HOW TO PLAY THE BODHRAN

The first thing that you will need to learn is how to hold everything. If you figure out a way to skip this part, let me know - I'll send a note to Guinness and them to leave a page open.

The easiest way I know to start with is the Pencil Whip style.
Grab the tipper like a pencil (hence the name) in the middle. If your tipper has a knob or bulge in the middle, then grab right below it, with the knob resting on the flesh between your thumb and forefinger.

You should have a firm grip, without holding it too hard. You'll know if you are holding it too hard by the pain you start to feel after playing a little while. Basically, you want just enough pressure so that it wont go flying away when you play it, but it should be loose enough to flop around in your fingertips.

 Now that you can hold the tipper, you'll need to hold the drum. There are many different ways - but I'm going to give you the easy way. If you have cross bars in the back, grab them in the middle, so that they are comfortable. If you only have one cross bar, grab it near the top. This will give you a more stable playing area. If you don't have any cross bars, then you'll need to sit down (at least to start), and rest the rim on your thigh. Then you'll want to place your hand inside the rim, with your palm facing the skin, and let the rim rest on the side of your thumb. For extra stability, place the rim against your lower ribs and press in with you arm. Work with it until you are comfortable.

Here comes the hard part! Facing the tipper to the drum skin so that you can play it. Still holding it like a pencil, You need to turn you wrist in at an almost 90 degree angle to your arm. Now, move your arm so that your knuckles are parallel to the skin. This should put the tipper at a 45 degree angle to the drum skin. If this all went well, then keep going. If not, and if you can't seem to figure it out, Stop! Send me an e-mail, tell me what you are doing, and I'll try and help you fix whatever you are doing wrong.

How To Play.....It's all down hill from here! I want you to move the drum away for a second, but keep your hand where it is. Now you have an open area to practice swinging. The motion is simple, using just you wrist (for now), move the tipper and your hand together in an upward swing. This motion should create a half arch going toward your chin, and proceeding in the direction of your right ear (lefties make appropriate adjustments). Now, from that position, swing down the way you came up. This should make an arch that passes your belt buckle, and goes until it is above your right pants pocket (lefties adjust - and kilt wearers, look at someone who has enough sense to put trousers on so you can see where the pocket is).

That is the motion you want to use to play the Bodhran. You should notice that the peak of the arch is right where your drum skin should be. Yes, that is when you hit the drum - at the peak. Remember to only hit it at the peak (for this style), otherwise, it will very difficult to play jigs and reels and most everything else later on - not that it can't be done, but this is the easiest way- and the traditional way for this style. Now bring your drum back where it belongs, and practice the swing by just moving your wrist. When you feel more comfortable with it, you can start moving your arm with it to make the motion easier. If you try and start too early, you may lose the arch and hit the skin twice instead, and that really won't do much good later on.

For now it is best to forget about the top of the tipper. It is used for Triplets, and we'll get into later.

Practice is the only way to get comfortable with playing. So you start practicing, and I'll start working on the next section.