Irish bouzouki lessons will help you master this instrument and hone accompaniment techniques for traditional Irish songs. Gerry McKee, an innovative tutor in this tradition, provides this tutorial, which features video and audio files as well as music notation and photos to make learning the bouzouki as easy as possible.
Beginner’s Guide
Beginning or advanced musicians alike will find an Irish bouzouki to be an excellent way to advance their skills. There are various beginner-specific guides available on the market which focus on teaching the fundamentals and styles that accompany it, including traditional Irish songs that you can learn on it.
Modern Irish bouzoukis differ significantly from their Greek counterparts in that they now feature a flat back design that replaces its round counterpart, providing brighter sound quality while being easier to hold than its older version.
When purchasing an Irish bouzouki, look for one crafted of high-quality materials to reduce future maintenance needs and costs. A hard case should also help safeguard your investment while making cleaning simple; usually with just some string oil or lint-free cloth can do. Keeping up the instrument in good shape for years ahead!
The Bouzouki
The Irish bouzouki, a similar instrument to the mandola but with more strings, was developed from Turkish roots by Greek folk music performers in Rebetika (Rebettische).
Originally, Greek bouzouki instruments featured three courses (or pairs) of strings on a bowl-shaped body that was tuned in fifths. Traveling Irish musicians took to this instrument during the 1960s and adapted it to traditional Irish music by replacing its bowl shaped back with a flat back.
Recently, the bouzouki has become increasingly integrated into Western European musical tradition and popular as an accompaniment instrument in places like Galicia, Asturias and Brittany.
Over the past 30 years, the bouzouki has evolved as an adjunct instrument of guitar playing; merging its body and neck. This has resulted in different tuning options more suitable to playing the bouzouki while making it simpler for guitarists to master playing it.
Finger Exercises
Irish bouzouki lessons focus on using finger exercises designed to develop strength, dexterity and precision – skills essential for playing scales, arpeggios and real-life music as well as auditions.
Irish bouzouki players frequently practice learning the E minor scale as an exercise for practicing Irish music on their instrument. This scale uses all of the same notes as its G major counterpart, but adds one extra E note – known as a natural minor scale.
Irish bouzouki players also use the jig as an exercise, which typically features an unders pattern. Marla provides you with an engaging jig exercise before teaching you “Donnybrook Fair,” one of Ireland’s popular Irish jigs.
The bouzouki is similar to an octave mandola in appearance; however, its scale length is longer. Furthermore, the tuning for its strings differs; rather than (D) ADAE for tuning purposes, the bouzouki uses (GDAE).
Scales
Contrasting with guitars, which feature chords with equal number of strings for each chord, bouzoukis use an alternative system in which strings are paired, creating a brighter sound which may be difficult to differentiate from that of a guitar.
To play the bouzouki successfully, it is necessary to understand music notation – this is especially essential if you plan to accompany Irish music with it.
Starting out, you should learn the fundamental scales on an Irish bouzouki; these include octave and unison scales.
Acquaint yourself with major and minor scales; this will allow you to understand the key of songs as well as any correlations between its notes.
Scales will also help you gain a greater understanding of how to play in higher positions on the bouzouki, making you better equipped when performing with other musicians as they will allow for intricate rhythmic patterns without overwhelming other musicians.