those damned irish

Irish musical culture seems to excel in exploiting music’s power as a social oil,
and it sees no point in waiting until we are inside a music venue.
It sees it as a power that can be deployed anywhere, anytime, anyhow.


Secondly, the concept of transmission or ‘passing on’ is valued:
at traditional music sessions, I am regularly struck by the status that a child playing music can have. An eight-year-old playing the simple ‘Kerry Polka’ on the tin whistle will command rapt attention from both musicians and audiences. The standard is not important;
the fact that they are expressing themselves is.
Musicians do not hesitate to share their knowledge or skills with someone younger,
regardless of whether they are their ‘teacher’ or not; it
is the way they learned and they instinctively realise the importance of continuing on this act.
 Many Irish traditional musicians describe themselves as ‘self-taught’,
but it is only in a musical culture in which everyone is your teacher that this could happen.












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___________________________  Toner Quinn


































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