Last year around Halloween, my musical partner John Good announced that he was going to learn to play the harp. I said if he could commit to learning the harp, I could commit to learning the bodhrán. John bought a beautiful harp, took lessons, and can now play it. Before I left in late May, we had worked up our version of "Thomas the Rhymer" with John on the harp and the two of us alternating verses sung and spoken.
I was, therefore, honor-bound to learn to play the bodhrán. The first step was getting a drum. Sulé Wilson offered me the use of his, a beautiful bodhrán that he got in Ireland several years ago. “Genuine Antrim goat,” he assured me proudly as he told the story of meeting the maker.
I didn’t want to be responsible for someone else’s drum, and in truth I really wanted my own. I wrote to Liz Weir and she put me in touch with Paul McAuley, a bodhrán maker who lives in Ballycastle, just up the road from Cushendall.
Yesterday, Liz drove me to Paul McAuley’s house and I picked out my bodhrán. That’s us holding it at the top of the post. It has a beautiful sound, feels good in my hands, and looks like the moon. I love it. Along with the drum I got a case and a hand-turned wooden tuner, hardwood beater, and several tippers, all made by Paul.
Last night at Liz’s weekly session in Ballyeamon Barn, with a full moon outside that looked just like my bodhrán, one of her guests, Anthony, gave me a quick lesson. “Keep your back straight, the drum straight on your leg, turn only your wrist, and relax.” Martin O’Kane was playing a tune on the banjo as everyone arrived and visited. I was able to tentatively keep a semblance of a beat as he played.
Now that I have my own bodhrán, I feel more confident that I will attain at least a rudimentary proficiency with it. I want to be able to do justice to such a beautiful instrument. Let the bodhrán lessons begin!
