My interest in Celtic music began with my love for the music of the hammered dulcimer. My education in Celtic music was initially provided by dulcimer performers at my favorite local coffee house, one of whom even handed me her hammers and invited me to give it a try. (Ah yes, I dream of owning a dulcimer, but right now most of my keyboard "practice" seems to be concentrated on my computer.)

Ancient Celtic tribes lived throughout the British Isles as well as parts of France. The essence of their ancient culture was integrated into the modern culture of those areas, especially in art and music. When immigrants arrived in North America, they brought their music and instruments with them.

Exactly what is Celtic music? How can one define it? We find a predominance of certain instruments. In Irish music, we find the bodhran, which is a type of drum; the cittern, an instrument similar to a mandolin; and the Uilleann pipe, a sweet sounding relative of the bagpipe. The bagpipes of Scotland are also grouped into the Celtic sound. Other instruments, such as the wonderful Celtic harp, pennywhistle and dulcimer, know no national boundary; neither does the most well known instrument of all, the fiddle.

The music itself really has to be defined as folk music. It is music that has been sung and danced by "ordinary" people for generations, and it is the basis for early American Folk music. Some songs that we have known since childhood can be considered to be Celtic, such as Irish reels and jigs. We might even recognize a hornpipe tune. But there are also haunting ballads, plaintive laments, songs of loss and sadness. The music tells a story, as does all true folk music. We can hear and feel the history of a people through the music.

Much Celtic music is categorized as "traditional" in the sense that the composers are unknown. The name of one composer, however, is almost synonymous with Celtic music. Turlough O'Carolan was a blind Irish harpist and composer who lived from 1670 to 1738. His music will be found in almost any Celtic repertoire.

Celtic Music is still being written by contemporary performers and composers. Probably the most famous example of contemporary Celtic music is "Riverdance". This hugely successful production featuring Irish music and dance is responsible for introducing the Celtic sound to the world and increasing it's popularity in a big way!

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The background music I have chosen for this page is "The Merry Maiden", a traditional Irish double-jig. The MIDI sequence is by Brian Hicks. The music has a nice hammered dulcimer quality. This music was found at
Reel Music - Celtic MIDI files - a Web site containing an outstanding collection of Celtic MIDI selections.
This site has now moved: The Music of Ireland.

If you are interested in Celtic music, try these other links -

Ceolas Celtic Music Archive - An excellent source of information about Celtic music.

Taylor's Traditional Tune Book - The wonderful MIDI sequences of Barry Taylor

Ceol MIDI - Contains Scottish MIDI music.

Gaelic Harps and Harpers in Ireland and Scotland - An interesting history of the Celtic harp.

Jason's Riverdance Page - An informative page with a lot of information about "Riverdance".

The graphics on this page were my attempt at creating Celtic knotwork on the computer. They are not copied from anyone else, although knotwork designs do tend to follow similar patterns. Please do not use this design.