Hello
As a Bodhran player, I am not very musical.
It would be nice to play another instrument.... but, being also very lazy I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion as to what else I could play that would be easy... is the low whistle fairly straight forward??
Thanks
To answer the question seriously (whether or not it was intended that way), I would suggest the tin whistle. Inexpensive, fairly easy to get started on, but if you enjoy it, a lifetime of work to fully mster the instrument. And a good 'gateway' to other instruments, especially flute.
Uilleann pipes are pretty simple. Make sure you get a full set with regulators. Don't worry about the cost because the benefit of playing a simple instrument far out weighs the money you pay for them. In fact perhaps two sets each in a different key would make it easier for you.
I smiled when I read your question. You could be putting us on! But that is no excuse for the advice you were given in the previous posting. I think that the Uilleann pipes are harder to play than you might think. (Have you ever tried to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time?) I have heard that it takes about 10,000 hours of focused practice to master a musical instrument. Even a relatively simple instrument like the Uilleann pipes should take more than a fortnight.
No, you may not have that much time, talent or inclination. That should not stop you. I suggest that you build on what you already know.
Take up the banjo. You know, that’s the instrument that looks like a bodhran with strings.
If it doesn’t immediately work out - I mean the music part - you can always throw it and the cat up on the tin roof. They will make a clattering scratchy wail that will be heard for miles.
"I have heard that it takes about 10,000 hours of focused practice to master a musical instrument."
I love how this has gone from being someone's daft idea to being taken as gospel in about two years. "10,000 hours" seems to me a number very much like "a year and a day" or "seven years learning, seven years practicing, and seven years playing" - some large number standing for "I don't know how long , but it takes a while, and it depends on how much you practice, how well you practice, some degree of luck, and some native ability to grasp patterns fluently and well".
" Hello
Have a new band here in Germany. We are all noobs to irish music.
I have heard that a session alway follows the pattern AABB
Where A is 16 bars of 1 song and B is 16 bars of another.
Is this correct (or is it just 8 bars)??
Thanks for any help.
rooibos "
Usually a taxi driver will learn how to drive a car before he joins a taxi company.
Anyway , I could sell you a guitar player, a flute player and, if I've enough rohipnol left, a giant triangle player. They have years of experience (and not very musical so they should fit in nicely)
If you've been hearing all this music, and the most that it has inspired you to do is to take up the bodhran, then you really don't have what it takes to become a musician.
Just remember, if you practice for 3 hours a day for a year, you will have been playing for over 1000 hours already. Only another 8 years to go before you are a musician.
Eosaph - if they've spent their time counting the practice hours, they probably didn't learn anything anyway. Now they can get down to it.
Robert - 10,000 hours of playing music will never be enough. If you love the music, no amount of playing will be enough to satisfy you. If you don't, no amount of playing will ever make you play it worth a damn.
In neither case is 10,000 hours enough for anything.
I firmly believe that all instruments are equally difficult to play well, percussion included. Some instruments get ok results more quickly i.e. whistles vs fiddles sound good quick as their tuning and mode of playing are more natural, but when you hear them played well, you realise that this is never going to be good enough.
If you learned to play bodhran for a genuine reason - you like the instrument or feel some affinity for it, then why not stick at it and become brilliant at it. Anyone can play a rhythm on one in a 1/2 hour or less, but REALLY good players are extremely few and far between - I can only think of two that I've ever seen, hence the bad name bodhran players have got - as soon as most bodhran players start getting good, they're encouraged to give up becoming great by their "friends" and to learn a "real" instrument instead.
Comedy instruments like boxes, bodhrans and banjos get too much of a bad name because people don't take them seriously enough, because we believe the buggers who tell us they're not "authentic" or musical enough, when truly if we're all going to be authentic and musical all we'd do is sing.
Well thank you for the pleasant answers received.... and as for the answer others...well....thank you also...
I probably wrongly assumed this was an informal friendly web site for all levels of musicians... but see that sadly many cracks have a totally other opinion.
...until my next stupid question
While simultaneously we have all levels, there is also this pressure to both try and improve, and also to help the other one.
Consequently, if you are going to remain a percussionist, we don't want you just to play bodhran, we also want you to try spoons, bones, washboard, shaky egg, and tambourine. Oh, and don't forget the triangle. The claves are good too.
It's that most people on this site love the music, take it fairly seriously and have put or are putting thousands of hours into becoming competent on their instrument. Basically what you have implied -- the way I read your post anyway -- is that yeah, you'd kinda like to learn to play, but can't be arsed putting the hours in so is there an easy way to do it. In short, no is the answer. And expect to get some flak.
Whistles are "easy" in terms of access (they are sold in most music shops and are cheap as chips), so if you're uncommitted to learning a melody instrument, you'll only have wasted £5.
Depends what you mean by "straightforward". I've recently heard it said that the low whistle is harder than the flute which is harder than the high D whistle. That seems about right to me, because I can play a whistle reasonably well, and I'm getting there on flute, but really can't get much out of a low whistle. Maybe when I've mastered flute ... (in another 7,891 hours )
SS - If you've paid £5 for a bag of chips, where are you shopping ? Not even the posh chippie in Muswell Hill charges that much.
And, of course you can buy a whistle for a fiver, but a good one ?
I think we need to persuade our poster that the music only repays the effort, not before.
The best chips in the world are from either of the 2 chip shops on the high street in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. And they are both posh chip shops. But they only charge £1- £1.20 a bag.
Besides the very good pooints made by the Spear, I for one wouldn't want to be in the same room at a session as someone trying to play a whistle or anything higher, who, as a disclaimer states that they are not very musical and very lazy, because I too love this music and hate to see it abused.
Yes, straight forward and easy. That's how I've always found this music and I'm pretty lazy too. Sure, I've put some hours into it, but none of it was difficult, it was all straight forward and easy, and it continues to be so.
With regards to the tin whistle, the low whistle and the flute though: The flute has to be the easier. It's so much more expressive, it has so much more range and opportunities. Whistles are pretty limited which makes it much harder to get really good music out of them. Tin whistles are easier than low whistles I think, because they can sound pretty good when you get a staccato thing going on them, which is another range. But I think low whistles sound sh*t with too much tongue, so combined with almost no dynamic range, you are left with very little to play with. (also, the vast majority of low whistles are such crap instruments that, even in the best hands, they are impossible to play ... and you can't get much harder than that)
But by far the easiest instrument is the fiddle. You can make it do anything. It is the most limitless.
I play fiddle and at about 10,000 hours; no Llig I can only make it do a few hundred things; I learned a long time ago best thing about a whistle is the person playing has to stop speaking. o;)
You obviously didn't read very many old threads here. There are a load of people here just waiting to heap criticism on the unsuspecting newbie. (And they'll heap criticism on the experienced player player too. It's not like newbies are singled out for abuse.)
But yes an ordinary D whistle can function like an inexpensive "gateway drug" to the Low Whistle, Irish flute, or uilleann pipes. It's probably the best thing for a newbie who wants to experiment with playing Irish trad tunes.
Another nooby question
Another nooby question
Hello
As a Bodhran player, I am not very musical.
It would be nice to play another instrument.... but, being also very lazy I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion as to what else I could play that would be easy... is the low whistle fairly straight forward??
Thanks
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by Happy Larry
Re: Another nooby question
Stumpf fiddle would take you to the next level.
www.stumpffiddle.net/
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by ∅
Re: Another nooby question
Another instrument? Is easy the point?
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by David Levine
Re: Another nooby question
Nice try.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by gam
Re: Another nooby question
Comb and paper, if you can be bothered to go and find them.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by minijackpot
Re: Another nooby question
A hang?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_%28musical_instrument%29
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by kuec
Re: Another nooby question
To answer the question seriously (whether or not it was intended that way), I would suggest the tin whistle. Inexpensive, fairly easy to get started on, but if you enjoy it, a lifetime of work to fully mster the instrument. And a good 'gateway' to other instruments, especially flute.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by AlBrown
Re: Another nooby question
Uilleann pipes are pretty simple. Make sure you get a full set with regulators. Don't worry about the cost because the benefit of playing a simple instrument far out weighs the money you pay for them. In fact perhaps two sets each in a different key would make it easier for you.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by shanty
Re: Another nooby question
I smiled when I read your question. You could be putting us on! But that is no excuse for the advice you were given in the previous posting. I think that the Uilleann pipes are harder to play than you might think. (Have you ever tried to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time?) I have heard that it takes about 10,000 hours of focused practice to master a musical instrument. Even a relatively simple instrument like the Uilleann pipes should take more than a fortnight.
No, you may not have that much time, talent or inclination. That should not stop you. I suggest that you build on what you already know.
Take up the banjo. You know, that’s the instrument that looks like a bodhran with strings.
If it doesn’t immediately work out - I mean the music part - you can always throw it and the cat up on the tin roof. They will make a clattering scratchy wail that will be heard for miles.
Not very musical but it is easy.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by robertf
Re: Another nooby question
"There's a duck in't hedge"
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by domhnall.
Re: Another nooby question
Not very musical and lazy?
Stick to bodhran.
Or spoons.
Or shakey egg.
Just don't come to the Blythe.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by Rudall the time
Re: Another nooby question
"I have heard that it takes about 10,000 hours of focused practice to master a musical instrument."
I love how this has gone from being someone's daft idea to being taken as gospel in about two years. "10,000 hours" seems to me a number very much like "a year and a day" or "seven years learning, seven years practicing, and seven years playing" - some large number standing for "I don't know how long , but it takes a while, and it depends on how much you practice, how well you practice, some degree of luck, and some native ability to grasp patterns fluently and well".
(yes, I'm ignoring the troll... so sue me)
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: Another nooby question
" Hello
Have a new band here in Germany. We are all noobs to irish music.
I have heard that a session alway follows the pattern AABB
Where A is 16 bars of 1 song and B is 16 bars of another.
Is this correct (or is it just 8 bars)??
Thanks for any help.
rooibos "
Usually a taxi driver will learn how to drive a car before he joins a taxi company.
Anyway , I could sell you a guitar player, a flute player and, if I've enough rohipnol left, a giant triangle player. They have years of experience (and not very musical so they should fit in nicely)
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by ruaidhri
Re: Another nooby question
If you've been hearing all this music, and the most that it has inspired you to do is to take up the bodhran, then you really don't have what it takes to become a musician.
Just remember, if you practice for 3 hours a day for a year, you will have been playing for over 1000 hours already. Only another 8 years to go before you are a musician.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Another nooby question
I am trying to master the fiddle. I fear that 10,000 hours will not be enough, but it certainly is time well wasted.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by robertf
Re: Another nooby question
Someone somewhere on 9998 hours is feeling a little dissappointed right now : (
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by Eòsaph
Re: Another nooby question
Eosaph - if they've spent their time counting the practice hours, they probably didn't learn anything anyway. Now they can get down to it.
Robert - 10,000 hours of playing music will never be enough. If you love the music, no amount of playing will be enough to satisfy you. If you don't, no amount of playing will ever make you play it worth a damn.
In neither case is 10,000 hours enough for anything.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: Another nooby question
I firmly believe that all instruments are equally difficult to play well, percussion included. Some instruments get ok results more quickly i.e. whistles vs fiddles sound good quick as their tuning and mode of playing are more natural, but when you hear them played well, you realise that this is never going to be good enough.
If you learned to play bodhran for a genuine reason - you like the instrument or feel some affinity for it, then why not stick at it and become brilliant at it. Anyone can play a rhythm on one in a 1/2 hour or less, but REALLY good players are extremely few and far between - I can only think of two that I've ever seen, hence the bad name bodhran players have got - as soon as most bodhran players start getting good, they're encouraged to give up becoming great by their "friends" and to learn a "real" instrument instead.
Comedy instruments like boxes, bodhrans and banjos get too much of a bad name because people don't take them seriously enough, because we believe the buggers who tell us they're not "authentic" or musical enough, when truly if we're all going to be authentic and musical all we'd do is sing.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by farmerboy
Re: Another nooby question
Damn you've made me lose count now! Thanks alot. Now I'll pass the 10,000 without knowing and I'll always wonder when I mastered my instrument.
# Posted on May 9th 2010 by Eòsaph
Re: Another nooby question
Well thank you for the pleasant answers received.... and as for the answer others...well....thank you also...
I probably wrongly assumed this was an informal friendly web site for all levels of musicians... but see that sadly many cracks have a totally other opinion.
...until my next stupid question
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by Happy Larry
Re: Another nooby question
While simultaneously we have all levels, there is also this pressure to both try and improve, and also to help the other one.
Consequently, if you are going to remain a percussionist, we don't want you just to play bodhran, we also want you to try spoons, bones, washboard, shaky egg, and tambourine. Oh, and don't forget the triangle. The claves are good too.
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Another nooby question
It's not that we're unfriendly.
It's that most people on this site love the music, take it fairly seriously and have put or are putting thousands of hours into becoming competent on their instrument. Basically what you have implied -- the way I read your post anyway -- is that yeah, you'd kinda like to learn to play, but can't be arsed putting the hours in so is there an easy way to do it. In short, no is the answer. And expect to get some flak.
Whistles are "easy" in terms of access (they are sold in most music shops and are cheap as chips), so if you're uncommitted to learning a melody instrument, you'll only have wasted £5.
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Another nooby question
Depends what you mean by "straightforward". I've recently heard it said that the low whistle is harder than the flute which is harder than the high D whistle. That seems about right to me, because I can play a whistle reasonably well, and I'm getting there on flute, but really can't get much out of a low whistle. Maybe when I've mastered flute ... (in another 7,891 hours
)
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by ethical blend
Re: Another nooby question
SS - If you've paid £5 for a bag of chips, where are you shopping ? Not even the posh chippie in Muswell Hill charges that much.
And, of course you can buy a whistle for a fiver, but a good one ?
I think we need to persuade our poster that the music only repays the effort, not before.
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Another nooby question
The best chips in the world are from either of the 2 chip shops on the high street in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. And they are both posh chip shops. But they only charge £1- £1.20 a bag.
Besides the very good pooints made by the Spear, I for one wouldn't want to be in the same room at a session as someone trying to play a whistle or anything higher, who, as a disclaimer states that they are not very musical and very lazy, because I too love this music and hate to see it abused.
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by Rudall the time
Re: Another nooby question
Is "cheap as chips" an expression only used in Scotland?
I wouldn't actually pay £5 for a bag of chips.
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Another nooby question
No, that expression is used everywhere, Silver. It's just that whistles are cheaper.
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by ethical blend
Re: Another nooby question
OK folks, I'm a bit confused. Should the OP try playing the whistle or the chips?
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Another nooby question
I suppose he could compromise and play Oak chips.
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by ethical blend
Re: Another nooby question
Yes, straight forward and easy. That's how I've always found this music and I'm pretty lazy too. Sure, I've put some hours into it, but none of it was difficult, it was all straight forward and easy, and it continues to be so.
With regards to the tin whistle, the low whistle and the flute though: The flute has to be the easier. It's so much more expressive, it has so much more range and opportunities. Whistles are pretty limited which makes it much harder to get really good music out of them. Tin whistles are easier than low whistles I think, because they can sound pretty good when you get a staccato thing going on them, which is another range. But I think low whistles sound sh*t with too much tongue, so combined with almost no dynamic range, you are left with very little to play with. (also, the vast majority of low whistles are such crap instruments that, even in the best hands, they are impossible to play ... and you can't get much harder than that)
But by far the easiest instrument is the fiddle. You can make it do anything. It is the most limitless.
# Posted on May 10th 2010 by ...
Re: Another nooby question
just don't use Buffalo chips.
I play fiddle and at about 10,000 hours; no Llig I can only make it do a few hundred things; I learned a long time ago best thing about a whistle is the person playing has to stop speaking. o;)
Big plus.
# Posted on May 11th 2010 by dogmageek
Re: Another nooby question
Also, no-one ever tells a flute-player they are pulling faces - it's a given.
# Posted on May 11th 2010 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Another nooby question
"an informal friendly website for all levels" ???
You obviously didn't read very many old threads here. There are a load of people here just waiting to heap criticism on the unsuspecting newbie. (And they'll heap criticism on the experienced player player too. It's not like newbies are singled out for abuse.)
But yes an ordinary D whistle can function like an inexpensive "gateway drug" to the Low Whistle, Irish flute, or uilleann pipes. It's probably the best thing for a newbie who wants to experiment with playing Irish trad tunes.
# Posted on May 16th 2010 by Richard D Cook