I really love the playing of Macdara O'Faolain from the band Nuadan. Here is a video of Oisin Morrison on Flute and Macdara an Zouk.
I tried to figure out some of Macdara's accompaniment. I don't think it's really correct, but it helps a bit to understand what he is doing. I think the tune is called The Hills Of Larraga. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Here's another websites which helps to find chord shapes for bouzouki. Someone mentioned it on the Bouzouki Forum in Facebook. Thanks for the hint.
In the advanced section you can make some adjustments. Definitely worth a try when looking for variation of chords. http://www.chords.cc/irishbouzoukigdad
This time I tried to find out the accompaniment which Brendan O'Regan plays on the tune Paddy Ryan's Dream together with Matt Molloy. He starts at the repetition of the A-Part.
Here's the video I tabbed the accompaniment from. I cut off the first tune, the air black is the colour of my true love's hair.
It is always interesting in how many ways one tune can be accompanied. Inspired by this thought I listened to lots of recordings of one of my favourite tunes and wrote the chord combinations down. Out of these I chose the ones I liked the most and combined them on this worksheet.
The chord range stretches from two chord arrangements of Hayes/Cahill, which I really like, to more complex chord combinations.
Here's my worksheet. If you need a better quality contact me and I will send it via mail.
Allan comes from Newfoundland. He's a traditional musician and visual artist. His instruments are octave mandolin, banjo, accordion and pedal steel guitar. He recorded two CDs in 2006 and 2009.
Bouzouki player Cyril o'Donoghue from Doolin. He played with the band Providence. Are they still existing? I saw them more than 10 years ago live in Germany.
Some days ago I got in contact with Vincent Fogarty, a bouzouki player from Tipperary, Ireland. Some yeas ago he recorded an album with a band called The Red Wellies. It can be found here:
At the bottom I will include some videos of the Red Wellies.
Vincent sent me some short video clips in which he shows some finger exercises. He kindly allowed me to post them here, too. Many thanks, Vincent!
He writes about these exercises: These are exercises I did every day for about six months about 25 years ago. They are challenging but the results are well worth the work. The idea is to start slow and get the notes clear and in time. Keep your pick tight to the string don’t make your movements too big. This will do wonders for your pick and finger coordination. The exercises can be done as four finger three finger or two finger using any end of the fretboard as the start. Starting yesterday I’ve decided to do these again over the next few months. If you think they would be good to post then do so that’s fine by me. Good luck with them.
Clip No. 1
He writes about this clip: In the first clip I have my capo at the 7th fret. I start with my pinky on the 15th fret of my highest string Start with a down stroke then an up stroke then down then up etc. alternating. Tab is. 15-14-13-12. When you get to fret 12 place your pinky finger on fret 14 then play from there in descending frets/notes. Tab 14-13-12-11 etc until you get to your capo. Then March your fingers back up the frets to 15. Then descend on the next highest string starting with your ring finger on the 14th fret. Pay attention to your picking here. Then descend on that string then the next string then the next string. Then you can start on the lower course and work your way high. Clip No. 2
He writes about this clip:
In this clip I play a four note exercise that moves vertically on the fretboard. When you get to the bottom series of 15-14-13-12 you put your pinky on fret 14 which moves your hand one fret then you descend vertically. When you get to the top 14-13-12-11 you place your pinky on the 13 fret and this moves your hand forward again etc. Clip No. 3
This clip refers to video 2. Vincent writes about it:
This is what my right hand looks like. Start att of the exercises with a down stroke. Clip No. 4
Vincent writes about this exercise:
This exercise is a linear moment that also descends and ascends. Clip No. 5
Vincent writes about this exercise:
This exercise is good for developing finger strength and control of your pinky. It’s a two note run starting lower and ending at the fifteenth fret.
Clip No. 6
I did this as a three finger exercise. It also has a linear movement. I’ve also moved the capo to fret five so as to have more fretboard. As I move I also alternate fingers. Pointer finger ring finger pinky frets 689. Then I move too the next lowest string and use fingers pointer middle finger and pinky on frets 7810. I alternate this pattern as I descend and ascend.
Clip No. 7
Vincent writes:
Hi Frank the last clip is my right hand. I’m trying to show how tight I keep the pick to the strings.
The clips I sent will help with your speed but they are more so directed at pick/finger coordination. The Red Wellies: Here are some videos I found on youtube: The Red Wellies play Dr. O'Neill's and Tom Billy's at a house concert in Atlanta:
Beanie Odell -Fiddle
Duncan Wickel -Fiddle
Vincent Fogarty -Bouzouki
Carter Center farmers market, freedom Parkway
A set of favorite reels:The Road to Garrison (composed by Maurice Lennon-also commonly known as The Godfather);House of Hammil (Ed Reavy);Hounds of Letterfrack (might really be Martin O'Connor's Clog)
An old recording from 2003 which shows fine singer Frank Harte together with Donal Lunny on Bouzouki. This is a lovely Irish/Canadian emigrant song which has been recorded several times, Goitse did it, and there's a fine version sung by "Open the door for three" and Mick Moloney, but I first heard it sung by Len Graham.
A woman sets off in to search for her lover. She has no idea where he might be found. But she knows he is in North America. And fortune is with her, she finds him in the first bar she enters.
Ye Lovers All
Ye lovers all both great and small
Who dwell in Ireland
Oh I pray you pay attention
Whilst I my pen command
It was my father’s anger
That drove my love away
But I still have hopes
We’ll meet again in North Americay
My love he was fair and handsome
And to him I gave my heart
Ah but little was our notion
That we would ever part
It was in my father’s garden
That this flower it did decay
But I still have hopes twill bloom again
In North Americay
Now I did not want for money
Kind fortune on me shone
So out of my father’s castle
I took five hundred pounds
It was in the town of Belfast
My passage I did pay
And then set sail across the sea
To far Americay
Now the captain’s wife was kind to me
As you may understand
And she kept me in her cabin
Until we reached dry land
It was in the town of Quebec
We landed on the quay
But I knew not where to seek my love
In all Americay
Now I being sick and sore and tired
Well I went into an inn
And it was there I found my William
The lad I loved within
He took me gently by the hand
And to me he did say
Oh I never thought I’d see your face
In North Americay
Now I hear this couple has got wed
As you may understand
And I hear they live quite happily
In a town they call St. Johns
And the money that she took from home
Well in gold she paid it down
And they think no more of Ireland
Nor Enniskillen town.
There you can find a lovely recording of Niamh Parsons together with Gerry O'Beirne on Guitar.
I tried to tab the intro Donal plays. Here it is, Capo 4th fret:
Here's the first verse, hope it is nearly correct. Unfortunately Tabledit recognizes chords not always correctly and I don't know how to change the names of chords:
Daoiri played two songs from his new album on the Sean O'Rouke show on RTE One. Here's the deep link to the recording. Don't know how long it well be valid. https://cdn.rasset.ie/.../20190208.../manifest.m3u8
He sings two songs: Windmills and The Galway Shawl.
I tried to tab the intro to Galway Shawl. Here it is:
I first met Daoiri in 2011 at a workshop weekend in Halle, Germany. This weekend was presented by the Halle Music School which was led at that time by Flute and Whistle player Alan Doherty.
In the first video Daoiri plays my Dreizehnter bouzouki. I asked him to play Paddy's green shamrock shore.
The second video is a song I don't know the title of.
On Nov, 10th 2018 Andy played at Club Kuckucksei in Nürtingen. I'm not sure if it was the fourth of fifth time he played there. Another fantastic evening of great songs and stories. I posted my video to youtube and hope you will enjoy it.
This one's for guitar, but as it is about right hand patterns it is useful for Zouk also. It is about strumming triplets in a Jig Rhythm. It takes some time to play it fluently, but it's worth the effort. By the way, Nye published a book about accompanying Irish Music. You can get it here: http://finaleguitar.co.uk/product/backing-guitar-techniques-for-traditional-celtic-music/
Interesting Zouk player from somewhere in Asia, maybe Japan. Couldn't find any information in English. Here he plays with Tessin Kanekonon Whistle
And here with Karen Ashbrook on Flute
An old recording of his group Si-Folk
Atsushi Akazawa ; Bouzouki
Toyoaki Haraguchi ; Uilleann Pipes
Fumio Yoshida ; B/C Accordion
Recorded live at the Sou-sei Hall in Tokushima 14 November 1997
Recorded live at the R's Art Court in Tokyo on 27 May 2000
I imported an abc-File from thesession.org
into tabledit and this is the tab that came out. If you need the Tabledit-File just comment below or write an email.
Here's another fantastic video from Tijn. So much drive in the right hand. He writes about this:
Here's a nice set of reels, played on my trusty harmonica and my shiny new Joe Foley bouzouki. The first tune is one I wrote myself last week called "The Sauna", inspired by a gig I had to play in a hellishly hot tent. The second one is called "Inches from Dublin", originally from Padraig Rynne (or so I'm told) but I play the version by uillean piper Michael Boere.
An arrangement for the tune Drunk at night, dry in the morning, written by Perthshire fiddler Neil Gow. You can find this tune in the book by Bob Gooday too, in another arrangement. The player names himself C W. You can find some other fine videos of his playing on his youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/OdinIsMyGuide
Bandcamp: https://hymirskettle.bandcamp.com
Some time ago Bob Gooday published an ebook with the title Chord-melody playing for the Irish Bouzouki. It seems that I forgot to mention it here.
In this book he publishes arrangements for 8 Scottish and Irish Tunes for the Irish Bouzouki with Notation and Tab. You can buy it on Amazon for €2.99. That's a good price for value. Unfortunately there are no accompanying Audio Files or Midi Files, so you can't have a listen to what it should sound like. I asked Bob if he could record the tunes and put them on youtube, but it seems he does not have the time to do so.
Now I began to put the tab of one of the tunes (No 3: A Glass of Beer) into Tabledit so that I can listen to it. If you are interested in the file send me an Email and I will send it to you as Tabledit or midi-file.
I will try to put the other tunes into Tabledit as well.
Some fine tune sets I found from these two great musicians on youtube. Corey is a dancer and accordion player who also plays cittern, guitar and bodhran. He also sings. He danced with supergroup Danu. He played with bands like Amárach and Poor Man's Gambit (together with Genevieve) and released a solo album called "Flying Solo". Check out his website to find out more. https://coreypurcellmusic.com
Many well known bouzouki players are on this forum and nearly every aspect of playing the zouk is dealt with. Feel free to ask any questions. Lots to learn.
Erin Go Bragh
The Girl I left behind
Kellswater
The Close Shave
Reynardine
My Heart Tonight's in Ireland
You Rambling Boys of Pleasure
Arthur McBride
The Highwayman
Part 2
Never Tire Of The Road Oslo Baneasa's Green glades O'Donoghues Time Will Cure Me Mother Jones The Wind Blows Over the Danube The Blacksmith West Coast Of Clare
This was the first concert from Andy I had the chance to film. At first I didn't dare to take out my camcorder, but during the break a friend of mine who knows Andy asked him for permission. He also asked him to play "Baneasa's Green Grass" for me. I was overwhelmed when Andy dedicated the song to me.
Although Andy played together with Rens van der Zalm I only filmed Andy, because I hoped to have the chance to figure out some bits of his playing. Well, more than 10 years passed and I am still struggling with it.
Somebody asked for "West Coast Of Clare" this evening. I think, Andy hadn't played this song for ages. He had some problems with his Bass Bouzouki. But the next shows I saw him this song was on his playlist.
Another great concert I had the chance to put on video. This one is from a Tour Andy made with and Rens van der Zalm in 2004. Enjoy!
Tracklist:
Only A Miner (Only Finale)
The Girl I left Behind
Lintheads
The Close Shave
Suleman Horo
Never Tire Of The Road
The Highwayman
My Heart's Tonight in Ireland
The Blacksmith
Baneasa's Green Glades
The Trip We Took Over The Mountain
Thousands Are Sailing
West Coast Of Clare
Gladiators
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 ;-)
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.
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 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!
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.
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.
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?
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.
