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Irish Traditional Music Quotes

This page presents a mélange of inspiring and humourous Irish traditional music quotes – with a particular emphasis on the Irish flute and the people who play and teach that wonderful instrument.

         Never get one of those cheap tin whistles. It leads to much harder drugs like pipes and flutes. – Unknown

         One fear I would always have, even in my class situation, is that the emphasis is on technicality – whereas for me, the whole thing is the feeling and heart and soul. That's what the older musicians had. – Mary Bergin

         To get a good tone you need a tight embouchure. You need to practice tone separately from everything else. Play long notes, and keep adjusting your embouchure until you get a nice tone. – Eamonn Cotter

         There's no other profession in the world where you can get to meet such amazing characters – the real people of the country that you go to. Music kind of invites you to walk into these lives. They're not great academics, or geniuses – they're just ordinary people, like you and me. That's the lovely thing about music, and it's the same with art and the same with poetry. – Brian Finnegan

         It's just the sound of the instrument that appeals to me. I like the sort of expression that one can give. The flute does it for me, I can express what I feel best on that instrument. – Matt Molloy

         Be yourself when playing. Don't try to copy anyone or you'll never really be at ease playing. Just develop your own style naturally. – Catherine McEvoy

         Playing a flute is like writing a book. You're telling what's in your heart... It's easier to play if it's right from your heart. You get the tone and the fingers will follow. – Eddie Cahill

         Try to play musically and dynamically. Play only tunes and songs your mad about. Don't play too fast. Flute players are among the worst in the speeding stakes. Listen to lots of players, not only flutists; emulate what you like and then do your thing.
    – Desi Wilkinson

         You have to be one hundred per cent with it for the flute because the sound is coming from the pit of your stomach. You are putting what's keeping you alive into an instrument and by doing that you're making a sound. There's nothing between you and the instrument – it actually becomes part of you. – Martin Doyle.

         I'd go out, you see, I'd go out to the field or something and practice, although my mother didn't mind. But I'd go out in the field and I'd practice by myself. And there was a [neighbour] he was an old Peeler, he was retired from the police, the Peelers they called 'em then. And he used to play a bit on the whistle. And he'd be showing me things too, to me out in the field. I remember them good old days! – Mike Rafferty

         Music is an act of love. – Pat Higgins

         It's the heart and that's so important in the music. There's a tendency for people to think that they have to be the best technicians and the best at learning all the tunes, but actually it's to do with who you are and not what you play. – Bob Bickerton

         I was just a kid at a folk festival – wandering around practicing the tin whistle. Somebody came up to me and said, "You blow that thing harder to get into the second octave – don't you!" And I said, "Yeah!" Then I went behind a tree and tried it. I discovered that it was actually capable of a second octave and there was no stopping me after that. – Brendyn Montgomery

         Ireland is rich in literature that understands a soul's yearnings, and dancing that understands a happy heart.
    – Margaret Jackson.

         Maybe it's bred in the bone, but the sound of pipes is a little bit of heaven to some of us. – Nancy O'Keefe.

         I believe a flute is a very spiritual instrument. The breath is the bridge between the mind and the body. Flute players are always aware of their breath, even when they're not aware of their breath. – Martin Doyle.