Class Performance

Last week we were lucky enough to have a performance during our music class. Four Irish students came in to play some traditional Irish music for the class. Each student had their own instrument. They brought in a banjo, a bodhran drum, a sqeezebox, and the uilleann pipes

(source: banjolin.com)

(source: rikkismusic.com)

(source: smh.com.au)

(source: uilleann.com)

The banjo was actually the only instrument I had ever seen before. Each of the students played their instruments individually so we could hear what they sounded like on their own, and then they played several songs all together. What really blew my mind was the fact that they were not an actual band. None of the tunes they played were rehearsed or ever even played before. They were just four musicians jamming together. The songs would generally start out with one of them playing a tune until the other three would join in to create a song. And all of them sounded amazing! It was really interesting to watch these students join together, improvising and creating really impressive music. I hope we will be able to enjoy more performances like this throughout the semester.