Editing Reel (dance) (section)

==Reel music==
{{listen
|filename=Dancing Willow - Demo-CD 2007 01 - The wind that shakes that Barley.ogg
|title=The wind that shakes that Barley
|description=A reel performed by ''Dancing Willow''
|filename2=Dancing Willow - Demo-CD 2007 05 - Drowsy Maggie.ogg
|title2=Drowsy Maggie
|description2=A reel featuring viola da gamba and recorder, performed by ''Dancing Willow''|format=[[Ogg]]
}}

Reel music is notated in simple [[Metre (music)|metre]], most commonly either in {{music|time|2|2}} or {{music|time|4|4}}. For example, the same reel ''Rakish Paddy'' is notated in a {{music|time|2|2}} [[time signature]] in ''O'Neill's Music of Ireland, New & Revisited,''<ref>{{cite book |first=Miles |last=Krassen |title=O'Neill's Music of Ireland, New & Revisited |page=158 |date=1976}}</ref> but in {{music|time|4|4}} time in ''English, Welsh, Scottish & Irish Fiddle Tunes,''<ref>{{cite book |first=Robin |last=Williamson |title=English, Welsh, Scottish & Irish Fiddle Tunes |page=69 |date=1976}}</ref> with no change to the note lengths.

All reels consist largely of [[quaver]] (eighth note) movement with an accent on the first and third beats of the bar. A reel is distinguished from a [[hornpipe]] in two ways. Firstly it is played with even beats, without swing or dotted rhythm. Secondly it is played twice as fast, implied by the {{music|time|2|2}} time signature. Like most dance music originating in the British Isles, reels are usually composed in [[binary form]], meaning they have two parts (A and B); in most reels each part is repeated (AABB), but in others it is not (ABAB). Each part (A and B) typically has eight bars, which in turn are divisible into four-bar and two-bar phrases. (An exception is the "auld reel" of [[Shetland]] which tends to irregular structure and may have been influenced by the Norwegian [[Halling (dance)|halling]].) A reel usually has 32 bars (with structure AABB), but there are other common structures such as 40 bar reels (often played for the introduction of the Eightsome Reel) and 64 bar reels (with structure AABBCCDD).

Reels are popular in the [[folk music]] of South West [[England]]. They crossed the [[Atlantic]] ocean with Irish and British immigration and thus entered the musical tradition of Atlantic and French-speaking [[Canada]] including that of [[Music of Quebec|Quebecers]] and [[Acadians]].  Reels are featured in many pieces by [[Quebec]] singers and bands, such as [[La Bolduc]], [[La Bottine Souriante]] and even the more modern ''[[néo-trad]]'' group [[Les Cowboys Fringants]].