Holding the Drum

  • Sit in a straight chair without arms.​
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  • Place the drum on the thigh of the leg opposite to the hand that will hold the tipper.
For RIGHT-handed players the drum sits on the left thigh. For LEFT-handed players the drums sits on the right thigh. The head of the drum will face to the right for RIGHT-handed players and to the left for LEFT-handed players.

  • Pull the drum toward you
About a quarter of the drum should be nestled up against your rib cage. Your non-drumming arm will drape over the drum to stabilize it.

  • Place your non-drumming hand inside the drum
This will dampen the sound of the drum-head. This reduces the boominess and helps give the bodhran its characteristic sound. Lightly hug the drum.

Position your hand under any cross bars that may be present. How you rest your hand on the drum-head.is a personal choice. That choice WILL affect the tone of the drum. A general position is to form the hand inside the drum into the shape of a “C”. The heel of the hand and fingers are  place don the drum-head. 

You’ll need to experiment with hand position for comfort, dexterity and tone.

  • Position your hand under any crossbars so that you can move your hand inside the drum without restriction.
               For a single crossbar, point the crossbar over your shoulder

               For a double crossbar, position the crossbar so that it forms an “X”.
               Do not position the double crossbar so that it form a “+” sign.

Crossbars can be helpful when making tonal changes in the drum. It is possible to wedge your hand between the crossbar and the head. Use the crossbar as support to push on the drum-head.
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  • Standing to Play the Bodhran
Get proficient on the bodhran BEFORE attempting to play while standing.  It takes practice to hold the drum, move the tonal hand and keep the drum stable while standing.  Crossbars in the drum can help.  Some standing players attach a strap to the frame of the drum to keep the bodhran stable.  Standing while playing will limit the the number and quality of of playing techniques available.  Sit down to play bodhran if you can!