Music appears to run in the blood in Orkney and is a way of life for a large chunk of the population.  Music is played everywhere: in the home; at school; in pubs; churches; community halls and at folk festival time, up every close and street.

Music is a major draw to visitors to the folk, jazz, blues and St Magnus festivals, but in Orkney music is a year round pastime too.  Ceilidh bands play at dances for weddings, harvest homes, Christmas dos, work get-togethers – in fact any celebration.  There are tunes played for dances that are unique to Orkney.  Influences are felt from Norway and Scotland.

Music traditions are being saved from extinction by many music projects.  Orkney Traditional Music Project and the Orkney Strathspey and Reel Society involve large groups of people playing and sometimes performing.  The Big Orkney Song Project has collected and recorded more than 1000 Orkney songs which can be heard at the Orkney Library and Archive in Kirkwall.  There are traditional bands in the schools which foster instrument tuition from an early age.  There is a long tradition of fiddle music in the islands and the majority of Orkney schoolchildren can play the fiddle or another instrument.  Writing a tune and playing it confidently on stage is not uncommon among youngsters.  The Wrigley Sisters, Hazel and Jennifer, run classes at The Reel in Kirkwall and there are many other music teachers giving private lessons to people of all ages.

There are choirs, pipe bands and orchestras as well as solo singers and bands playing everything from trad folk to jazz to heavy rock to swing to ballads to the blues.  There are plenty of recorded CDs of Orkney artists out there, some of whom have an international following.