Beth Patterson at the New Orleans Jazz Museum

This is a one hour live performance of Beth Patterson, a fantastic bouzouki player from Louisiana.

"Beth Patterson is a versatile multi-instrumentalist from Lafayette, Louisiana, best known for her mastery of the eight- and ten-stringed Irish bouzouki. Described as a blend of "a cobra and a puppy," her performance style—which she calls "SWAP" (Songwriter/World/Acoustic/Progressive)—merges Celtic traditions with progressive rock and global ethnic influences.

Patterson's diverse background includes classical oboe, Cajun bass, and formal studies in ethnomusicology at University College Cork. Her prolific career spans nine solo albums and appearances on over 200 recordings. Her work has reached global audiences via the BBC and NPR, and she has performed in over 20 countries. Beyond the stage, she has contributed to film soundtracks (including The One-Eyed King) and even appeared in Spinal Tap II."

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Dónal Lunny discusses his evolution through Irish music (Belfast 2004)

This rediscovered 2004 interview from Belfast offers a rare and intimate look into the life of Dónal Lunny, a foundational figure who fundamentally reshaped the landscape of Irish traditional music. Spanning a career that began in the 1960s, the footage captures Lunny’s transition from a young musician in Tullamore to a visionary producer and founding member of legendary ensembles like Planxty and Moving Hearts.

Innovation Meets Tradition

The interview highlights Lunny’s role as a pioneer of musical evolution. Key themes include:

• Instrumental Revolution: His discovery and adaptation of the bouzouki, which introduced a distinctive harmonic depth to Irish folk.

• Iconic Collaborations: Insights into his work with heavyweights such as Christy Moore and The Clancy Brothers.

• Evolution of Sound: His perspective on the shift from analog to digital recording and his unique philosophies on music production.

A Catalyst for Change

Beyond simple melodies, the discussion delves into Lunny’s commitment to social change. Through Moving Hearts, he helped merge traditional sounds with contemporary political messages, bridging the gap between folk roots and modern world music. His approach wasn’t just about preservation; it was about moving the genre forward while maintaining its soul.

Historical Significance

For cultural historians and fans alike, this footage serves as a "masterclass" in Irish musical history. It documents the technical and artistic shifts that allowed Irish folk to survive and thrive in a modern context. Lunny’s story is more than a biography; it is a roadmap of how tradition can be innovated without being lost.

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The Otter's Holt Reel - Practice Irish Traditional Music With Me - Declan Plummer

 Declan Plummer offers regularly practice videos where he shows his approach to accompanying tunes. They usually last for about two hours, a long time watch. But worth it. He also shows the software he uses and gives a lot of insights. This time he uses the Reel "The Otter's Holt", a well known session favourite.

As audio he uses a video by Olivia Barret, who kindly gave him permission to use her videos. Maybe you want to have a look at her bandcamp site.

Declan's Top Score Music Academy can be found here

At 1hr 14sec he tries out some countermelodic parts

When watching the video I found a passage where he is reminded of the song "Hotel California" and shows some chords for the song. Here they are:

Matt Heaton - New Bouzouki Lesson on YouTube: Break the First Position Habit

Now this is an important lesson not only for newbies on the bouzouki. Lots of possibilities to play chords up the neck. Now let's practice! You'll find most of these and lots more on this blog here:

McIntyre's Fancy Jig - Practice Irish Traditional Music With Me - TopMusic Academy

Another "Practice with me" Video from Duncan Cameron. He develops piece by piece an accompaniment for the tune "McIntyre's Fancy", a Jig in ADorian. He uses capo at 7th fret. The video he refers to is by Olivia Barrett.

Don't forget to have a look at his website: www.topscoremusicacademy.com

Session Etiquette for beginners

 A short video about things to consider when going to an Irish Music Session. Worth a look.

Donal Lunny - A video about his influences in Irish Music

 There's no doubt about the huge influence that Donal Lunny had on Irish Folk Music during the last decades. This is a new video about Donal on YouTube.

Robin Jones - 2 new Lessons available on YouTube

Robin Jones recently released 2 new Lessons on YouTube. First a beginner video in which he explains some tips for achieving a more full sound while playing melody. 

The second video shows a nice melody playing example for the well  known Slipjig "The Butterfly".

As always: Part one is free to watch on YouTube. If you want to get access to part 2 you have to buy it from his website or subscribe to get access to all of the videos he released so far. This might be a good option if you haven't downloaded any videos or just a few so far.

Practicing Irish Tunes with Hatao - Website

Hatao is a a flute player from Japan. He's been deeply immersed in Irish music since the age of 18. He visited Ireland many times and learned from wonderful musicians and teachers such as Eamonn Cotter, Paul McGrattan, and Harry Bradley. Nowadays he works as a professional musician and music teacher.

He runs a YouTube channel where he posts a tune nearly every day. He also often posts Sets of tunes on his channel. So this is not bouzouki related but might be a good start if you want to practice playing melody or want to try accompaniment. Until now he released nearly 700 videos of tunes and 300 sets of tunes. 

He also has a Patreon called "Learn an Irish tune every day.

He now launched a website/webapp where you have access to all of his videos via a search engine implemented. Lets say you want to find a jig in A Dorian just fill in Double Jig and A Dorian and the result will be all of tunes he uploaded in this key. I find this very helpful.

Daoiri Farrel is doing another workshop on Febr. 22nd

This time he will be teaching Pat Rainey. This is your chance to learn from the master himself.
Check out the video below.
He'll be charging €30 for this workshop. Those interested can send a payment to:

https://www.paypal.me/daoirifarrell

please make sure to add your email address in the PayPal notes section and he will send the link over to you asap.


In this video he announces the workshop

Seán Dagher — Live at Old Songs - Bouzouki and Vocals

A live concert of  Seán Dagher playing his Foley Bouzouki and singing lots of well known and lesser known songs. 

This is the setlist stolen from youtube:

Setlist 1:38 - South Australia 5:53 - Renzo 9:39 - Star of the County Down 14:25 - Hanging Johnny 18:19 - Maggie Mae 23:04 - Captain Kidd 28:00 - Le Capitaine de Saint-Malo 32:40 - Mary Ellen Carter 38:19 - Captain Ward 43:07 - Liverpool Judies 47:33 - Leave Her Johnny 1:10:56 - General Taylor 1:14:06 - Stormalong 1:16:17 - The Dreadnought 1:19:45 - Rio Grande 1:23:36 - Little Boy Billee 1:27:55 - Red Iron Ore 1:36:14 - Blow the Man Down 1:38:45 - Press Gang 1:41:42 - Blow Boys Blow 1:45:33 - Wellerman

Robin Jones - New lesson „The Butterfly“ online

 Robin Jones‘ new lesson is online now. A wonderful arrangement of the Slipjig „The Butterfly“. Part 1 is available on YouTube, part 2 can be bought from his website. 

Bouzouki Tips wanted - Do you want to help me writing this blog?

This is not the first time I try to find some people who like to help me making my blog better. Until now no one answered!!!

This blog could be much better if I was not alone in collecting the content, making tabs etc. I think, every one of you, dear readers, has some ideas or skills which could help other players of the bouzouki in getting better or in understanding different topics a bit better. 

If you benefit from my work (and I spent many hours in making all this content) please consider sending me your best tips, tabs you made, songsheets etc to I can post them here. Of course your name will be published with your content!

Also:

If you can imagine writing posts for my blog yourself (bouzouki-related, of course), I would be delighted if you would contact me. I would be happy to fill the blog with content together with a team.

And if you benefit from my blog but don't fell you could publish something you maybe might think about supporting my work by buying me a coffee or a pint.

Matt Heaton - Accompanying Tunes in A-Dorian - My answer video A-Dorian on the Irish Bouzouki (GDAD)

 This morning I put together a little video in which I tried to explain my transitions of Matt Heaton's approach to accompanying tunes in A-Dorian. I hope this helps understanding my writings in the previous post.

Once again the script I made yesterday:

Main Chords: Am, G  also Em and C

Main Chords: 

Am: 2,2,0,2

G: 0,0,2,0 or 0,0,2,5 or 0.5.5.0

Em: 4,2,2,5 or 4,2,2,2 or x,2,2,2

C: 5,5,3,0 or 0,2,3,0

A: Part: 

Am | G | Em | Em-G

Am | G | Em | G-Am

or

Am | G | C-G/B | Em |

Am | G| C-G/B | Em-Am |

Run C, G/B, G

C: 5,5,3,0

G/B: 4,5,5,0 oder 4,5,2,0

G: 0,0,2,0 oder 0,5,5,0

Higher chords:

Am: 5,7,7,7

G: 0,5,5,0 oder 4,5,5,5 oder 4,5,5,0

connect with C and Em

more chords:

Am: 9,10,0,7

G: 0,9,10,0

Em: 9,9,10,0

they fit together well

Run C, G/B, G

C: x,10,7,0

G/B: x,9,10,0

G: x,5,5,0

Run: C, G, Am:    

C: x,10,7,0

G: x,9,10,0

Am: x,7,7,0 oder x,7,7,7

Tip for B-Part:

Start with D instead of Am! (D5!) - does not work always!!!

D: 7,7,0,0 

G: 0,5,5,0 oder 0,9,10,0

It works because D also includes A which is in the melody as well.

F-Chord

this works sometimes. In this tune there is no F in the melody. But you may use it in the B-Part, maybe in the repeat. 

Am | G | Em | G |

Am | G | Em | G-Am|

F | F | G | G |

Am | G | Em | G-Am |

F: 2,3,3,0

G: 4,5,5,0

Am: 2,2,3,0  oder 5,7,7,0

Another way of playing Am:

Am: 5,7,7,0

you might want to play it together with G: 4,5,5,0 and Em: 4,2,2,2 or 4,2,2,5 or maybe 0,2,2,2

So these are the tricks I found out while watching Matt's video. If you have other ideas I would be glad if you could send them to me. I would really appreciate your thoughts and would love to post them here on my blog.

Matt Heaton - Tipps for Accompanying in A Dorian

Matt explains this matter for guitar, but it can be transferred to Bouzouki (GDAD) as well. These are my thoughts while looking at Matt's video. I wrote that in German, but I hope you can follow these thoughts. You may not understand my writings, if you don't watch the video, I think.

Hauptakkorde: Am, G  auch Em und C

Akkorde: 

Am: 2,2,0,2

G: 0,0,2,0 oder 0,0,2,5

Em: 4,2,2,5 oder 4,2,2,2 oder x,2,2,2

C: 5,5,3,0 oder 0,2,3,0

A: Part: 

Am | G | Em | Em-G

Am | G | Em | G-Am

oder

Am | G | C-G/B | Em |

Am | G| C-G/B | Em-Am |

Lauf C, G/B, G

C: 5,5,3,0

G/B: 4,5,5,0 oder 4,5,2,0

G: 0,0,2,0 oder 0,5,5,0

Akkorde in hohen Lagen:

Am: 5,7,7,7

G: 0,5,5,0 oder 4,5,5,5 oder 4,5,5,0

diese Akkorde mit C und Em verbinden

weitere Akkorde:

Am: 9,10,0,7

G: 0,9,10,0

Em: 9,9,10,0

diese passen gut zusammen!

Lauf C, G/B, G

C: x,10,7,0

G/B: x,9,10,0

G: x,5,5,0

Lauf: C, G, Am:    

C: x,10,7,0

G: x,9,10,0

Am: x,7,7,0 oder x,7,7,7

Tipp für B-Part:

Statt mit Am beginnen mit D! (Aber D5) - funktioniert nicht immer!!!

Also D: 7,7,0,0 

dann G: 0,5,5,0 oder 0,9,10,0

funktioniert, da in D auch A enthalten ist und Melodie viel A beinhaltet.

F-Chord

kann manchmal funktionieren. In diesem Tune kommt kein F vor. 

Im B-Part aber möglich, evtl in der Wiederholung:

Am | G | Em | G |

Am | G | Em | G-Am|

F | F | G | G |

Am | G | Em | G-Am |

F: 2,3,3,0

G: 4,5,5,0

Am: 2,2,3,0  oder 5,7,7,0

Here's a video for you to practice:

Rowan Piggott & Charlie Piggott - The Fairhaired Boy & Scatter The Mud (Jigs)