🌍 World Music — Irish

Traditional Irish music includes dance tunes such as reels, jigs, hornpipes and polkas, as well as songs in English or Irish. Fiddle, tin whistle, wooden flute, uilleann pipes, concertina and accordion are common; the bodhrán only took its current place in ensembles relatively recently. Pub sessions became an important setting for collective practice, but they are not the only traditional mode of transmission. Unaccompanied sean-nós singing, highly ornamented, represents another essential component. The Chieftains, Planxty and Riverdance contributed to international dissemination, while sessions, schools and festivals today sustain a very active practice.