Bodhran drumming can add much to a musical performance; however, some musicians forget it is only meant as an accessory and should not become the main focus.

Traditionally, the bodhran was played using just one hand; today however a stick called a cipin is commonly employed to play this instrument.

The cipin

The Bodhran is an Irish frame drum played with the Cipin, an instrument that uses pressure on its goatskin head to produce various pitches that identify truly great bodhran players.

The lower head of a bodhran assumes most of the playing burden, striking all major beats and rhythms; its upper head serves as a filler note between triplets or as accentuation on specific beats in tunes; to play properly it’s essential that one matches up music to its rhythm of drumming; otherwise a bodhran should embellish rather than dominate!

Learning the bodhran requires patience, but is relatively straightforward at the start. A quality online course that introduces one simple idea per lecture will quickly put you on your journey towards mastery of its fundamentals; once your foundation is secure, more complex concepts may follow.

The backhand

The Bodhran is a frame drum similar to those played across the world, yet its playing technique sets it apart. The drum can be played using either your hand or with a stick (tipper/cipin), with another hand dampening its open skin to produce low bassy sounds or higher pitched tones depending on which playing technique you employ.

The heel of your hand can produce sharp and urgent beats while its flat palm produces more subtle ones. Your fingers also come into play here with gentle taps, slides and hard rapping.

The Bodhran is an accompaniment instrument designed to complement the rhythms of music being performed. A skilled bodhran player should always follow the tune; an untrained drummer walking into a session with an inferior instrument will do no favors to its performance! With proper players at its helm, Bodhrans can communicate sobs, joy and martial calls to action with just a sound!

The head

The Bodhran Drum is an unassuming frame drum with an incredible sound, capable of creating rhythmic patterns and sounds in its capable hands.

A common strategy for playing the bodhran is to ‘follow the music’, matching rhythms to those of whatever song or tune you are accompanying. This requires having a thorough knowledge of both what song you are accompanying as well as paying close attention to other musicians’ performances.

There are various hand and stick styles used to play a bodhran, as well as the recommended method for beginners: using the “curved wrist” technique – in which you place the end of the tipper between your index finger and thumb finger like you were pinching something – as an effective starting point.

Ben Hewlett is an experienced percussionist who has studied harmonica and Bodhran under Steafan Hannigan of Renegade Rhythms as well as Marc Moggy from Renegade Rhythms. Ben’s teaching approach is gentle yet methodical and each lecture provides you with one simple idea.

The rim

Though Riada’s advocacy of the bodhran as a musical instrument was met with approval, some musicians continue to view it with disdain – perhaps because non-musicians may think playing it will be easy and therefore see it as a quick route into becoming a musician.

A bodhran can be played using either the hand or, more frequently, with a stick known as a tipper, held in one’s right hand like a pencil and stroked across its lower third skin surface.

Once you become comfortable with this motion, you can add other rhythms by moving the entire hand in an up and down motion. Furthermore, to alter its tone you can hit different parts of the tipper at different points on the skin of the tipper; light touches on the inside of the head produce higher pitched sounds than harder hits – McNeela Instruments will be able to explain all this in greater detail.

Please follow and like us: