That concert I went to nearly 2 weeks ago continues to send good ripples through my stay here. That evening I met Lillis, who's introduced me to several wonderful cultural experiences, and I also met Mihal Ohaloon, who runs a week-long bodhran summer school on the isle of Inis Oirr (Inisheer) in June. Though I'll probably not make it there this year, he gave me the name of one of the instructors there, a man by the name of Jim Higgins. After texting and calling a few times, we finally found some time to get together for a private lesson.
Usually I will at least Google someone's name to find out more about them, but it didn't even occur to me to do that in this case. In a way, I'm sort of glad I didn't, because I think I would have felt intimidated. Jim is quite the pro, having played on studio albums for Lunasa and Altan, and he toured for 4 years with Riverdance. He'd even played at Wolftrap and the Birchmere.
I took a bus to Oranmore, a suburb of Galway City, and a few minutes later he picked me up and drove me to his family's beautiful house that overlooks a body of water. I guess this is what people refer to as "the country." We listened for a bit to a radio show where a couple of his bandmates were talking live about an upcoming gig, and then we got down to work.
Now, I've been playing bodhran for nearly 2 years, and I've got a pretty extensive musical background. I knew from listening to a lot of trad music and watching lots of YouTube videos that what I do is a bit more on the elementary side of things compared to what Mr. Higgins does. He was patient and showed me a lot of different beats and rhythms and patterns, and I nearly got some of them. I thought I had turned on my phone's recording program early on in the lesson, but I found out at the end that it didn't work for some reason, so I'm a bit disappointed about that.
Still, it was a fantastic experience, and I was able to do some things with relative ease, and found many others that I will need to practice. A lot. I can choose to be discouraged by all I have to learn, or I can be energized and excited. I'll pick the latter any day. I think this next week will be a week of practice and trying to find sessions where bodhran players are present. I'm going to try to listen more than play.
Which is what I wish I'd done last night, when I found a session going on at Tig Cóilí pub. I didn't find out until the end of the evening that the three who were playing--a fiddle, a banjo, and a bazouki--were all pros or semi-pros. The banjo player, it turns out, was Mary Shannon, Sharon Shannon's sister. Sharon is rather famous around here. I played a lot, when I should have listened more. It was still a pretty good experience, though I think they were playing with me sometimes, throwing in tunes with really unusual rhythms. I kept up, but just barely at times. Other tunes, though, felt amazing to play, and I was getting notes out of the bodhran that made it feel less like percussion and more like a tonal instrument.
Today, like yesterday, is absolutely gorgeous outside, and the city and coast just come alive with people walking around and enjoying the sun. Which is what I'm going to do right now.
Usually I will at least Google someone's name to find out more about them, but it didn't even occur to me to do that in this case. In a way, I'm sort of glad I didn't, because I think I would have felt intimidated. Jim is quite the pro, having played on studio albums for Lunasa and Altan, and he toured for 4 years with Riverdance. He'd even played at Wolftrap and the Birchmere.
I took a bus to Oranmore, a suburb of Galway City, and a few minutes later he picked me up and drove me to his family's beautiful house that overlooks a body of water. I guess this is what people refer to as "the country." We listened for a bit to a radio show where a couple of his bandmates were talking live about an upcoming gig, and then we got down to work.
Now, I've been playing bodhran for nearly 2 years, and I've got a pretty extensive musical background. I knew from listening to a lot of trad music and watching lots of YouTube videos that what I do is a bit more on the elementary side of things compared to what Mr. Higgins does. He was patient and showed me a lot of different beats and rhythms and patterns, and I nearly got some of them. I thought I had turned on my phone's recording program early on in the lesson, but I found out at the end that it didn't work for some reason, so I'm a bit disappointed about that.
Still, it was a fantastic experience, and I was able to do some things with relative ease, and found many others that I will need to practice. A lot. I can choose to be discouraged by all I have to learn, or I can be energized and excited. I'll pick the latter any day. I think this next week will be a week of practice and trying to find sessions where bodhran players are present. I'm going to try to listen more than play.
Which is what I wish I'd done last night, when I found a session going on at Tig Cóilí pub. I didn't find out until the end of the evening that the three who were playing--a fiddle, a banjo, and a bazouki--were all pros or semi-pros. The banjo player, it turns out, was Mary Shannon, Sharon Shannon's sister. Sharon is rather famous around here. I played a lot, when I should have listened more. It was still a pretty good experience, though I think they were playing with me sometimes, throwing in tunes with really unusual rhythms. I kept up, but just barely at times. Other tunes, though, felt amazing to play, and I was getting notes out of the bodhran that made it feel less like percussion and more like a tonal instrument.
Today, like yesterday, is absolutely gorgeous outside, and the city and coast just come alive with people walking around and enjoying the sun. Which is what I'm going to do right now.
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