Bodhran Lessons
Find one that meets both your hand size and desired sound needs by shopping around for different varieties of bodhrans.
Listening to professional bodhran players and studying their techniques of accenting and ornamenting tunes’ natural rhythms will help you become a better bodhran player yourself.
Learn the Basics
Beginners to Bodhran playing will find this book an all-encompassing and step-by-step course, covering everything from how to hold and use their instrument, playing basic accompaniment patterns for Irish dance tunes, rests and accents – everything a beginning bodhran player needs to start their musical journey!
This bodhran is an ideal option for players who prefer playing without using a stick (though this is not strictly necessary). Plus, as this tunable model can be tuned to your personal taste in terms of pitch.
McNeela Instruments of Ireland manufactures this tunable bodhran for this lesson; their specialty lies in traditional Irish musical instruments. This model offers great practice space with its 18 inch goatskin head. Furthermore, there is an integrated crossbar on one side of its shell to facilitate pitch bending more efficiently while remaining lightweight in hand.
Practice Techniques
Learn the fundamentals of Irish music’s centerpiece – the Bodhran (pronounced BOOR-ruhn). Experienced instructor Amy Richter will offer guidance as you develop this frame drum’s skills.
A bodhran is an oval-shaped drum constructed from goat or calf skin stretched over a wooden frame, playable by either using one’s hands directly, or by incorporating an external “tipper,” used to alter both its tone and sound characteristics.
Traditional Irish Bodhran playing requires matching rhythms with tunes – or “following the music”. In order to do this successfully, it is necessary to listen closely to recordings as well as familiarizing yourself with musical forms and melodies from Irish traditional music.
This course explores various performance techniques and musical concepts applicable to the bodhran. Topics addressed in this engaging and immersive course include tempo, articulation, tonal variation and ornamentation as well as Irish traditional tune forms. Newcomers to bodhran will gain an introduction to various performing styles and approaches that they may adopt when using it.
Learn Rhythms
Rhythms are essential when playing the bodhran. As with any instrument, learning the appropriate rhythms will make you a more proficient performer while also enabling you to accompany other musicians who play music from traditional or contemporary genres.
The Bodhran is an ancient Irish frame drum consisting of a goatskin playing surface stretched over a wooden frame. While you can strike it by hand, most Celtic percussionists use an instrument known as a Cipin or Tippper stick to strike their instrument.
This class builds on the fundamental bodhran classes by exploring some of the most prevalent rhythms used in Irish music. Students will explore jigs, reels, hornpipes, and polkas before adapting them with ornamentation or other musical elements. Participants should have completed at least one Beginning Bodhran class to participate in this course.
Learn Songs
If you love Irish music, bodhran is an ideal instrument to start learning on. Many websites provide beginner workshops where they teach the fundamentals of this rhythmic drum as well as how to play reels, slip jigs and hornpipes with this instrument. All it takes to get started is some enthusiasm and a bodhran!
The Bodhran is an Irish folk and traditional music culture-influenced hand percussion drum that plays an integral part in this free online series of beginner lessons by Hermitage Green drummer Dermot Sheedy from Hermitage Green Drum School. You’ll learn how to drum to reels and other traditional Irish songs using its distinctive sounds while simultaneously using your skin hand to change tone, play rolls, triplets, or change tones; soon these beginner-friendly lessons will have you playing like a pro in no time!
