Preserving Irish Traditional Music in Chicago: Francis O'Neill

O'Neill's collections included several types of dances; each dance type has a distinctive meter and rhythmic character. The structure of the music relates to the dance wherein a set of steps is danced first leading with the right leg and immediately repeated leading with the left leg. These units are eight measures in length and are known as “parts.” Though three or more parts to a tune are possible, many have two, in which case the parts are alternated and repeated for the duration of the dance. Players typically play “sets” of tunes where two or three tunes that complement one another are played back-to-back, sometimes with an exciting and sudden key change as they transition between tunes, and often to the encouraging yelps and calls of the listeners and the players themselves! 

1. Double jigs: O’Neill’s 1907 publication, The Dance Music of Ireland, 1001 Gems, focuses solely on dance tunes. 365 of the 1001 tunes are double jigs, making them the largest group of dances in this publication. They are in duple, compound meter (6/8 time) and consist predominantly of fast-flowing eighth notes. Sample 1: Knocknagow (Double Jig)  

2. Single jigs: The Single jig has the same meter but a different and distinctive rhythmic pattern that mostly uses a quarter note followed by an eighth note. Sample 2: Off She Goes (Single Jig) 

3. Slip jigs: The Slip jig (sometimes referred to as the “hop” jig) is a triple, compound-metered dance in 9/8. Like the double jig, its rhythm typically consists of even eight-beat movement also. Sample 3:Give Us A drink Of Water; My Mind Will Never Be Easy, A Fig For A Kiss (Slip jigs)

4. Reels: The second largest groups of dances in this collection are reels making up 350 of the publication’s tunes. These are duple-metered dances with fast-flowing eighth notes. Sample 4: The Star of Munster (Reel) 

5. Hornpipes: Hornpipes are simple, duple-metered dances (2/2 or 4/4 time) written with even eighth notes, but generally played as a dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth-note rhythmic unit Sample 5: Kilkenny Hornpipe (Hornpipe)

6. Set dances: Set dances are group dances; a full set has four pairs of dancers while a half set has two pairs. The dance contains a variety of figures or sections and each figure contains a common pattern or set of steps that unifies them. At times, the pairs may dance solo, or two pairs may dance together but all pairs have an opportunity to dance all of the formations. Sample 6: Garden of Daisies (Set Dance)