29 Aug 2017

Andy Irvine - Live 2006 Kall-Steinfeld, Germany

This is a concert, Andy gave in Germany in October 2006. I drove nearly 4 hours to see him there. As the location is a bit hidden and with no Navigation System at that time I had lots of trouble to get there. When I finally arrived the concert had just begun. Luckily I found a free seat in the third row. More luckily the seat was on the left of the stage so I had a good angle for filming. You have a good view of his left hand.

I just came across this old video and thought it might be a good idea to share this one with you. So enjoy! Unfortunately I was too lazy to create a Tracklist. So feel free to post it in the comments ;-)


Chords in the Key of D and G

This is by far the most visited blog entry. So it seems that most people are looking for chord-shapes. There are a lot more blog entries which deal with chord or chord shapes. Maybe you could have a look at the labels on the right side. There you'll find some chord charts and some more information and videos about the topic chords.

 

Bob Gooday has released two videos on youtube which deal with Chords in the key of D and G. If you are a beginner this could be really helpful. As these are beginner tutorials he does not all possibilities on the fretboard. So this can only be a starting point.

Basic Chords in D


These are the basic chords he uses in this video:


Chord symbols - low to high string. 0=open string, x=do not play

D5 x000 or 2000 or 7000
A5 2202 or 2200 (with a D drone)
G5 0555

D Major x400 or 7400
A Major 2242
G Major 0020 or 0520 or 0025

B Minor 4420
B5 4424

E Minor 0222
E5 x222





Basic chords in G




Here are the chord shapes he uses in this video:

Chord symbols - low to high string. 0=open string, x=do not play

G Major 0020 or 0520 or 0025
G5 0555

D5 x000 or 2000
D Major 7400
C Major 0232 or 5232

A Minor 2232
A5 2202

E Minor 0222
E5 x222


To give you a lot more information here are chord charts I made for the key of D. They are in useful combinations. So every line shows one possible chord combination. There are lot of 2-Finger chords which let the open A and D string ring to give a drone Sound which is so special to the bouzouki.


















And here is my video which shows how these chords sound like.

25 Jul 2016

Dónal Lunny, Craiceann Bodhrán Festival 2016

Here are some vids I found on youtube featuring Dónal Lunny on Bouzouki. Not many Videos on the net in such high quality.




















21 Jun 2016

More Maids

More Maids is a German Folk Group which plays Irish Folk for many years now.

Barbara Coerdt, Marion Fluck and Barbara Hintermeier are all well known musicians in the German Folk Scene. Until now they produced three CDs.

More information at: http://www.moremaids.de


Here is a video which contains two of the songs from their latest CD.






Here's another video from 2011





7 Jun 2016

Elmstein Summer School 2017 - Bouzouki Workshop with Tobias Kurig


This year Elmstein Summer School will take place from July 31 to August 6th. Look at all the workshops that will take place. And as a special guest Paddy Keenan will give a MasterClass for Uilleann Pipes and Whistle.

The teacher of Bouzouki Workshop is Tobias Kurig, like last year. So take the chance and subscribe here:



Tijn Berends Solo Gig @ Gluren Bij De Buren, Utrecht

Tijn is a multi-instrumentalist from the Netherlands. He plays with the band/Duo "Itchy Fingers". Don't confuse with the German Band of the same name.

I already postet some of his videos before. Here is a live gig filmed in a living room somewhere. Tijn plays Bouzouki, Guitar and sings. If you search for him on youtube you'll find lots more videos.




Here's another video from Tijn:




He writes about this tune:

Here's a tune I learned some time ago called "Escapade in A minor". I don't play it in A minor because of reasons. Suzanne created a really awesome bodhrán part to go with it and it sounded so cool that we decided to record it. So here you go!

25 May 2016

Hans Eckert Luthier, Mühltal, Germany near Frankfurt


Today I visited a Luthier near Frankfurt in Germany. Hans Eckert is a relatively new Luthier in Germany. heckertguitars.de

I first met him by chance at a session 2 years ago. I did not know he was a luthier, then. Just heard about his profession a few weeks ago. As he lives not too far from my hometown I thought it would be a good idea to visit him at his workshop.

We met at his workshop in a little town called Mühltal where he lives. He builds stringed instruments for some years now. In 2015 he regularly worked with Heiner Dreizehnter at his workshop in Allgäu, Germany. Heiner is a famous German Luthier who made Guitars and Bouzoukis for many famous musicians. http://www.irish-bouzouki.de

Now Hans has got his own workshop where he builds Guitars, Mandolins, Bouzoukis and Banjos. He also repairs all kinds of stringed instruments. I brought an old Böhm Waldzither and he will restore it for me. He also will do some repair work on my Dreizehnter Guitar Bouzouki.


We talked a lot about his efforts in building instruments, the difficulties to get good tone wood and building techniques. He has a good knowledge of building instruments and I really think about ordering a 10 string bouzouki from him.


After a long conversation about the restoration of my Waldzither we sat together and played some tunes on Mandolin and Bouzouki. I really enjoyed the afternoon with him and hope to see him soon at a session somewhere.

Here are some more photos from his workshop









4 May 2016

Michael Chapman and Rino Eriksen

Lovely playing here by Michael and Rino on Cittern and Flute. Old Maid of Galway and The Green Mountain. Hope you enjoy it.


29 Sept 2015

Beginner Tutorial Position of the Left Hand Fingers

Duncan Ross Cameron shows some basics for playing the bouzouki in this video. A good starting point for beginners.

Irish Bouzouki Tutorial by Declan Plummer

Declan Plummer is a musical teacher of classical and irish music and an amateur website designer. You can find his website here:
http://www.declanplummer.net/
There you'll find some lessons for the bouzouki, chord charts and handouts.

Here are two videos from his youtube channel:


9 Jul 2015

Pat Kelly's Irish Summer School


And again this year's summer school in Elmstein, Germany has a workshop for Irish Bouzouki as well as numerous other courses for instruments in Irish Music. It takes place from 2nd to 8th August 2015.

The tutor for the workshop for Irish Bouzouki will be Tobias Kurig, a well known Bouzouki player from Germany. He will be joined by Colman Conolly on pipes. The course is not fully booked yet, so come on and join the fun! And of course there will be concerts and sessions every evening!



Here's a video:


and another one:


and another one:



And finally a video from the teacher's concert 2014:


Have a look at: http://www.irishmusicschool-elmstein.de/
for further details.

Wikibooks book about Irish Bouzouki in German

Some who calls himself soylent green (Remember the movie?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_jGOKYHxaQ
startet a wikibook about the Irish Bouzouki some time ago in German. I wonder who he can be. Do I know him?
Well, the last post dates about two years ago. Nevertheless there are some good hints to be found there. Maybe some other bouzouki players may contribute to this work? I wonder, how he made the chord charts etc.? What programs do you need to produce the pictures? If anyone can help, please comment.
Here's the link to the book:
https://de.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Irische_Bouzouki

Is there a project like this in Englisch existing, too?

26 Apr 2015

Andy Irvine at Mighty Fine Guitars

Andy Irvine at Mighty Fine Guitars, Lafayette, CA, September 2012.
A Vortex Production, filmed and edited by Jeff Peach. A full concert. Many thanks to "ThreeTime Through" who posted the videos.


Andy Irvine performing at a house concert in Chico at the home of Steve & Cathy O'Bryan

Fantastic Videoshots of Andy performing on a house concert. A must-see!



Full Concert of Andy Irvine on youtube

A full Concert of Andy performed on June, 28, 2014 is to be found on youtube now. A must see for all bouzouki lovers. Nothing more to say about that.