Irish Jigs & Reels

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Irish Jigs and Reels

Musical featuresfast tempo

fast, constant quaver movements

small intervals (lots of 2nds, 3rds and also 4ths and 5ths)

simple harmony

major or minor key

traditionally performed by soloist's, however many ensembles too.

each section: 8 bars.

Structure: AABB

ornamentation - performer will make song their own so its never played exactly how its written.

Difference between Jigs and Reels

Jig - compound time 3: notes grouped in 3s

Reel - simple time 4: 4/4

Background

traditional irish folk dance

social dance - informal, less choreographed

'Ceili' - big folk dance (barn dance)

Famous musiciansThe Corrs

The Dubliners

Dance stepsmusic reflects lively nature of dance; hops, kicks, jumps

stand in a line

interest in legs and feet - barely an arm movement

•Dancers wear either ‘hard’ tap shoes with fibreglass heels/toes, or ‘ghillies’ soft shoes similar to ballet

shoes, but without the hard toe.

InstrumentsUilleann "illyan" pipes (learned, practised, played for 7 yrs, similar to bagpipes)

bodran drum

fiddle (Played differently to a violin, due to the style of music - folk music).

accordion

tin whistle

flute

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