Traditional Irish singing is the singing of traditional songs in the native styles such as sean nós. Though some people consider sean nós to particularly refer to singing in the Irish language, the term 'traditional singing' is more universally understood to encompass singing in any language, as well as

lilting Lilting is a form of traditional singing common in the Goidelic speaking areas of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Mann. It goes under many names, and is sometimes referred to as ''diddling'' (generally in England and Scotland), ''mouth music' ...

. Some of the characteristics of traditional Irish songs might be * Solo singing * Unaccompanied * Unamplified * The audience is focused on the singing In contrast,

Irish ballad The following are often-sung Irish folk ballads and folk songs. The songs are arranged by theme under the categories "Politics and soldiering" and "Non-political" and are not necessarily contemporary to the events to which they relate. Songs ma ...

singing might be thought of as differing in several respects, even if it is also sometimes referred to as 'traditional'. * Ballad singing is almost always accompanied by musical instruments. * It is most often a group activity, not solo singing. * It is performed typically in public areas, the singing is usually amplified, and the performance might be secondary (e.g. as background music in a pub).

Source singers

The term ‘source singer’ is generally understood to describe a singers in the past who received their style and repertoire through the oral tradition, whether that be through a family lineage or social circumstance. In the past, many such 'source' singers were deemed so upon ‘discovery’ by field researches such as

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English-born collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was the pre-eminent activist in the development of t ...

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

Hamish Henderson Hamish Scott Henderson (11 November 1919 – 9 March 2002) was a Scottish poet, songwriter, communist, intellectual and soldier. He was a catalyst for the folk revival in Scotland. He was also an accomplished folk song collector and dis ...

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

or other song collectors who were prominent in 1950s and 1960s. Although far from precise, the phrase sometimes was used to draw a distinction with so-called ‘revival’ singers, whose style and repertoire were perceived as adulterated by contact with written and other second-hand sources. The distinction today in the 21st century is harder to draw.

Source singers

See also