What kind of music do you hear?
Irish and Scottish folk dances and melodies are traditionally performed at a social gathering or a Céilidh.
- The main dances are reels, hornpipes and jigs.
- This example is ‘The Bucks of Oranmore’ – traditional Irish reel.
- It has become very popular to arrange traditional folk dance melodies in a modern style, e.g. Riverdance.
Further listening
- ‘Orcadian Strip the Willow’ – a traditional Scottish jig
- ‘Cronin’s Hornpipe’ – a traditional Irish hornpipe
- ‘The Llanofer Reel’ – a traditional Welsh reel
Suggestions
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LNF 9.OL1
- Do traditional folk dance melodies come solely from Wales, Ireland and Scotland?
- What other traditional folk dance melodies can you name?
- How would you recognise a traditional folk dance melody?
The Irish Washerwoman
4
4
4
6
8
8
Moderate pace
Fast pace
Six-bar phrase
Eight-bar phrase
Constant quavers
Constant minims
Major key
Minor key
Binary form AABB
Ternary form ABA
Challenging
Intermediate
Differentiation
Check
Reset
You will hear a traditional Irish jig called ‘The Irish Washerwoman’.
Listen, then drag the correct musical features into the box.
LNF 9.OL1
- Which traditional instruments do you hear?
- What other interesting musical characteristics (features) do you notice?
