Tag Archives: Irish Music

Every music genre requires use of a particular set of instruments for creating the right sounds. One of the richest traditional music genres still popular around the world is Celtic music. If you want to create perfect Celtic Music, you will need to use certain stringed instruments. While instruments like fiddle and guitar are used in almost every Western folk music, Celtic music involves use of some stringed instruments that are not as famous as fiddle and guitar. Examples of such instruments include hammered dulcimer, Irish bouzouki, Celtic harp, Cittern etc. The discussion below will offer you some basic information about these Celtic instruments.

Hammered Dulcimer

If you are not a professional Celtic musician, it is unlikely that you will know about this particular instrument. However, the sound created by it will surely sound familiar to your ears if you love listening to Celtic music. Hammered Dulcimer has an extremely attractive exterior. It comes with a flat, wooden soundboard that gives it a trapezoid-like shape. The strings stretch horizontally across its flat soundboard. While playing a hammered dulcimer, you will need to use two tiny, padded mallets for hammering its strings; there’s no plucking or strumming involved. Hammering results in production of even and sustaining timbre.

Irish Bouzouki

If you are aware of the history of bouzouki, you will know that it is originally a Greek musical instrument. However, bouzouki somehow became an integral part of Celtic music and another form of the instrument called the Irish bouzouki was created. This instrument has significant similarities with a guitar or a lute as far as its appearance is concerned. Like guitars and lutes, Irish bouzoukis also possess hollow, wooden bodies having sound holes. Then there is the set of strings that runs up towards the neck of the instrument to reach the tuning keys positioned right at its top. Each string of an Irish bouzouki combines two strings, one of which remains tuned one octave higher than the other; this feature makes this Celtic instrument similar to the 12-string guitars. It’s true that you can use an Irish bouzouki for playing chords; however, it is most commonly used for single-note plucking in Celtic songs such as jigs.

Celtic Harp

Harp is a music instrument that has been used since the ancient by musicians of different civilizations. We find the mention of harp particularly while reading about the ancient Egyptian civilization. However, if you consider the current scenario, you will find that harps are most frequently used by people creating Celtic music, from where the name ‘Celtic Harp’ has been derived. The significance of harp is also immense in Irish culture; you will be able to comprehend the level of importance from the fact that Celtic harp also features on the ‘Coat of Arms of Ireland’. As a result, many also refer to this instrument as ‘Irish Harp’. Celtic harps look exactly like the traditional harps; they possess arched, wooden frames and have several nylon strings bound all through their centres.

Cittern

The Cittern has significant similarity with the Irish bouzouki, both in appearance and sound. It can easily be described as a bigger predecessor of modern-day mandolins. Cittern became popular during the middle age, particularly during Renaissance. Being a lightweight instrument it allowed easy portability, which made it a perfect accompaniment for folk music. The cittern is also popular due to its versatility; you can use it both for creating background music for vocals and as a solo musical instrument.

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