Start listening to Celtic folk music
Six distinct traditions, a handful of landmark recordings, and the places where the music is still played live.
The word “Celtic” brings together the music of six regions that share linguistic roots and have traded tunes for centuries. Each has its own dances, instruments and singing styles. Hearing the differences is the best way to find the music you'll love.
Six traditions, briefly
Ireland
Dance music played for reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas and slides, shared by fiddle, flute, whistle, uilleann pipes, concertina and button accordion, often at informal pub sessions. It also includes sean-nós, an unaccompanied, highly ornamented solo singing style in Irish and English.
Hear: The Chieftains, Planxty, The Bothy Band, De Dannan, Altan; for sean-nós singing, Joe Heaney.
Scotland
The Great Highland bagpipe and pipe bands, and a strong fiddle tradition built around the strathspey, a dance tune with a distinctive clipped “Scotch snap” rhythm. Gaelic song includes puirt à beul (“mouth music”, sung for dancing) and waulking songs, alongside ballads in Scots.
Hear: Capercaillie, Julie Fowlis, Battlefield Band, Silly Wizard, Blazin' Fiddles.
Wales
The triple harp (telyn deires), with three rows of strings, is regarded as the traditional harp of Wales. Cerdd dant is the distinctive Welsh art of singing a counter-melody over a harp tune, still prominent at eisteddfodau. A revival of dance tunes and songs has grown since the late twentieth century.
Hear: Robin Huw Bowen and Llio Rhydderch (triple harp), Cerys Hafana, Calan.
Brittany
The fest-noz, a night of communal chain dancing, was added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in 2012. Dancers move to kan ha diskan, a call-and-response singing style, or to the bombarde and biniou kozh played as a pair. Brittany also has large bagad pipe bands and the gwerz, a narrative ballad tradition.
Hear: Alan Stivell, Les Sœurs Goadec, Denez Prigent, Tri Yann.
Cornwall
Cornish music and dance have been revived through the twentieth century and since. Troyl dance nights resemble a cèilidh. The nos lowen (“happy night”), which grew from the 1990s, draws on Breton chain dances that need no caller. Players have also reconstructed Cornish bagpipes, and songs are sung in both Cornish and English.
Hear: Dalla, a leading band of the Cornish revival from 1999 to about 2017; explore more at the Cornish National Music Archive.
Isle of Man
Much of the Manx repertoire survives through collections made in the late nineteenth century. Its revival grew from the 1970s alongside renewed interest in the Manx language, helped by the Yn Chruinnaght festival and the 1978 tune book Kiaull yn Theay.
Hear: Barrule (2012–2017); explore songs and tunes via Culture Vannin.
Beyond the six: Galicia and Asturias in Spain, with their gaita bagpipes, and communities such as Cape Breton in Canada, with a fiddle style that grew from Scottish roots, also take part in inter-Celtic festivals. They're often counted in the wider family.
Five recordings to start with
- Planxty, Planxty (1973). Christy Moore, Dónal Lunny, Andy Irvine and Liam O'Flynn. Songs and uilleann pipes in a line-up that shaped the 1970s Irish revival. Find it on Amazon
- The Bothy Band, 1975. The band's debut album: driving session tunes with pipes, flute, fiddle and vocals. Find it on Amazon
- Mary Bergin, Feadóga Stáin (1979). A classic tin whistle album, with bouzouki and bodhrán accompaniment. Find it on Amazon
- Alan Stivell, Renaissance of the Celtic Harp (early 1970s). Instrumental Breton harp music that brought the Celtic harp to a wide audience. Find it on Amazon
- A Scottish Gaelic singer. Try Julie Fowlis or Capercaillie's Karen Matheson on a streaming service. Their recordings are an accessible way into Gaelic song.
How to listen
- Follow one instrument through a set of tunes, and notice how the players vary the melody each time round.
- Count the rhythm: jigs fall in groups of three, reels in fours. Scottish strathspeys have that short-long “snap”.
- Compare old and new: archive field recordings sit alongside modern bands. Start with whichever you enjoy, then explore the other.
- Hear it live. This is social music, and sessions and dances show how it really works.
Festivals worth knowing
| Festival | Where and when | Why go |
|---|---|---|
| Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann | Ireland (the host town changes); summer; first held in 1951 | Comhaltas's national festival and competitions, with sessions everywhere |
| Willie Clancy Summer School | Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare; July; since 1973 | A week of classes, recitals and sessions, focused on uilleann piping and set dancing |
| Celtic Connections | Glasgow; January; since 1994 | A large winter festival of Scottish and international roots music |
| Festival Interceltique de Lorient | Lorient, Brittany; August; since 1971 | A major inter-Celtic gathering with bagadoù, dances and concerts |
| Yn Chruinnaght | Isle of Man; summer | A celebration of Manx music, language and dance, with visiting Celtic acts |
| Celtic Colours | Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia; October | Concerts and community events across the island |
Where to go next
- Want to play what you're hearing? Start with the instrument hub or the beginner learning path.
- Want to dig into archives? See the free sources listed on our learning page.