Instruments of the Music of Irish Dance
Irish Dance Article By Kinney, Troy and Margaret West
Added Thursday 9th November 2006Hard Shoed Foot
The most important and most commonly overlooked instrument is the hard shoed foot. Kinney stresses this in his book when he quotes Mr. Hill, a professional Irish dancer of eleven years experience:
The thing of great importance in Irish dancing,? Mr. Hill says, ?is the music of the shoes. In the eleven years that I have been dancing, the greater part of my attention has been spent on the development and control of the variety of tones that can be produced by taps of heels and soles on the floor and against each other. Style is necessary, of course, as in any other dancing, and so is exactness in ?tricky? time. But control of a good variety of sounds which is the most difficult part of Irish dancing, is the most important because it is the most Irish.? (175)
Harp
The harp is considered the true Irish national instrument (Grove 199), emerging in its most familiar form in Ireland in the twelfth century. What parted the Irish harp in similarities from other variations was the solid and robust construction of the Irish harp. The harp appearing on the coins of Ireland, the country?s national identity, is the ?Brian Boru Harp? and is preserved at the Trinity College in Dublin (Breathnach 65-66).
Fiddle
Commonly fiddlers sang and danced while playing, they were rarely seen standing (Emmerson, 194). Many sources researched for this paper inform that the fiddle is considered interchangeable with the violin of today. By the eighteenth century, this instrument became quite capable of producing music suitable for dancing when commanded by a skilled fiddler It quickly became the most widely used instrument at dances.
Pipes
Today, the most popular instrument associated with Irish dancing is the Irish bagpipe, or more correctly the ?uilleann? pipes, although the fiddle is actually more commonly used (Breathnach 76-79). It is said that in 1751, every village had its own bagpiper (Grove 203). The Irish uilleann pipes should not be confused with the Scottish bagpipes, also called the War pipe (Kinney 179). In the present day you may find an accordion playing the part of pipes (Breathnach 87).
As observed at the Renaissance Faire in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in October 2000, the uilleann pipes were smaller than their counterpart, the War pipe. The Irish instrument?s notes are softer and gentler than its counterpart?s loudly screaming notes, the notes of the Scottish instrument being able to broadcast orders to troops over the noise of battle if needed. Lastly, the Irish pipes differs from the Scottish version in that the Scottish pipes are supplied with air from the musician?s lungs whereas the Irish bagpipe?s supply is provided through a bellows operated by the musician?s right elbow.
