Ireland - Musical instruments

Musical instruments
Musical instruments are very important in Irish folk music, especially in instrumental plays, but also for accompaniment of singers.
The harp: In history, the harp is a very important musical instrument. The bards played the harp. It is a national emblem of the Republic of Ireland; you can find it on all Irish Euros and Cents. And it is on the trademark of Guinness, too.
The design of this harp and the harp on coins is based on the 'Brian Boru Harp', which you can see in the Museum of Trinity College in Dublin.
It is a harp of the 14^th century, one of the oldest preserved harps, named after Irish king Brian Boru. Today in Irish folk music, harps are not very frequent, because their sounds are unsuitable for playing with other musical instruments. Above all, you can hear the harp in harp tunes, playing on its own. An Irish harp is one metre high and has a register of four or five octaves.
The fiddle: It is one of the most important musical instruments in Irish folk music. Actually, the fiddle is the same musical instrument as the violin. The difference between both is the way of playing music and the music style, which is played. The posture of the fiddle is not prescribed. Mostly, the fiddle is used in faster instrumental plays, which are shaped very strong by the fiddle.
The tin whistle: The tin whistle or penny whistle is a metallic pipe with six holes.
Normally, tin whistles are tuned in D-Major. But there are also whistles in other keys. The tin whistle is easy to learn and is a very popular musical instrument in Ireland.
Uilleann pipes: Another Irish musical instrument is the uilleann pipe, a kind of bagpipes.
Uilleann is Irish and means elbow. That is why the bagpipes are not provided with air by the mouth, but by a bellow, which is operated with the right elbow. The bag of the uilleann pipe is under the left arm. The three drones lie straight over the lap of the piper. The chanter has a register of two octaves. Because of their difficult construction, uilleann pipes are one of the hardest instruments to learn. In contrast to the great highland bagpipes, the sounds of the uilleann pipes are softer. You can only play the uilleann pipes when you sit.
Guitar: In Irish folk music, the guitar is an important musical instrument for accompaniment of singers or other musical instruments. But it is very rare, that only guitars play Irish folk music.
Bodhrán: More important for accompaniment of other musical instruments is the bodhrán.
It is a one sided drum made from goatskin with a diameter of 20 to 50 cm. At first, the bodhrán was a skin tray used for drawing turf on the bogs. Today, when it is played with a tipper hitting the skin, the bodhrán is the pulse of Irish folk music.
Other musical instruments of Irish folk music are accordion, flute, low whistle and mandolin. But there are not so important or frequent.