Song Types

Question 1

Describe sean-nos singing

Answer 1

highly ornamented, nasal & stark sounding (not like classical singing), often high in range, melismatic (lots of runs), slides between notes (glissandos)

Question 2

Describe the content of a sean-nos song

Answer 2

usually in Irish-Gaelic, often themes of love, Irish is trochaic (emphasizes the first syllable of each word)

Question 3

Describe the history/context of a sean-nos song

Answer 3

“old-style” and unaccompanied singing, often seen as a form of cultural identity, slow songs, not common at sessions

Question 4

Describe a sean-nos song musically

Answer 4

free (not in strict meter), very long phrases, melodic variation (changing the melody from verse to verse - just like instrumentalists), brief pauses in between verses, often modal (sound more ancient, more ornamentation freedom)

Question 5

Describe the performance practice of sean-nos

Answer 5

singer is rarely engaged with the audience, focus on the song and text (not performer), singers don’t have huge repertoires

Question 6

Why do sean-nos singers not have large repertoires?

Answer 6

songs take a long time to practice and perfect and memorize, the songs are carefully chosen and very personal to the singer

Question 7

Describe the tradition vs. innovation debate surrounding sean-nos

Answer 7

songs & singing should be preserved (tradition), lyrics and subject matter should be current, possibility to add musical elements (innovation)

Question 8

Describe the ballad’s history/context

Answer 8

most ballads come to Ireland from England and Scotland, sung in English

Question 9

Describe the content of ballads

Answer 9

tells a story (often based on true and historical events - the way to get the news before the printing press), are very specific and always tell stories (as opposed to lyric loves songs which are more vague and don’t always tell stories)

Question 10

Describe the broadside ballad’s history/context

Answer 10

the tabloid newspapers of the day (provided information and entertainment at the same time), lost popularity to newspapers and live entertainment in music halls/pubs

Question 10

Describe the features of ballads

Answer 10

“leaping and lingering” (leaping forward in time and lingering in a specific moment), stock figures/images (overly expressive lyrics like “ruby red lips”), melodies in stepwise motion (one step up or down, easy to sing)

Question 10

Describe praise songs

Answer 10

similar to a planxty (instrumental praise song), written to honour a person, place, time, or object, often uses its subjects name in the title

Question 10

Describe the content of broadside ballads

Answer 10

lots of details (dates, places, names), often started with “come all ye”,

Question 10

Describe lyric love songs

Answer 10

expressive about love, often based on poetry (similar to poetry at least), don’t always tell stories (unlike ballads), ex. She Moved Through the Fair

Question 10

How did one learn a broadside ballad?

Answer 10

broadside = long narrow sheets of paper on which the lyrics of broadside ballads were printed, also indicated the tune the lyrics should be sung to