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 When most folks think of Celtic music, in their mind they hear Irish or Scottish music. However, Celtic music also is found in Galicia and Asturias, two regions in the northwest corner of Spain. These musical traditions are smaller, but increasingly vibrant and growing. The music has different songs and different dances and rhythms.
Just as certain Celtic cultural and sociological characteristics survived in these northwestern parts of Spain, many Celtic musical traditions also remain.
Ancient traditional Celtic melody, harmony and rhythm structures still dominate the traditional music from these regions. Also, the instruments have mostly Celtic origins. Most commonly used are the bagpipes (called: Gaita in Spain), drums, flutes, harps (especially in Galicia) and the clarinet (in Cantabria). The music often has a melancholic feel.
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The most common type of gaita tune in Asturias is the muiñeira, a 6/8 dance song similar to a jig. The 2/4 (or more rarely 3/4) alborado is also found in Asturias; the term signifies a song at or to the sunrise, and is played at the beginning of a day's festivities. Marching tunes called pasucáis are also known, as well as the Aragonese jota, here greatly modified from its original format.
Other Asturian dances include saltón, diana, respingu, pericote, fandangu, pasudoble, marcha procesional, rebudixu, corri-corri, baile de los pollos, giraldilla and xiringüelu.
Along with other regions in Europe, such as Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittanny, these regions in the northwest of Spain are also where the ancient Celtic traditions and music have survived.
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