SU 6 Week Beginners Bodhrán Course

Beginners Bodhrán Course

Learn the Bodhrán this semester. Suitable for total beginners.

Learn Traditional and Contemporary songs at weekly group lessons.

Class Dates/Times: 6pm-7pm Wednesday 28th January - Wednesday 4th March 2026 (6 week course)

Course Venues: The SU Síbín in the Library Basement (near An Bialann)

Course Cost: €60 for 6 Week Course (this includes a locally made Bodhrán worth €45)

Course Content: Designed to welcome absolute beginners to bodhrán this course will teach you how to play this great Irish instrument. By the end of the course, you will have the confidence to play a variety of Irish traditional rhythms and accompany other instruments. It will instill you with the confidence to progress further and to one day join in and play along in lively pub sessions.

The course includes the following elements:

-Holding the bodhrán

-Holding the beater

-Basic strokes and variations

-Learn what makes an Irish tune a reel, or a jig, or a hornpipe, etc.

-Then, learn how to play along with reels, jigs & hornpipes in your bodhrán

-Learn how to add off-hand technique and vary the pitch of your bodhrán as you play

-Bodhrán care and maintenance

We will include one class during the course where we go out to a session in the city together, listen in, and you will get an opportunity to ask a few questions directly of the musicians themselves.

In the final class of the course we will be joined with members of the tin whistle course for a fun event where you will accompany the music they have learned to play on whistle on your bodhrán!