Irish Musical Instruments

Music runs deep in Irish soil and has been the essence of Irish people, a potent force, an inspiration, and a way of life that has continued to inspire them through ages now. Irish music has always been an important part of both rural and urban life for the Irish people. Irish music saw its high in the ninth to the eleventh century. However, after prolonged British rule, there was a renewed interest in Irish music that concurred with the sprouting Nationalist movement of the late 1800s. A second major revival of Irish music coincided with the American folk music revival of the 1960s, and has continued until present-day. Traditional Irish songs, pregnant with melody and vocals, indeed formed a crucial part of the Irish music fraternity and hold the same essence today, as they did decades ago. Music endows all its charm and magic to the instruments and same is the case with Irish music. Instruments like harp, fiddle, guitar and flute, need to be lauded for their extraordinary fame that have lend Irish songs its signatory appeal today. Read on to know more on the many Irish musical instruments that has gone ahead to lend Irish music its classic status.

 

Just as the unremitting richness of Irish music, which has managed to wow us down the ages now, the impression of Celtic harp on Irish music has been equally deep and profound. This age-old musical instrument with an ancient history of more than 5000 years has been a part of Irish music since its inception and has given Irish music its characteristic verve. Today this 4 feet musical instrument has come to represent itself as Ireland’s national symbol.

 

Accordion is a recent addition to the Irish musical instruments. In fact, it was only in the late nineteenth century that accordion found favor with Irish musicians and since then have been an integral part of Irish music. Its flowing style complemented the Irish flavor and till date, continues to do the same.

 

One of the most important musical instruments to have registered an eternal import in the Irish repertoire is the fiddle. Usually varying with different regions, fiddle have been a clear favorite of most of the Irish artistes, who have tuned out some breathtaking melodies, clearly winning numero uno slot for fiddle in the hearts of Irishmen.

 

Flute has come to enjoy an unrivaled status in Irish music. Although Irishmen clearly abandoned the wooden flute for metal ones, it is still preferred by many music enthusiasts and to date is being used to dole out wonderful melodies.

 

This four-stringed musical instrument is one of the favorites of Irish traditional players. It was brought to Ireland by returned emigrants from the United States, where it had been developed by African slaves. It is seldom strummed and is rather played as a melody instrument, using either a plectrum or a "thimble".

 

Irish melody is nothing without guitar and owes much of its sweetness to this stringed instrument. Played by plucking through fingers, this musical device has achieved a newer, bigger significance now with latest innovations made by many Irish singers.