Instant Bodhran - part two; learning further drumming skills

I the first course (Instant Bodhran - part one; learn the basics of drumming now) we covered a lot of the basics:

How to hold the beater

How to support the drum

How to hold the drum

Use of the left hand

Moving the beater along the arc between 9 and 6 o'clock

Keep your wrist fused so the whole arm twists.

Play in 4/4 but only play beat 1

Now on Beats 1 and 3

Now all the beats - 123 and 4

Emphasise beat 1

Play in 6/8 emphasising beats 1 and 4

Reels.

Play along with The Drunken Sailor

4/4

4 beats to the bar

Emphasise beat 1

Emphasise beats 1 and 3

Now we are playing all 4 beats in the bar but two notes her beat.

We can count it '1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and' to give us the 8 quavers/eighth notes.

The pattern is dudududu

d=down and u=up.

The first tunes the emphasis in beat 1 but the second (Sally Gardens) can be emphasised on beat 2 or on beats 2 and 4 to give it more lightness.

The final tune is up to you to see what you hear.

Try to keep your hand moving but miss some beats out so it fits with the long notes of the tune.

Keep stopping and listening and see if the accented beats.

Waltzes.

3/4

Three beats in the bar.

Skye Boat Song.

Nice and stately - very steady.

Try playing it ddu or duu

It could even be uud or udd I suppose

Experiment with the different ways.

If the waltz is slow enough you can double the speed of your arm - I demonstrate this at 6 minutes into the video.

Here are some great excursuses for your hands and arms.

Jigs now.

6/8

Six beats in the bar

Jigs can be played in many different ways.

Beats 1 and 4 are in bold as they are the strongest beats

d=hit the skin with the stick traveling DOWNWARDS

u=hit the skin with the stick traveling UPWARDS

- = don’t hit the drum skin at all; not every stroke connects

Here are some ideas for you to test:

You can also reverse all these patterns so they all start on an upward stroke if this doesn’t give you enough to think about.

Your Left Hand

Please follow the video instruction to see how to use your left hand.

This works for right-handed people but for sinister people please reverse the instructions.

Playing melodically on the Bodhran is not only possible but a good thing to do I believe.

It certainly surprises other musicians!

There are many ways to create to raising and lowering of pitch and I demonstrate many in the video.

Thanks for banging the drum with me, don't forget to leave some feedback and do let me know if you would like any more.I have so much more to show you with this drum so do let me know please.

Ben