Celtic Music
Celtic music is a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved
out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic peoples of Western Europe. The
term Celtic music may refer to both orally-transmitted traditional music and
recorded popular music with only a superficial resemblance to folk styles of the
Celtic peoples.
Most typically, the term Celtic music is applied to the
music of Ireland and Scotland, because both places have produced well-known
distinctive styles which actually have genuine commonality and clear mutual
influences. The music of Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Brittany, Northumbria and
Galicia are also frequently considered a part of Celtic music, the Celtic
tradition being particularly strong in Brittany, where Celtic festivals large
and small take place throughout the year. Finally, the music of ethnically
Celtic peoples abroad are also considered, especially in Canada and the United
States.
The most significant impact of Celtic Music on American styles,
however, is undoubtedly that on the evolution of country music, a style which
blends Anglo-Celtic traditions with "sacred hymns and African American
spirituals". Country music's roots come from "Americanized interpretations of
English, Scottish, Scots and Scots-Irish traditional music, shaped by African
American rhythms, and containing vestiges of (19th century) popular song,
especially (minstrel songs)". This fusion of Anglo-Celtic and African elements
"usually consisted of unaccompanied solo vocals sung in a high-pitched nasal
voice, the lyrics set to simple melodies (and using) ornamentation to embellish
the melody"; this style bears some similarities to the traditional song form of
sean-nós, which is similarly highly-ornamented and
unaccompanied.
Celtic-Americans have also been influential in the
creation of Celtic Fusion, a set of genres which combine traditional Celtic
music with contemporary influences.