The hornpipe is any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England with Hugh Aston's Hornepype of 1522 and others referring to Lancashire hornpipes in 1609 and 1613.

It is suggested that the hornpipe as a dance began around the 16th century on English sailing vessels. However, the dance does not seem to have become associated with sailors until after 1740 when the dancer Yates performed 'a hornpipe in the character of a Jack Tar' at Drury Lane Theatre, after which, in 1741 at Covent Garden we hear of 'a hornpipe by a gentleman in the character of a sailor.'. Movements were those familiar to sailors of that time: "looking out to sea" with the right hand to the forehead, then the left, lurching as in heavy weather, and giving the occasional rhythmic tug to their breeches both fore and aft.

The hornpipe is an Irish, Scottish and English dance. It is done in hard shoes, which are used to help keep track of how the dancer keeps in time. There are two variations of the hornpipe dance: fast and slow. Usually, more experienced dancers will do the slow hornpipe but younger dancers will start out with the fast hornpipe and then switch in later years. There is a change of tempo in the music but not the dancing between these two speeds. The only difference in the dancing between the fast and slow steps are the dances that the competitor does and the rhythm/sound of how they move their legs. The rhythm for both fast and slow hornpipes is very even and should be executed that way by the dancer.

The most common use of the term nowadays refers to a class of tunes in 4/4 (common) time. The dance is done in hard shoes. Perhaps the best known example is the "Sailors' Hornpipe". There are two basic types of common-time hornpipe, ones like the "Sailors' Hornpipe", moving in even notes, sometimes notated in 2/2 (cut time), moving a little slower than a reel, and ones like "The Harvest Home", moving in dotted notes. Some 19th-century examples mix the dotted and even styles. These led the form to being called the 'Newcastle Style' The form dates back to the mid-18th century or earlier but became much more popular in the early 19th century. Many hornpipes were written in this period, often with well-known composers. In Ireland, examples include "The Groves Hornpipe" and "The Boys of Bluehill". In England, a noted composer of hornpipes on Tyneside was the influential fiddler-publican James Hill (c.1811-1853). The form also became very popular in the United States – "President Garfield's Hornpipe" being an example.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornpipe).

Although originally written for Traditional Irish instruments, I created this Interpretation of the "The Derry Hornpipe" for Solo Piano.