibrant throughout the 20th century and into the 21st when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music. Despite emigration and a well-developed connection to music imported from the rest of Europe and the United States, the music of Scotland has kept many of its traditional aspects and has influenced many other forms of music.
A cèilidh or céilí is a traditional Scottish and Irish social gathering. In its most basic form, it simply means a social visit. In contemporary usage, it usually involves dancing and playing Gaelic folk music, either at a home or a larger concert at a social hall or other community gathering place.
Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival of its folk music. Along with flourishing traditional forms such as the bombard-biniou pair and fest-noz ensembles incorporating other additional instruments, it has also branched out into numerous subgenres.
The music of Canada's Maritime provinces has included many artists from both the traditional and pop genres, and is mostly European in origin. The traditional genre is dominated by the music brought to the region by the European settlers, the most well known of which are the Scots & Irish celtic and Acadian traditions. Successful pop acts from all genres have had degrees of national and international success since the beginning of recorded music period. Performers as diverse as Hank Snow, Stan Rogers, Anne Murray, the Rankin Family, Barachois, The Men of the Deeps and April Wine have all experienced tremendous success as popular music acts with considerable national and international tours and record sales.
Step dance is a generic term for dance styles in which footwork is considered to be the most important part of the dance and limb movements and styling are either restricted or considered irrelevant.
Battlefield Band is a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, none of the original founders remain in the band.
The province of Nova Scotia is best known for its folk and traditional based music, although other genres have had both an historical presence and recent growth.
Cape Breton fiddling is a regional violin style which falls within the Celtic music idiom. The more predominant style in Cape Breton Island's fiddle music was brought to North America by Scottish immigrants during the Highland Clearances. These Scottish immigrants were primarily from Gaelic-speaking regions in the Scottish Highlands and the Outer Hebrides. Although fiddling has changed considerably since this time in Scotland, it is widely held that the tradition of Scottish fiddle music has been better preserved in Cape Breton. While there is a similar tradition from the Irish-style fiddling, that style is largely overlooked as a result of the strong Scottish presence in the area.
A pub session is performing music in the setting of a local pub, in which the music-making is intermingled with the consumption of ale, stout, and beer and conversation. Performers sing and play traditional songs and tunes from the Irish, English, Scottish and Manx traditions, using instruments such as the fiddle, accordion, concertina, flute, tin whistle, uilleann pipes, tenor banjo, guitar, and bodhrán. Some sessions have dancing too.
Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been extremely prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundation of the development of highly successful mainstream Celtic bands and popular musical performers, as well as creating important derivatives through further fusions. It has played a major role in the maintenance and definition of regional and national identities and in fostering a pan-Celtic culture. It has also helped to communicate those cultures to external audiences.
Celtic fusion is an umbrella term for any modern music which incorporates influences considered "Celtic", or Celtic music which incorporates modern music. It is a syncretic musical tradition which borrows freely from the perceived "Celtic" musical traditions of all the Celtic nations, as well as from all styles of popular music, it is thus sometimes associated with the Pan-Celtic movement. Celtic fusion may or may not include authentic traditional music from any one tradition under the Celtic umbrella, but its common characteristic is the inspiration by Celtic identity.
Téada, an Irish band, plays traditional music. Téada is Irish for "strings". The five members of the band are fiddle player Oisín Mac Diarmada, button accordion player Paul Finn, Damien Stenson performs on flute, Seán Mc Elwain switches between the bouzouki and guitar and bodhrán player Tristan Rosenstock.
Irish traditional music is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland.
Hugh Alexander “Sandy” MacIntyre (1935–2021) was one of the most respected artists in the tradition of Cape Breton fiddle music.
Music of Canadian Cultures is a wide and diverse accumulation of music from many different individual communities all across Canada. With Canada being vast in size, the country throughout its history has had regional music scenes. The music of Canada has reflected the multi-cultural influences that have shaped the country. First Nations people, the French, the British, the United States and many others nationalities have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada
American fiddle-playing began with the early European settlers, who found that the small viol family of instruments were more portable and rugged than other instruments of the period. According to Ron Yule, "John Utie, a 1620 immigrant, settled in the North and is credited as being the first known fiddler on American soil". Early influences were Irish, Scottish, and English fiddle styles, as well as the more upper-class traditions of classical violin playing. Popular tunes included "Soldier's Joy", for which Robert Burns wrote lyrics, and other tunes such as "Flowers of Edinburgh" and "Tamlin," which have both been claimed by both Scottish and Irish lineages.
Canadian fiddle is the aggregate body of tunes, styles and musicians engaging the traditional folk music of Canada on the fiddle. It is an integral extension of the Anglo-Celtic and Québécois French folk music tradition but has distinct features found only in the Western hemisphere.
Métis fiddle is the style that the Métis of Canada and Métis in the northern United States have developed to play the violin, solo and in folk ensembles. It is marked by the percussive use of the bow and percussive accompaniment. The Metis people are a poly-ethnic post-contact Indigenous peoples. Fiddles were "introduced in this area by Scottish and French-Canadian fur traders in the early 1800s", where the Metis community adopted the instrument into their culture.
