A bodhran is an Irish frame drum with its own distinct playing style and sound.

Learning any instrument requires hard work and dedication; bodhran playing is no different. Too many people pick up a bodhran without understanding its tunes or having any real musical understanding behind what they’re playing, which damages both it and traditional Irish music.

Basics

The Bodhran (pronounced bow-rawn) is the hallmark of Irish traditional music and serves as its cornerstone percussion instrument. A hand-held drum, it can be struck either directly with hands or using sticks known as tippers, beaters or cipins for playback.

As you begin playing bodhran music, it is crucial that you can follow its rhythms and ornamentations. To this end, listen to professional bodhran players and copy their rhythms and ornamentations patterns.

First step to learning Bodhran: Purchase quality instrument. Check that your chosen bodhran features a deep rim cut-out and cross bar construction with adjustable tuning. Also purchase a stick from an established maker such as Paraic McNeela to ensure your new instrument will stand the test of time while also producing superior sound due to design and construction features. Once your equipment is in hand, start practicing!

Techniques

The Bodhran is an Irish frame drum with an open wooden body and goatskin head, designed for solo performance by drummers. Although its music can be played using only hands, most professional bodhran players use a stick called a Cipin, Tipper or Beater to strike the head and strike chords on it. Bodhrans can often be found being used in traditional Irish and other Celtic musical genres.

The drum can be played using either one hand or with a lathe-turned stick known as a cipin, beater, or tipper. While playing, bodhran players must move their wrist in different rhythmic and accented patterns to produce different rhythms and accents on their instrument.

A bodhran can be tuned to any individual player’s preference using adjustable tuners built into its frame. Many bodhran owners also light sand their drum rim for improved sound and playability. Electrical tape was developed by drummer Seamus O’Kane to reduce edge loading and dampen overtones caused by atmospheric conditions. Furthermore, electrical tape keeps skin taut. Many owners of bodhrans also lightly sand their drum’s rim for increased sound and playability.

Tuning

A bodhran is a circular frame drum used in Irish traditional music. It became immensely popular during the great folk music resurgence of the 1960s, and today its use has evolved into an intricate modern playing style that fully exploits this versatile instrument’s musical potential.

A traditional bodhran consists of a round wooden frame topped with an open side and fitted with an enclosed goatskin drum head, like large tambourines but without their jingles; players may use either hands or beaters to play it.

Historical use of bodhran drumming involved performing with one’s bare hand; today it is more often performed with a stick called a cipin that matches up to an outstretched thumb and extended baby finger of the performer’s hand. Some professional bodhrans contain adjustable tuners in their wooden frames that can be tightened and loosen with a hex key while other use mechanical tuning systems like those found on drum kits.

Music

An accomplished bodhran player knows how to blend their playing with music, accentuating its natural rhythms while adding his or her own flare and flourish. For this purpose, listening to professional bodhran players and studying Irish traditional music may prove beneficial.

Noting the pronunciation of bodhran is important as well; in Irish it should be spoken bow-rawn (cow brawn), with an accent placed on its first syllable. This is important as H softens consonants making them sound more like A’s.

Ronan has collaborated with numerous acclaimed musicians over his long musical career as a drummer, songwriter, and singer, such as Dead Can Dance; performing for RTE Crossing The Line on television series award winners as a musician; playing Irish fusion group Kila; as well as developing his own solo catalogue of albums including producing set of Bodhran lessons exclusively for McNeela Instruments who specialize in Irish musical instruments, Bodhrans and percussion accessories.

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