Hello, y'all, and welcome to the
Gaelic College's Summer Adult Session 2!
We'll use this page to share lesson plans, links, and anything else that may be relevant to our classes this week.
If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an e-mail at
☞ 1st Block- 9:00a-9:50a- Advanced
Monday:
-Let's Mess with Our Double-Downs: Manipulating the DutDutDu Sticking Pattern
The DutDutDu sticking pattern is a common one for syncopation within reels. However, it is hard to manipulate this pattern once it in locked into our muscle memory. In this class session, we will learn a game that will help to manipulate this pattern and discover some interesting variations.
Tuesday:
-Learning an Advanced Roll Exercise
Back in January of 2021 Colm Phelan posted this video on the The Irish Bodhrán group page on Facebook. Shortly thereafter, Kyle Forsthoff shared this transcription of this exercise with me. My experience with learning this exercise lead me to think, "What could others learn from this?" In particular:
-How does one go about learning complex exercises such as these?
-How do we internalize the rhythms that we need to play?
-How does one break down and reassemble an exercise as complex as this?
-Why is it important to study the playing and technique of incredibly advanced players?
We will learn how to engage with this exercise in order to advance our abilities with rolls.
Goals:
1. Learn how to vocalize the rhythms in the transcription.
2. Learn how to break down beats, measures, and phrases.
3. Recognize and begin to perform the four types of rolls in this exercise.
4. Learn how to start introducing voicing into the rhythmic patterns.
In short, we will use this session as an introduction to this exercise- a "Rosetta Stone," of sorts- so that you will have the tools to continue learning this exercise on your own after you leave GC.
Notes:
1. This exercise is used with the permission of Colm Phelan.
2. I am not representing Colm or his technique. The purpose of this lesson is to learn one way to engage with this level of material.
Wednesday:
-Learning an Advanced Roll Exercise, Part 2
In this class, we will review the material from the previous session and then start working through the roll exercise.
Thursday:
-Repertoire- Let's Learn an Odd-Metered Tune (At Least in One Section)
-First, we'll give a listen to The Guns of The Magnificent Seven
-We'll then listen to a couple of other tunes that have that "now we're normal, now we're not" quality
-Jerry's Rambles/King of the Pipes
-Then we'll break down Guns
Friday:
-Repertoire- A Full Odd-Metered Tune
-In this session, we'll explore some of the interesting things happening in Goitse's Invasion
☞ 2nd Block- 10:00a-10:50a- Advanced Beginner
Monday:
-Let's Get Our Hands Movin'
-Stroke Type Exercises
-Link to PDF
Tuesday:
-Prep for Our Tune on Wednesday
-Introducing Patterns and Sequences for Wednesday's Reel
-Link to PDF
Wednesday:
-How Does the Tune Tell Us What to Play?
-Using patterns and sequences from Tuesday to construct a part for a reel
-The reel- Gatehouse Maid
Thursday:
-Variety in Voicing
-Exploring additional sounds that we can create on the bodhrán
-Tones to explore will include heel tones, "pop" tones, and improving our slurs (a.k.a., "rundowns"
Friday:
-O.K., I know some new tones. Now what?
-Incorporating additional sounds from Thursday into patterns from Tuesday & Wednesday
☞ 3rd Block- 11:10a-12:00p- Advanced
Please refer to the plan above under "1st Block- Advanced"
☞ 4th Block- 1:30p-2:20p- New Beginner
Monday:
-First Steps- Fundamentals, Part 1
-Holding the drum and tipper
-Basic stroke types
-Basic sounds
-Basic patterns for reels
Tuesday:
-Next Steps- Fundamentals, Part Deux
-Review of material from previous session
-Mixing and matching basic patterns from previous session
Wednesday:
-Let's Use What We've Learned to Play a Reel
-Review of material from previous session
-Using sequences from last session in order to accompany a reel
Thursday:
-Now Tell Us About Jigs
-Basic patterns and sequences for jigs
Friday:
-Continue Telling Us About Jigs, But Let's Actually Play One
-Applying basic sequences for jigs to a tune
☞ 5th Block- 2:30p-3:20p- Intermediate/Collaborative
Note: This Block is intended to be a collaborative effort with the Joe MacMaster's Intermediate Fiddle Class. The plans below are subject to change.
Monday:
Let's Get Our Hands Movin', But Break Some Muscle Memory While We're At It
-Manipulating the "double-down" pattern in order to improve coordination, break muscle memory, and come up with interesting rhythmic variations
Tuesday:
Preparation for Collaboration w/ Intermediate Fiddle Class
-Compose a part for Connaughtman's Rambles
Wednesday:
Preparation for Collaboration w/ Intermediate Fiddle Class
-Meet w/ fiddles to play Connaughtman's Rambles
Thursday:
Collaboration w/ Intermediate Fiddle Class
-Prep for next tune- TBA
Friday:
Collaboration w/ Intermediate Fiddle Class
-Meet w/ fiddles to play next tune- TBA
☞ Other Possible Topics If Time Allows
Ensemble Awareness When Arranging Drum Parts
-When it comes to composing a drum part for a tune or set, it often helps to take a deep dive into the roles of the other instruments around you in order to "find your space" with the drum. In this session, we will use Sorcha's Waterman's/Luke Skywalker Walks on Sunshine as a way to explore some of the ways that we can add to the music that we are accompanying.
Building Your Own Warm-Up and Practice Routines
--Have you been looking for a warm-up routine? Would you like to learn ways to improve the structure of your practice sessions? Would you like to learn some tactics that you can use in order to get more from your practice time? If so, this class is for you. We will discuss:
1. Warm-Ups
-Stretching
-Other ways to physically prepare
-The Progressive Warm-Up
2. Ideas for Your Practice Session
-Goals
-Prioritizing
-Practice Tactics
3. Other Ideas
Hybrid Rolls
-In my presentation from Craiceann 2024, I discussed the idea of a "hybrid" roll. I later wrote an article about it for the April 2025 edition of Percussive Notes (complete with video examples). In this session, we will learn how to play the rolls from that article.