I was recently listening to the soundtrack to River Dance. I find that the lack of lyrics in the music makes it useful to listen to while writing. I’ve listened to the music dozens of times, yet for some reason, I was struck by something new this time: namely, the prevalence and importance of the drums in the music. Perhaps I never picked up on it before because the sound of all those clogs creates an overwhelming impression of percussion. Yet if it weren’t for the drums and their undeniable rhythm, none of those Irish dancers would be able to find the beat. So that made me wonder, exactly how much of a tradition do drums have in Ireland?
When it comes to Irish drums, the bodhran pretty much has a corner on the market. Interestingly, this instrument’s history is a relatively short one, at least as it compares to those of drums in some other areas of the world. The first definite record of the bodhran’s use was only about four hundred years ago, in 1603, when it was used by the Irish during their rebellion against the English. Like the taiko drums of Japan, the bodhran was used as […]
Full Article At: KnowHow-Now.com Articles
Harp guitars are extremely interesting and odd-looking instruments. Quite frankly, if a guitar and a harp were to have a baby, it would look like this instrument: hence the name, I suppose. It is difficult to describe a harp guitar, far better that one should actually look the instrument up. However, in essence, a harp guitar looks like a guitar with an additional, elongated neck coming out of the top. The strings of this second neck mimic the strings of a harp. This description hardly does the instrument justice, but it gives a general impression. Suffice it to say, harp guitars are not something you see every day.
The history of the harp guitar is not as long as either of the two instruments it is named for, both of which are thought to have been around for thousands of years. The harp guitar, on the other hand, has only existed for a few centuries. Its history is a bit muddled, and instrument historians believe that over the course of time, several different and unrelated stringed instruments have claimed the appellation of “harp guitar.” However, the definition of today is something along the lines of “A guitar, in any of its […]
Full Article At: KnowHow-Now.com Articles
At first glance, a tenor guitar does not appear to differ greatly from a standard classical acoustic or electric guitar. The tenor’s shape is (usually) similar to the more standard models, and so is its size. Upon closer inspection, however, a careful observer will note that this instrument has only four strings, as opposed to the six usually sported by guitars. Such an observer will also notice that the tenor guitar is slightly smaller than its relatives. However, it is usually the musical genre that makes a tenor guitar easy to identify. These instruments are most commonly used as rhythm instruments in jazz and blues music
Although it is now quite hard to pinpoint when the very first tenor guitar was built, they appear to have been used by musicians for at least 100 years. Certainly tenor guitars have been around since first decade of the twentieth century, because published and dated instructional books for the tenor guitar from that era that still exist today. The roots of the tenor guitar may be traced to the tenor banjo, an instrument popular in the early 20th century for its suitability to the new style of music we now know as jazz. Accordingly, […]
Full Article At: KnowHow-Now.com Articles
