Sean nós

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Sean nós is a highly-ornamented style of solo, unaccompanied singing in the Irish tradition. Sean nós literally means old style, so it is incorrect to refer to "the sean nós style" - the correct phrase is simply sean nós. Its importance in the Irish tradition is such that Tomás Ó Canainn writes, "It is the author's belief that 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".^[1]

Sean nós songs can be relatively simple, but many are long, highly stylised and melodically complex, and a good performance typically involves significant ornamental and rhythmic variation from verse to verse. Canainn classifies most ornamentation into melismatic ornamentation, in which a note is replaced or decorated by a group of adjacent notes, and intervallic ornamentation, in which additional notes are used to fill an interval between two notes of the tune.

Styles vary around Ireland - generally corresponding geographically to the various dialects of Irish - from the relatively unadorned and nasal style of the north to the more decorated styles of the south and west. The Waterford Gaeltacht of An Rinn also a distinct style, despite its small size. With the influence of recording media and ease of travel, however, these distinctions are becoming less definite and singers sometimes adopt different styles for songs from the different parts of the country.

Decorative elements common in sean nós singing include nasalisation (especially in Ulster), a second form of nasalisation (used in the south) which produces an "m", "n" or "ng" sound at the end of a phrase, brief pauses introduced by glottal stops, "slides" or glissandi (particularly when sung by women), very long extended phrases achieved through highly developed breath control, a tendency to draw breath after a conjunction or other linking word rather than at the end of a line, and the ending of some songs by speaking the final line instead of singing it. These devices serve various purposes such as enhancing a sense of continuity (e.g. by filling the gap between phrases with a nasalised drone) and drawing attention to important words (often the function of a glottal stop). The speaking of the final line can be interpreted as expressing a transition from the experience of music to the hard facts of everyday life.

A number of songs, especially older ones, are modal rather than diatonic in melody, which can present problems for singers who are unaccustomed to the 'layout' of modal scales. Some melodies properly incorporate slightly larger or smaller intervals than the western standard, but it is rare to hear them performed authentically in the 21st century.

Another aspect of the sean nós tradition is the interaction between performer and audience. The singer may require cajoling, which may itself be regarded as part of the recital, and sometimes adopts a position facing the corner of the room and away from the audience - a position that has acoustic benefits and perhaps, it is suggested, some ancient significance. The audience is not expected to be silent throughout, but may participate in the performance through words of encouragement and commentary - and sometimes a member will even come and hold the performer's hand in empathy with the song. Such interaction does not disturb the flow of music, and the performer will often respond to it musically.

Most songs are not gender specific but there are a few that men tend not to sing, although women do not seem to have the same compunction. Modern performance often places songs out of context, which is a new departure for sean nós singing, but songs are usually lullabies, laments, references to historical events such as famines and political rebellions, love poetry, nature poetry, devotional songs, or combinations of these. Comedy is also an integral part of many songs, as are references to drinking.

Sean nós can be applied to songs in English or Irish, as it is the method of singing which is distinctive and not the lyrics, yet some purists insist that songs in the English language cannot be regarded as belonging to the tradition. A large number of sean nós songs are macaronic: that is to say they combine two or more languages - usually Irish and English but occasionally Irish and French and other European languages, including Latin.

The tradition was for years exclusively oral, but songs started to be written down in the eighteenth century and were distributed in print from then on, with a few songs known to have been committed to script even earlier. A song-book for Elizabeth I contained English interpretations of sean nós songs.

New composition is a controversial issue within sean nós singing, with some singers insisting that the tradition needs new material but others saying that only older, "purer" songs deserve a place in the extensive corpus of sean nós songs.