The Bodhrán Site

'playing the Bodhrán'

Holding your Bodhrán correctly.

• The best position for bodhrán playing is sitting. some players prefer stand but this can make it difficult to get different skin sounds using your other hand on the back of the skin.. tuck the bodhrán tight into your armpit, resting it on your thigh. hold your bodhrán in place by pressing the rim against your ribs with your arm.

Using your 'other' hand correctly

• The 'other' hand in all cases is the hand not holding your stick or tipper. use your arm to hold the rim against your ribs while using your 'other' hand between the crossbar and the skin to make the three basic different skin sounds, open, flat and pushed.

Holding your tipper (bodhrán drumstick) correctly

• You should hold your tipper like a pencil between your middle, thumb and forefingers. hold it as though you are going to draw on your own chest. start off with the end nearest to you.
  Nearly all rhythms start with a down-stroke.

Using your tipper

• Imagine the face of your bodhrán is a clock. try to strike your bodhrán on the down stroke travelling from nine o' clock to six o'clock and striking the skin at about seven o' clock and reversing the movement at six o' clock. on the up stroke you strike the skin at seven o' clock. (reverse all this if you are left handed)
  I know this sound confusing, just break it up into steps.
  
  1. hold the tipper in the middle (at the end for single ended tippers)
  2. your hand should be over the center of the drum
  3. the business end of the tipper should be at 9 o'clock - away from the drum
  4. the tipper should be about 2 inches (5 cm) from the drum and parallell to the surface of the drum.
  5. begin moving the end of the tipper toward 6 o'clock all the while getting closer to the drum until you actually strike the drum at about 7 o'clock
  6. continue towards 6 o'clock moving the tipper away from the drum.
  7. your hand should still be over the center of the drum
  8. the business end of the tipper should be at 6 o'clock - away from the drum
  9. the tipper should be about 2 inches (5 cm) from the drum and parallell to the surface of the drum
  10. come back the way you came, striking the drum at about 7 o'clock ending up where you started.

Playing triplets

Some players never play triplets, some play them all the time. the use of them comes down to your  ability to play them and your good judgement and taste.
The triplet can occur by accident on the down stroke when the tipper strikes the skin with the other end. to play a triplet on deliberately is a far greater feat that is learned by experience.
I found them immediately easy to play once I made myself a tipper that was quite heavy at each end.
The momentum of the heavier end kept the tipper travelling so that it was easy to get the other end to strike the skin.
Once I mastered the triplet using the heavier tipper, I found that I could apply the technique to any double ended tipper fairly easily. when you get the hang of this try single-ended triplets, they take a while to master.

One final piece of advice I can pass on is this,

Try to move the tipper or stick by moving your arm as though you are tightening a screw with a screwdriver, twisting your emtire forearm and keeping your wrist straight, you will be able to improve your speed, one-ended triples and most importantly reduce the strain to your wrist.

Goodluck and happy playing.