Customer Reviews

Mel Bay presents Bodhran: The Basics

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found this book to be clear, concise and easy to follow. After four days of practice, I was able to produce a solid beat. After two weeks, I was able to pick up the secondary rolls that many bodhran players have such difficulty producing. This book is well-laid out and easy to understand.

This is a fairly good introduction to the "basics" of the bodhran as the title implies. It provides a series of exercises to develop reel and jig beats. I'd recommend it for learning the foundations of the bodhran

I have prior drumming experience (doumbek). Remembering my initial stumbling blocks, I am adapting to the bodhran much more easily. I had my bodhran before I got Woods' book. Having used other resources, U-Tube, I was aware of what I was missing. Woods covers all the basics with clarity that leads to a reasonable depth of understanding.

How to say 'bodhran'. Short discussion of history, play & style, design, purchase, and care. Only two pages of Music Theory! Basic & short! Most 'basic' books go overboard. A non-musician gets very little out of theory until it can be connected to what is heard (i.e., keep it short). A musician won't do more than thumb past such pages.

A key value of this book is instruction, well-illustrated with pictures & words: Holding the drum, holding the stick, and striking. This is THE area I found U-Tube examples lacking: Still pictures clearly explained. Every sentence & photo has deliberate purpose. What beginners do wrong & how to fix it is another key instruction. How to practice. Irish dance rhythms: reels & jigs, playing with music. Elaborations: Rests, Accents, & Rolls. Then there are eight rhythms combining all that was learned. Finally: How to get better, grow with the instrument, and get involved.

These lessons require use of the CD, and there are charts in the book to provide visual connection (which I need). I very much appreciate that the book is succinct. There is quite a bit to it. It is thorough. If you work your way through this book you will know all the basics needed to satisfactorily play & participate with others. I've been through all this with the doumbek. I wish there were such a book for it.

Very well done! I recommend buying the book before buying the drum (which I didn't do).

This isn't basic, this is nothing. Very very little to this book/CD - don't waste your money.