Characteristic forms of Gaelic music include sean-nós and puirt à beul singing, piobaireachd, jigs, reels, and strathspeys.
The six Celtic nationalities are divided into two musical groups, Gaelic and Brythonic,[1] which according to Alan Stivell differentiate "mostly by the extended range (sometimes more than two octaves) of Irish and Scottish melodies and the closed range of Breton and Welsh melodies (often reduced to a half-octave), and by the frequent use of the pure pentatonic scale in Gaelic music".
[2] The emigration of Scottish Gaels to Cape Breton has also resulted in a unique strain of Gaelic music evolving there.
[3][4] A number of fiddle tunes of Irish and Scottish Gaelic origin have entered the American bluegrass and country repertoires.
Gaelic music is also commonly heard at folk festivals, by pipe bands and at competitions such as mods and the Fleadh Cheoil.