Unfortunately this video is in Spanish. The Translation by youtube doesn't help a lot to understand the words. Nevertheless you can understand a lot just by watching and repeating. Fernando's videos are something special and something you won't find anywhere else.
16 Feb 2023
20 Polkas played on Banjo at slow speed (100BPM)
Ben Hockenberry plays 20 popular Polkas at 100 BPM on his Banjo. Great for trying accompaniment. Remember you can change the speed of the video by clicking on settings (the cogwheel under the video).
Here I copied the list of Polkas in this video:
0:00 Intro 0:16 #20: Knocknaboul (G) 2:21 #19: Newmarket (A) 3:47 #18: Nell Fee's (D) 5:51 #17: Toormore #1 (D) 7:18 #16: Ballydesmond (Dmix) 8:48 #15: Farewell to Whiskey (G) 10:11 #14: Rakes of Mallow (G) 11:35 #13: Jessica's (A) 13:01 #12: Little Diamond (D) 14:26 #11: Maid of Ardagh (D) 15:48 #10: Rattling Bog (G) 17:09 #9: Finnish Polka (Bm) 18:29 #8: Denis Murphy's (D) 19:50 #7: Mickey Chewing Bubblegum (A) 21:10 #6: Ballydesmond 3 (Am) 22:36 #5: Maggie in the Wood (G) 23:59 #4: Ballydesmond 2 (Am) 25:25 #3: Peg Ryan's/Egan's/Kerry (D) 26:48 #2: John Ryan's (D) 28:12 #1: Britches Full of Stitches (A)
This list of Polkas, 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/polkas.php
By now the top 20 has changed a little bit.
15 Feb 2023
Backing Tracks for Traditional Music
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:
20 Slides played on banjo at slow speed (100 BPM) with Metronome
This is what I found today. Ben Hockenberry plays 20 well known Slides on his banjo at 100 BPM with Metronome. This might be very useful for learning accompaniment. Each tune is played 3 times. You can play with it and speed it up to your needs or ability.
He also offers some more tune types! So have a look at his channel and maybe subscribe.
7 Feb 2023
Daoiri Farrell - The Galway Girl
This is a song Daoiri does not play too often. I was happy to find it in one of the Covid Corner Sessions. But when looking through youtube I couldn't find the recording anymore. Maybe he deleted it? But lots of other Covid Session videos are still there.
So I uploaded it for learning purpose on my youtube account, hope it's ok with Daoiri.
I tried to figure out the chords he plays in this video and hope they are correct. I really like some of the chords, e.g. Bm7(no5) which is 4700And the sequence Bm, A, G, D he plays 4040,2040,0025,7000
Daoiri has his capo on fret 3!
{title:Galway Girl}
{St:Steve Earle)}
Capo 3
Intro Chord: [Bm7(no5)] {soh}(4700){eoh}
[D5]Well, I took a stroll on the old long walk
Of a [D]day -I-[A]ay-I-[G]ay [D/A]
I [Bm]met a little [D/A]girl and we [G]stopped to [D/A]talk
Of a [D/A]fine soft [A]day -I-[D5]ay
{soc}
And I [Bm7(no5)]ask you, [D5]friend, [G/D] [D5]
what's a [Bm7(no5)]fella to [D]do [G/D] [D5]
'Cause her [Bm]hair was [D/A]black and her [G]eyes were [D]blue
{soh}Chords: 4040,2040,0025,7000{eoh}
And I [Bm7(no5)]knew right [D5]then
I'd be [Bm7(no5)]takin' a [D5]whirl
'Round the [Bm]Salthill [D/A]Prom with a [G]Galway [D]girl
{eoc}
[D] [G] [D] [G] [D] [G] [D] [A] [D]
{soc}
|: (Na na) [D]na na na nana, na na nanana
[G]na na nananana [D]nanana
[G]na [D]na [G/B]nana[A/C#]nana[D5]na
[Dsus4/A]na na nananana na na na :|
[G]Oh, la da da da di di di
[D]di di [D/F#]di di [A]di
di di [G]di [D]di [G/B]di di[A/C#]di di [D5]di
[Dsus4/A]di di dididi di di di di
di di [G]di [D]di [G/B]di di[A/C#]di di [D5]di
[Dsus4/A]di di dididi di di di [D5]di
{eoc}
[D]We were halfway there when the rain came down
Of a [D]day -I-[A]ay-I-[G]ay [D/A]
And she [D]asked me up to her flat downtown
Of a [Bm7(no5)]fine soft day -I-[D5]ay
{soc}
And I [Bm7(no5)]ask you, [D5]friend, [G/D] [D5]
what's a [Bm7(no5)]fella to [D]do [G/D] [D5]
'Cause her [Bm]hair was [D/A]black and her [G]eyes were [D]blue
So I [G]took her [D]hand and I [G]gave her a [D]twirl
And I [Bm]lost my [A]heart to a G[G]alway g[D]irl
{eoc}
[D]When I woke up I was all alone
Of a [D]day -I-[A]ay-I-[G]ay [D/A]
With a [D]broken heart and a ticket home
Of a [Bm7(no5)]fine soft day -I-[D5]ay
{soc}
And I [Bm7(no5)]ask you [D]now,
tell me [Bm7(no5)]what would you [D]do
If her [Bm]hair was [A]black and her [G]eyes were b[D]lue
I've [Bm7(no5)]traveled ar[D]ound
been all [Bm7(no5)]over this [D]world
Ain't [Bm]never seen [A]nothin' like a G[G]alway [D]girl
{eoc}
Here's a tab I made just with the chords. If you want it in printable form you can just write me an email and comment.
3 Feb 2023
The Spider Walk - Finger Exercise
Finger Practice exercises are a fantastic way to strengthen your fingers. It might be a good idea to do them in your daily practice session.
Some time ago I already posted a video about the Spider Walk. This is a good finger practice. But there are many different exercises which go with this name.
This is the video I posted already, it's from creativeguitarstudio:
This is what to do:- First place your fingers on the G string: index finger on the 5th fret, middle finger in the 6th fret, ring finger 7th fret, little finger 8th fret.
- Now take the index finger and place it on the D-string in the 5th fret. Leave all the other fingers!
- Now place the middle finger on the D-string in the 6th fret. Then place the ring finger on the D-string in the 7th fret.
- Finally, place the little finger on the D-string in the 8th fret.
- It is important that all the other fingers always remain in their position.
- Now run from one string to the next and back again.
- First do this exercise without striking with the right hand. Then do it with the right hand.
Here's a tab I made:
Here is a video with some more Spider Walk exercises by Las Vegas Guitar:
2 Feb 2023
Eamon Coughlan - Basic Reel picking patterns
Another video I found on youtube. Eamon shows some basic picking patterns for accompanying reels. He promised to post some more videos about jigs and waltzes in the near future, so maybe it is a good idea to subscribe to his channel.
Fernando Barroso - Tips for playing Polkas
Fernando Barroso published a new video, this time tips for accompanying polkas. He concentrates on the right hand, so it is the rhythm. Have a watch, this is really helpful and thought out.
And right now he uploaded a video about Polka and PasoDoble melody playing!
30 Jan 2023
Matt and Shannon Heaton - The Maid behind the Bar - Tab
On January 21st Virtual Guided Session Matt and Shannon played the Set "Maid behind The Bar" and "Sally Gardens". The Set starts approx. at 46:35.
Today I made a little tab for the bouzouki accompanyment. I did not try to tab all the high notes correctly, but concentrated on the bass notes. If you listen to what Matt plays you'll get it, I think.If you want the whole tab just write me an email and comment here. (Melody is in the second line!)
25 Jan 2023
Mandolin Scale Essentials Free App for iOS
You also can practice the scales with some Beats as background or with a metronome.
You'll find some more information here
24 Jan 2023
Whelan's Old Sow - Brid O'Gorman - Eoin O' Neill
A lovely Jig which reminds me of another Jig called Rolling Waves. Absolutely beautifully played by Brid and Eoin.
Here is my attempt to tab the accompanyment. Be careful, Eoin plays in ADAD but I tabbed it for GDAD. Upper line is melody from thesession.org, second line is bouzouki accompaniment.
If you want the tab in printable form just write me an email and comment.
3 Jan 2023
Tips for Jigs 6/8 time by Fernando Barroso
A new Tutorial video by Fernando Barroso. Some really helpful ideas how to accompany Jigs. Make sure, subtitles are enabled if you don't speak Spanish.
Bouzouki Tips by Fernando Barroso
Fernando Barroso, a fantastic bouzouki player from Spain has recently published some videos on youtube and instagram where he shows some tips for beginners of the bouzouki. They are all in Spanish but you can get subtitles in English.
You can find him on instagram
This is his youtube channel where you'll find lots more videos of his playing. Highly recommended!
First Video about picks:
Second video how to get a better sound:
Third video use of capo - how to build chords
19 Nov 2022
Colin Farrell - Alan Murray - The Cotton Grass, The Killavil & The Old Flail - Cotton Grass Tab
A recent video of Colin Farrell featuring Alan Murray, at the moment one of my favourite Bouzouki players.
This first SlipJig is also called Na Ceannabháin Bhána, An Ceannabhan Ban, Bog Cotton, Cannabhan Ban, Ceannabhan Ban, The Cotton Grass Flowers, The Cottongrass, The Little Fair Canavans, Little Fair Cannavans, The Little Fair Cannavans, Na Ceannabain Bana, Na Ceannabáin Bhána, Na Ceannabh, Na Ceannabhain Bana, Na Ceannabhain Bhana, Na Ceannbháin Bhána according to https://thesession.org/tunes/612
Colin mentions that he learned the tunes from Cormac Braetnach. They can be found on the album "Music for Whistle and Guitar" Spotify link
I tried to tab the first SlipJig. If you want the tab in printable form just write me an email
and comment. You can download the pdf here
If you download please comment or buy me a pint.
11 Nov 2022
Most watched blog entries during the last 12 months
So this are the most watched posts on my blog during the last 12 months. Interesting that most people are looking for chords or information on building a bouzouki.
Please tell me, what are you looking for, what information do you need for your playing the bouzouki. Any questions, any hints what you would like me to post here?
Do you know of any hidden treasures on the web which I haven't covered here? Please let me know and I will try to post it.
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