The bodhran’s distinctive tone and energetic rhythms are a regular feature of Celtic music.
So, do you already play the bodhran, or if not, are you thinking of taking up this popular instrument? And if so, are you wondering how you can improve your mastery of the bodhran, or if you’re a newbie, getting off to the best possible start?
To improve your chances of success, the first objective for any player is buying the right bodhran.
However, as equally important is the acquisition of one or more beaters, that will suit your playing style and effortlessly display your musical ability.
But how do you know which beater is right for you?
And especially when you may be buying on-line, and your selection is simply based on the beater’s appearance. In this regard, you simply won’t know….until that is, it arrives in the post, you pick it up and you start playing.
If you’ve purchased a bodhran, it probably came with a ‘carry bag’, instructions on the care your bodhran skin, may be even a ‘Teach Yourself Bodhran’ book. It is highly ;likely that a beater was also ‘bundled-in’ as part of the purchase.
You may be excused therefore, for assuming that your ‘bundled beater’, is by association the perfect beater to accompany your bodhran. We would however ask you to exercise caution as the beater may have been simply ‘thrown in’ to improve the chances of a sale, and may be totally unsuitable for you or your style of playing.
In other words, keep an open mind about the suitability of your beater, and just as importantly don’t assume you need to adjust your playing style to the beater that you have ‘inherited’.
And why are we talking about having a single beater, anyway? It’s worth mentioning at this point that owning just one beater is insufficient for any serious bodhran player.
Ideally, you should have access to a variety of beaters of differing designs and construction. These will help you extract the full range of sounds both your bodhran and playing style can offer, and add ‘texture’ to the music that you’re playing
If after reading this, you are still interested in the subject of finding the best beaters to suit your style of playing, we look forward to helping!
In any event, we would like to help you avoid the expense and wasted time of acquiring a collection of random beaters, that may be defined as ‘challenging to play’.
We have been there ourselves, hence why we have embarked on this project!
So do call us…. we would be delighted to hear from you!