Michael Eskin, well known for his "ABC Transcription Tools" has now released a new tool for practice, "The Thumpatron", a collection of Bodhran Beats in different tempo. Jigs, Reels and Polka Rhythms are available. Unfortunately no Slides, Slip Jigs and Hornpipes. But a very handy tool it is for sure.
You can find "The Thumpatron" here.
This is his website where you can find his "ABC Transcription Tools"
You don't always have a melody player available to practise tune accompaniments. This web app can help. Hatao, a talented flute player from Japan, has put it online. He has recorded around 60 tunes. These can be easily found here using a search mask.
- Vincent Fogarty
Now he released an online course on this topic. On YouTube you can watch the introductional video which I enclose here. So if you ever wanted to build your own bouzouki this one's for you.
If you find this useful you can buy me a pint.
On this website you'll find the dots for the tunes, also a player which is able to play the tune with and without chords.
So have a look at the website at: https://tradchords.org
The Roadie Tuner is an automatic tuner for stringed instruments. I was curious if it would work with the bouzouki. As it was a lot cheaper on Black Friday I bought it via Amazon to give it a try.
If you want to know more about it look here.
There's an app that goes with it where you can specify your preferred tunings. For GDAD you have to build a new instrument which only takes a few minutes. You even can take a photo of your instrument if you like.
I first tested it on my guitar tuned DADGAD and it worked fine. Tuning went fast with no problems. So I really was impressed at first time.
But then I tried my Foley ... and my Fylde and another Foley and another bouzouki. What should I say, tuning with a standard digital tuner is much faster and more accurate. I tried it several times and never got a correct tuning. So I can't recommend it for Bouzouki, although I think the idea is good. But 139€ is a lot of money for a device that screws your pegs just like your fingers can.
The video I did is not very professional and I did not edit the process of tuning to show how long it takes and how strange the device sometimes works.
As a result I'll definitely send it back. Maybe I'll give Roadie 6 a second chance ;-)
Michael Eskin programmed the abc transcription tools which help musicians to convert abc to tab. He found a way to publish pdf files of tunebooks, in which you not only see the tab, but by clicking on the title it opens a player where you can listen to the files. What a great helping tool this is.
Here is an example from his website where you can try these features.
https://michaeleskin.com/transcriptions/50_Irish_Session_Tunes_GDAD_3Mar2024.pdf
By chance I found this ebook which contains a lot of tabs for bouzouki in GDAD. It cost €9.90. If you are looking for some tabs you might have a look at it.
https://www.tenor-banjo-tabs.com/bouzouki-tabs-in-gdad.html
Here's a list of songs and tunes included. Seems to be a lot of them ...
Here's an example page:
Another video by Ben Hockenberry. This time he plays the top 20 Reels from Irishtune.info. Very helpful for learning accompaniment. Remember, you can speed up the video in the settings.
These are the tunes:
0:17 #20: The Gravel Walks (Am) 2:26 #19: Father Kelly's (G) 4:10 #18: Ships are Sailing (Em) 5:55 #17: Miss McLeod (G) 7:37 #16: Congress (Am) 9:24 #15: Rolling in the Ryegrass (D) 10:48 #14: The Star of Munster (Am) 12:32 #13: The Wise Maid (D) 14:15 #12: The Cup of Tea (Em/D) 16:45 #11: The Merry Blacksmith (D) 18:28 #10: The Earl's Chair (D) 20:13 #9: The Sally Gardens (G) 21:55 #8: The Wind that Shakes the Barley (D) 23:13 #7: The Musical Priest (Bm) 25:08 #6: The Maid Behind the Bar (D) 26:50 #5: The Banshee (G) 28:34 #4: The Mountain Road (D) 29:52 #3: Drowsy Maggie (Em/D) 31:13 #2: The Silver Spear (D) 32:55 #1: Cooley's (Em)
Ben Hockenberry and his series of Top 20 Tunes of each genre. Here he plays 20 famous SlipJigs at slow speed. Good for practicing accompaniment. Remember you can make youtube to play it faster if you want to practice at higher speed.
Here is the tune list, copied from youtube: 0:00 Intro 0:16 #20: Dever the Dancer (Em) 2:13 #19: Comb Your Hair and Curl It (Em) 4:10 #18: Moll Roe (G) 6:08 #17: The Swaggering Jig (G) 8:02 #16: Farewell to Whalley Range (F#m) 9:59 #15: The Boys of Ballisodare (G) 13:44 #14: The Snowy Path (D) 15:39 #13: Elizabeth Kelly's Delight (Am) 17:36 #12: The Rocky Road to Dublin (Am) 19:33 #11: The Whinny Hills of Leitrim (D) 21:33 #10: The Humours of Whiskey (D) 23:28 #9: An Phis Fhliuch (Dmix) 28:06 #8: The Cock and the Hen (F#m) 30:05 #7: Drops of Brandy (G) 32:01 #6: Na Ceannabhain Bhana (G) 33:58 #5: Hardiman the Fiddler (Dmix) 35:53 #4: Foxhunter's (D) 39:36 #3: A Fig for a Kiss (Em) 41:32 #2: The Kid on the Mountain (Em) 46:09 #1: The Butterfly (Em)
This list, and others like it for each type of Irish tune, are generated by members of irishtune.info, a free site for tracking practice of your repertoire: https://www.irishtune.info/session/sl...
By chance I found these backing tracks today. Curious about what they could be used for, I started improvising. Later I played a few tunes over them. It's a lot of fun. So if you want to practice some tunes, try this out! https://www.youtube.com/@traditionalmusicaccompaniment/playlists
Unfortunately the link above does not work anymore from this site. Please copy the link and paste it into your browser, this works. Seems to be due to changes on youtube.
Here's an example, a backing Track for a Jig in G, 120 BPM:
You also can practice the scales with some Beats as background or with a metronome.
You'll find some more information here
I always have problems losing my plectrum. I tried several things like cutting a hole in them, gluing cork or sandpaper on them, all worked, but a month ago I came across the SMI PlecPads. I bought a sampler pack of them and was overwhelmed. They really feel good and the plectrum does not slip anymore. There are different shapes available. The ones on the picture are the ones that work best for me, but you have to find out which ones are best for you.
They've got different thickness, and it seems different stickyness. I like the red and the black ones. The yellow ones feel a bit strange and I think they stick too much imo.
If you are interested here's their website. (I don't get anything from them!)
I first hesitated to join, but a few days ago I couln't resist and I have to say, it is really worth it. Can't wait for another video!
https://www.patreon.com/alanreid/posts
Steve Knightley from Show of Hands shows some nice Chords and shows how to use them.
Santiago Molina uploaded some Bodhran Metronome tracks on youtube. Each track lasts for around 10 minutes. Up to now he uploaded metronome tracks for polka and jigs in various speeds.
This is the link to his channel, where you can find lots of interesting videos:
https://www.youtube.com/c/gaitero/videos
Here is one example for polka (140 BPM) and one example for jig (110 BPM).
Are you in need of a cool metronome? Well, ask youtube. You'll find Bodhran beats you can use as metronome. Here is a list of a few of them, maybe you'll find some more.
Unfortunately until now only Jig and Reel available.
These are from this website:
Jig 110 BPM
Jig 90 BPM
Reel 100 BPM
Reel 90 BPM
https://apps.apple.com/de/app/chordfinder-for-bouzouki/id507236609
