Irish Dance Music

Irish dance music can be enjoyed in any setting where performers meet to share their music with each other and
with their audience. However, the original purpose of Irish dance music was to accompany the steps of dancers.
Some Irish dances, such as jigs, reels and hornpipes, are national dances. Other dances are associated with
particular regions in the country, for example the polka being connected with West Cork and the mazurka with
Donegal.

Two features which are found across all Irish dance tunes are commonly shared with many dance music
traditions from classical dance movements to folk dances worldwide. These are…

1. A steady beat and tempo to support the dancers’ timing of their steps, and
2. The use of a 32-bar a a b b structure in which the ‘b’ part usually begins higher than the ‘a’ part, but
often finishes with the same two bars as the ‘a’ did.

In the case of Irish dance tunes, this a a b b structure may be heard repeated up to three times to allow the
musicians to vary the tunes by changing various elements within the music’s pitch, rhythm and ornamentation
while still retaining the essence of the original tune.

In order to see how Irish dance tunes differ from one another, we must look into their individual characteristics
of rhythm, metre, tempo and even performance. For the purpose of this essay, we will examine the reel,
hornpipe, double jig and mazurka.

Reel: This is the most common of the Irish dances. It has a fast flowing meter of four in a bar.
However, sometimes, due to its driving speed, this dance may be notated in 2/2 time. A standard
reel in most players’ repertoires is the Galway tune, ‘The Bucks of Oranmore.’

See two typical bars of rhythm found in reels below.

Hornpipe: Like the reel, the hornpipe also features a metre of four. However, in most performances, the tempo
is slightly slower than that of the reel. The hornpipe often uses an upbeat at the beginning and
features a more bouncy dotted rhythm than the reels smoother flowing notes. Perhaps the most
notable characteristic of the hornpipe isn’t in its notes and rhythms at all, but in the syncopated
way in which it is performed with the player placing accents on beats other than the first in the bar
to match the steps of the dancers. ‘The Boys of Bluehill’ is a standard hornpipe for many players.

See two typical bars of hornpipe rhythm below.

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Double Jig: The double jig is in 6/8 time making it very distinguishable from both the reel and the hornpipe in
that it flows mainly in triplets with a moderate tempo. Again, like the reel, this dance is usually
free flowing with no use of accents or syncopation by the performer. ‘Eimear’s Jig’ is a well
known tune to many players.

See two typical bars of double jig rhythm below.

Mazurka: This dance is easily recognized from the dances discussed above. It has a 3/4 time signature,
beginning with an upbeat and moves at a deliberate moderate tempo. It is syncopated like the
hornpipe, but in the case of the mazurka, the accent is consistently on the 2nd and 3rd beats of the
bar, whereas the placing of the accents in the hornpipe may vary from bar to bar. ‘Shoe the
Donkey’ is very well known mazurka.

See two typical bars of mazurka rhythm below.

Like many elements in the folk culture of Ireland, our dance tunes have roots that can be connected overseas to
Britain and other places. However, over the years, these tunes have evolved in their notes, rhythms and styles
of performance to become definitively Irish.

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