Various pipes include the Scottish Highland pipe, Uilleann pipe, the Northumbrian small pipe, the binou and the gaita. This family of instruments was developed in the early nineteenth century. They all work on the same principle air is blown across a set of paired metal reeds, causing them to vibrate and produce a particular note. These fretted instuments are mostly used in accompaniment and for rhythmic backing. A wide variety of instruments come under the general umbrella of the mandolin family.
Most celtic harps are small, and can be played on the knee.
The Scottish harp is called a clarsach, and the Welsh harp is the triple-harp, a form once popular in art music until superseded by the pedal harp. The riple has three rows of strings, tuned a semitone apart to give a chromatic scale. This is a kind of zither, a trapezoidal board with pairs of strings stretched over it, played with light hammers. Click here to go to My Irish Treasury or visit my Celtic Links With special thanks to for the beautiful background. This Emerald Ring site is owned by Christina Tan .