Ethnomusicology: The British Isles

The music of the British Isles is quite varied amongst the regions.  The Isles include:

• Britain
• Ireland
• Scotland
• Northern Ireland
• Wales
• The Isle of Man

Britain:  Music from Britain has achieved great international popularity since the 1960s, when the British Invasion peaked. Since then, the UK has produced numerous popular performers in far-ranging fields from heavy metal to folk-rock and drum n bass, as well as undergoing a renaissance in the ancient forms of folk music indigenous to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

English traditional music is an extremely broad concept, as there is much variety between the different regions of England. Folk music varies across Northumbria, Kent, Sussex and Yorkshire, and even within cities like London.

Ireland and Northern Ireland:  Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have the most vibrant folk traditions. Traditional bands including instruments like fiddles have remained throughout the centuries even as analogues on Britain died out. Traditional music includes a wide array of traditional dances and songs, many of which have had a major impact on British popular music.

Scotland:  Celtic music has survived more strongly in Scotland than anywhere else except Ireland. Outsiders associate Scottish folk music almost entirely with bagpipes, which has indeed long played an important part of Scottish music. It is, however, not unique or indigenous to Scotland, having been imported around the 15th century and still in use across Europe and abroad. The piobaireachd, or highlands bagpipe, is the most distinctively Scottish form of the instrument; it was created for clan pipers to be used for various, often military or marching, purposes.

Scottish folk music includes many kinds of songs, including ballads and laments, sung by a single singer with accompaniment by bagpipes, fiddles or harps. Traditional dances include waltzes, reel (dance) reels, strathspeys and jigs. Alongside the other areas of the United Kingdom, Scotland underwent a roots revival in the 1960s.

Wales: Wales is traditionally referred to as "the land of song". This is a modern stereotype based on 19th century conceptions of Nonconformist choral music and 20th century male voice choirs, Eisteddfodau and arena singing, such as sporting events, but Wales has a history of music being used as a primary form of communication.

Wales has a history of folk music related to the Celtic music of countries such as Ireland and Scotland. It has distinctive instrumentation and song types, and is often heard at a twmpath (folk dance session), gŵyl werin (folk festival) or noson lawen (a traditional party similar to the Gaelic "Céilidh").

Isle of Man: Its rich and varied culture reflects Celtic, Norse and other influences. The traditional folk style has similarties to scandinavian, scottish and irish traditons. The song Reeaghyn dy Vannin (the Manx sword dance), is very similar to a lullaby from the Hebrides and is also said to have been a ritual dance during the Scandinavian era.