- How do I tell a jig from a reel?
- By the meter. A jig is in 6/8 with each beat divided in three, giving a rolling lilt. A reel is in 4/4 with each beat divided in two, running flatter and faster. Writing "6/8 jig feel" or "4/4 reel feel" in a prompt is far more precise than asking for "Celtic style."
- Why does the harmony sound unfamiliar?
- Because it draws on modes rather than conventional major and minor — Mixolydian and Dorian especially — alongside a tradition of sustained drones. That gives melodies a suspended quality that is neither bright nor sad, and it is Celtic music's most distinctive marker.
- How do I keep generated results authentic?
- Name the instruments: "fiddle, tin whistle, bodhrán" works far better than "folk instruments." Then specify meter and mode: "6/8 jig, Dorian mode, with a drone underneath." With those three in place the genre signal is immediate.
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