The Reel Thing - An Introduction to Irish Traditional Music

Irish music is one of our strongest living traditions and it represents the experiences and aspirations of generations of Irish people. The Reel Thing is a resource to bring Irish Traditional Music into the classroom. This project is designed to assist the pupil and teacher to appreciate and understand our traditional music, its origins, tunes, instruments and styles. The teacher or child is encouraged to listen to traditional music for its sheer enjoyment potential. As a result of this exposure to our national music the child comes to an awareness of his/her unique cultural environment and ethos.

The teacher will be directed to web links of our famous musicians, past and present and will be given examples of the different instruments and types of tunes styles of playing and links to further resources on the web if more information is required.

This project is most suitable for students aged 9 and upwards.

Aims:

1. To enable the child to enjoy and understand traditional music.

2. To develop and appreciation of our music and our cultural heritage.

3 To provide the teacher with a traditional music resource.

Curriculum Areas Addressed

1. Listening and responding to Traditional Music.

2. Develop an awareness of different pulses and tempos in music.

3. Develop an awareness of texture and different styles.

4. Using ICT and the internet to source traditional music.

5. Explore and appreciate the different instruments in traditional music.

What do you need?

1. An Internet Connection. The computer must be connected to the internet to listen to the music.

2. Multimedia Computer with a soundcard

3. Headphones with a splitter if children are to to share a computer.

3. Software: Real Player or Real One Player (www.real.com) . The basic version (free) is adequate.

4. Adobe Acrobat Reader (www.adobe.com) - free download

About the Author:

This website was researched and designed by Declan Donnelly.

Contact: declandonnelly@eircom.net

I would like to thank Dr. Patricia Flynn , St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra for her assistance.