The History of Irish Traditional Music

From Irish Central:

Irish traditional music began as an oral tradition, passed on from generation to generation by listening, learning by ear and without formally writing the tunes on paper. This is a practice that is still encouraged today and students of traditional music are encouraged to pick up tunes they hear from others or to learn as they listen. Many formal classes will provide music notes for students and books do print tunes on a traditional music stave, however.

The traditional music played by the Irish came to the country with the Celts 2,000 years ago. The Celts were influenced by music of the East (which is why you may think you hear some resemblance of an Irish tune being played at Canal Street station) and it’s believed that the traditional Irish harp may in fact have originated in Egypt. (Read more.)