Galway Bay, Ireland

 
Sean-Nós Singing
 

 

 

sean-nós, m.(gs. -óis, pl. ~anna).  Old custom; traditional manner.¹
 
 
.... no aspect of Irish music can be fully understood without
a deep appreciation of sean-nós (old style) singing. 
 
It is the key which opens every lock.² 


 
 


Over  the  past  hundred years or so, the term has come to mean different things to
different people, reflecting, in part, the different styles within families, communities, and regions. 

 

 The songs are  usually in Irish and can be centuries old, handed down in an aural tradition.  It’s a very personal kind of singing, never intended for the stage, but by and for everyday people in their everyday lives.  There are lighthearted songs, love songs, and songs about historical events.  Often the songs are laments, written and named for specific individuals who have been lost.

 

 The singing is not about the singer; it is about the song, the story.  The singer disappears into the telling of the story: saying ³  the song in an improvised way, using ornamentation and phrasing to convey the emotional message.  The singing is usually solo and unaccompanied.  This singing has its own  relationship to musical notions such as pitch, scale, and meter, determined by the tradition and the singer.

 

The songs are quite a journey for the singer, and listeners listen deeply, offering certain words of encouragement
when the singing touches them, and sometimes holding the singer’s hand in support. 
 



Notes: 

 

  • The word “sean” is different from the name, Seán.

  • Gealtacht:  region in which Irish is the primary language.
     

  1. Niall Ó Dónaill, Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla
    (Baile Átha Cliath: An Gum), p. 1078.
    • Pronunciation:                                                   foclóir.ie - New English-Irish Dictionary   sean                                                                                  nós                                                                                          
  2. Tomás Ó Canainn, Traditional Music in Ireland (Cork, Ireland: Ossian Publications Ltd., 1993),         p. 49.                                                                                                 
  3. In Irish, there are many ways to ask someone to sing a song.  One way is to say ‘abair amhrán’, which, as Joe Heaney would remind his students, means ‘say a song’.
     
     



Further                     
Information: 

McCann, Anthony. ‘Sean-nós Singing: a Bluffer’s Guide’.  Living Tradition, Issue 24 (June/July '98)
Online: Living Tradition (1998);  
http://www.folkmusic.net/htmfiles/inart378.htm

Cartlanna Seosaimh Uí Éanaí / The Joe Heaney Archives 
http://www.joeheaney.org/
Audio, Video, and Articles 
Singing, Storytelling, Teaching 
Joe Heaney and others 
Extensive general reading, audio, and video lists: 
http://www.joeheaney.org/en/breis-staideir/ 

foclóir.ie - New English-Irish Dictionary 
Foras na Gaeilge 
http://www.focloir.ie/                                                 
Online English-Irish Dictionary                                 
Audio Clips for Pronunciation                                    
Links to Irish-English Dictionary, Grammar, & More
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Singing at the Foinn Seisiún
Fleadh Nua
Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland